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Speaker Controllers
And now, regarding speaker controllers and history …
Hey,
I DON'T LIKE YOUR TONE OF VOICE, SOUNDMAN!
Please explain to a newbie: what are speaker controllers, what
do they do,
are they necessary for a smaller system?
LET'S SEE - BACK WHEN WE WERE INVENTING THE WHEEL, WE USED "STAND
ALONE" DEVICES KNOWN AS CROSSOVERS, EQUALIZERS, LIMITERS, AND
DELAYS. WE WOULD COMBINE THEM IN ORDER TO APPLY THEIR FUNCTIONS
TO A GIVEN SYSTEM. SOME OF US KNEW WHAT EACH ONE DID, AND HOW TO
USE THEM PROPERLY!
ONE OF THE FIRST INNOVATORS (OR MAD FIENDS) TO BUILD A BLACK BOX
THAT COMBINED A LIMITING DEVICE WITH A CROSSOVER WAS A LAD FROM
A TOWNSHIP IN CALIFORNIA WHICH IS OFTEN REFERRED TO BY ITS OWN CITIZENS
AS THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF BERKELEY. THIS YOUNG MAN WAS CALLED
SQUIRE LITTLEJOHN, WHO HAD LEFT ROBIN HOOD'S MERRY BAND AND SWITCHED
OVER TO A CAREER IN AUDIO. HIS DEVICE HAD A LOT OF SPAGHETTI HOOKED
ONTO IT, THAT SERVED A PURPOSE, OF "SENSING" WHEN AMPS
WERE RUNNING TOO HARD, AND MIGHT BLOW UP THE SPEAKERS THEY WERE
DRIVING.
OTHER GANGS OF ARCHERS AND BAGPIPE PLAYERS SAW THAT LITTLEJOHN'S BOX WAS A GOOD THING IN MANY WAYS. IT KEPT JOE BLOW FROM DRUNKENLY EXPERIMENTING WITH THE CROSSOVER SETTINGS. IT HELPED KEEP STUFF FROM EXPLODING.
UNFORTUNATELY A DRAGON CALLED "DIGITAL" THEN CAME TO TOWN. CERTAIN MANUFACTURING HOODLUMS WANTED TO BE FASHIONABLE, SO THEY DALLIED WITH THE DIGITAL DRAGON, WITHOUT DE-BUGGING IT. SO LO AND BEHOLD, THEY CREATED CONTROLLERS THAT WOULD HAVE A FIT WHEN OVERLOADED, AND THENCEFORTH CREATE MANY DECIBELS OF DIGITAL HASH, WHICH IS A MOST UNPLEASANT SOUND, AND ANNOYED THE ROYALTY TO NO END.
OTHER SPEAKER MANUFACTURERS THEN RELEASED CONTROLLERS THAT HAD SETTINGS IN THEM DERIVED IN ANECHOIC ROOMS, RATHER THAN AT A CONCERT WITH LEMMY DOING HIS THING. UNMUSICAL FREQUENCIES WERE INEXPLICABLY ACCENTUATED.
THE BAND MIXERS AND SOUND COMPANY SOLDIERS IN THE FIELD RIGHTFULLY EXPERIENCED THIS AS ALIENATING ARROGANCE, WHICH THEN LED TO A STAMPEDE AWAY FROM THE MANUFACTURERS' PROPRIETARY CONTROLLERS. A GREAT DEAL OF INCOME WAS GIVEN INSTEAD TO COMPANIES LIKE THOSE OF THE SHERIFF OF BROOKE-SIREN, AND THE ELVES OVER AT THE HAMLET CRYPTICALLY CALLED XTA.
ARE THESE BOXES NECESSARY? NO. ARE THEY DESIRABLE? YES.
IT IS ALL ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD. AS ARE SO MANY THIINGS IN THIS LIFE, AM I RIGHT?
I'm running 250-300 watt speakers with passive crossovers and no subs.
WHO CARES?
Plan to add subs sometime and upgrade to better/heavier duty speakers.
THAT'S PRETTY ORIGINAL. DID THOSE MORONS ON THE LAB RECOMMEND THAT
YOU DO THAT?
What do I need to know about speaker controllers?
PLEASE REFER TO MY ANSWER TO YOUR ORIGINAL QUESTION.
from - Jamforlamb
I AM NOT PICKING ON YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE A RELIGIOUS GUY, JAMMIE, SOME OF MY BUDDIES ARE TOO. BUT YOU WOULDN'T WANT ME TO SHOW FAVORITISM TO YOU, EITHER, WOULD YOU? YOU KNEW YOU WOULD HAVE TO RUN THE GAUNTLET WHEN YOU WROTE IN TO ME, RIGHT, PAL? YOU KNOW YOU LOVE IT!
LUV
- THE OLD SOUNDMAN
P.S. ALL SELF-DEFINED NEWBIES SHOULD GO TO STUDY HALL, IT IS A VERY HELPFUL SECTION OF THE SITE.
