System Build

[Lanson]

Here's a guy I follow all the time, though he doesn't post too much any more.  The groundwork is already done.

http://zaphaudio.com/

Anyway, here's what cone ring and breakup look like on a waterfall RTA

And it manifests differently on a harmonic distortion plot

See, this woofer works OK (not great) up to around 2k or so, and then there's this NASTY breakup/ring that occurs around 6k.  And again, way up high out of the 20k bandwidth of most ears.  We would actually "feel" that speaker being grating.  This is a cheesy MCM-55 woofer btw.
freq response for reference

Here's a better one, a GR Research M165x

Waterfall

HD

and freq response

This woofer would probably cross much higher, with a lower "le" and a cone that is not susceptible to breakup, I'd wager 4k would be the sweet spot, on a steep slope.


By this same token, tweeters must be crossed properly too.  Not just excursion issues, but also distortion expectations at lower frequencies.



Another fun variable of multiple points of output for a given frequency is the nature of reflections/refractions.  A woofer in the door deals with those in a much different way that a tweeter on the A-pillar.  All adds to the fun.



LOL Now you guys see why I "push" the processor I do.  It gets maddening sometimes, thinking about all the variables.  Fun for the tweaker though.

 

[Fast SHO]

Just not sure why playing the mid high like I did made it sound better?  When I low passed it at 2500 along with HP for the tweeter I was missing something.

 

[Lanson]

Just not sure why playing the mid high like I did made it sound better?  When I low passed it at 2500 along with HP for the tweeter I was missing something.

My guess is that the woofer creates pleasing distortion, 2nd and 4th order distortion (even-order) and it is adding to the sound that you hear (and like.)

Which is fine.


I also think you may be experiencing a heavy drop in certain frequencies due to time alignment/phase relationships and by effect, polarity (180 deg out of phase.)



Consider, just play one speaker at a time.  Dead-flat.  Play accurate music like testing discs, start with LF woofer at full-pass, and then adjust crossovers slowly.  Take a notepad and write down what you hear, as you listen.

You'll get about an hour max before your ears are worthless, and then you take a break and go at it again.  I usually go 20-30min on, 30 min off doing something else in relative silence.

Play your music on a set of quality headphones (I use Sennheisers as my base test) and listen for the way they convey the sounds you are replicating. 

There's always more.

 

[BiGMaC]

I helped build 2 vehicles with Alma Gates (Google her.. seriously) and her son While I lived in Payson... one was a Bronco which was national SPL champ for several years in the early 90's (180DB+) and also the national sound quality champ, an F250 SC.

Man first the BMW and now Alma.  You're reminding me of my old TeamROCS days!  She passed away not too long ago if you didn't know.

Yea... there was a big write-up in the Arizona Republic... passing of a legend.