Crossover components

[John Roman]

Hello,
I'm trying to finalize some crossovers on a pair of speakers. I wondering how much difference the type of inductor used can make? Specifically a wire wound as opposed to a foil type. I realize there is a significant cost difference, but sonically I'm unsure. Also the crossover for the bass driver calls for an 8 ohm 15 watt resister. Where can I get some excellent quality resistors?
Thanks, John

[corndog71]

Over the past few years I've learned a ton about upgrading crossover parts.  I have one pair of Klipsch speakers that I put foil chokes in and they made a big difference.  Completely changed the quality of bass for the better!  ERSE makes very good foil and regular (Perfect-Lay Air Core) chokes and aren't too crazy priced.  If you can, avoid any iron core inductors.  Air Core versions are measurably and sonically superior.

For resistors I use Mills from Parts express.  They come with 12watt ratings which I would think would work fine in your application.

Caps in the tweeter circuit will bring the most noticeable change.  ERSE Pulse-X are very good but a bit on the warm side.  If you have metal tweeters then they would probably work well.  If your tweeters aren't metal then I would recommend Sonicaps.  They cost a bit more but offer superior resolution over the ERSE caps.

[Thoburn]

Jon Ver Halen of Lowther America <http://www.lowther-america.com/> told me he considers Duelund to be the best crossover resisters available. I used them in a BSC circuit in a set of MLTL cabinets I built using Lowther DX4 drivers. I did not try any others, so can't coment further other than to say I was happy with the result.  As always, YMMV.

http://www.duelundaudio.com/Resistors.asp