The heart of the loudspeaker is the crossover, and the entire creation is either crowned or damned by the success of this one element. All of our crossover networks are optimized for flat frequency response, proper phase summation, and maximum transient accuracy with minimum group delay. Each network is point-to-point wired to avoid the parasitic effects of pc-board type construction, and uses custom designed film/foil capacitors manufactured exclusively for Rockport Technologies as well as custom inductors and Caddock power resistors, and all components are matched to within 1% tolerance.
It’s almost a shame that no one will ever see one of our crossovers in a finished loudspeaker. That’s because after being assembled with custom built matched components, carefully hand soldered, and subjected to a rigorous series of final tests with the actual drivers it will be matched to, each crossover network is completely encapsulated with a proprietary damping epoxy to minimize magnetostrictive and microphonic effects before it is installed into one of our loudspeakers. Unfortunately, Steve’s handiwork on these crossover networks may never be seen, but more importantly for the listener, the crossover points will also never be heard.
What really sets our crossover networks apart however, is that each individual network is fine tuned with the exact loudspeaker that it will be used with. Through an exhaustive and iterative process, a number of select-on-test nodes are optimized throughout a series of measurements which ensures ideal frequency and phase behavior for each loudspeaker. This level of performance cannot be achieved by simply installing a group of crossover networks into a group of loudspeakers with the expectation that the drive unit’s responses are all uniform enough to guarantee optimum response with the crossovers. We understand that this kind of individual attention to every loudspeaker is a foreign concept to most manufacturers, but it is absolutely essential to repeatably producing the best possible loudspeaker.
While there’s much discussion about the parallel between a loudspeaker’s measured performance and its sound, one thing is certain. Awesome loudspeakers only sound great when they are great. A truly excellent loudspeaker, by definition, must also be technically competent. Every Rockport Technologies loudspeaker is subjected to an extensive battery of tests during its design and through production. Whether it be a cabinet’s lack of resonant signature, an acoustic cumulative spectral decay plot free from stored energy, or simply flat frequency response and an impedance curve that allows the speaker to be driven by “real” amplifiers, our loudspeakers demonstrate technical excellence.