Tube amp for Odyssey

[xenonaut]

External Crossovers

This is TRUE given a theoretical environment, but we're dealing with implementation details here. The fact of the matter at hand (with ML speakers) is that you cannot do without the passive (internal) crossover. Now, the question becomes that do we want to add more processing into the signal path just for the sake of having an external crossover to match with the "theoretical specification" or do we want to keep things streamlined and go with the passive approach. Keep in mind that you're only degrading your signal by adding components into the path. This is the balancing act we're facing with the ML speaker models today. If your speakers are ML Monoliths which come with external crossover, things will be much easier.

While it's clear that adding things to the signal path is generally more likely to have a negative than positive impact, I would respectfully suggest that the case for the external crossover is not quite as simple as you characterize it. Specifically, if you are using a crossover *before* your power amps, you are then not asking the amplifiers to produce energy which the speakers will simply block. If you send only the highs to the corresponding amps, then you are not asking those amps to invest (waste) effort trying to reproduce bass frequencies, allowing them to invest all of their capabilities in the highs (and vice versa, for the bass amps). The same may be true (albeit to a much smaller degree) of the speaker cables.

I would suggest that this could particularly be a consideration if you are trying to drive panels with a tube amp, which may not have *quite* the power you might like (especially compared to the poster's Brystons).

Cheers,

Hal