X-Over

An abbreviation for “crossover.” A crossover is a device designed to divide audio information into smaller frequency ranges to comply with the requirements of different transducers in an audio reproduction system. This is accomplished by running the audio through a set of filters. For example, a two-way crossover may be comprised of a low-pass and high-pass filter where the low pass filter passes a signal with frequencies optimized for a woofer and the high-pass filter passes frequencies the tweeter can deal with. Crossovers can be passive or active designs. Passive crossovers are usually found inside speaker cabinets along with the speaker components. Active crossovers are placed before the power amp. In that application, each frequency range is given its own power amp and its own drivers.