[Vintage-Audio] Times Change - Crossover Frequencies Do Too

[Duane Fischer, W8DBF]

I was noticing that all of the speaker systems I have from 1995 to 2003,
crossover at 400-450 Hz and 2000-3000 Hz. All are three-way systems; B&W 630,
Paradigm 9S and Paradigm Monitor 9S.	
	
Whereas the midrange and the woofer used to share the low mids and the midrange
and the tweeter used to share the high mids, not so any longer.	
	
The woofer and the midrange appear to do less and the tweeter more. Why is this?
I do not personally consider "highs" to start at 2KHZ or 3KHZ, more like 4.5 - 6
KHZ. Depending how you look at the math, allowing for variances among
manufacturers, the older systems used the woofer about 3.5 times more than today
and the midrange 5.8 times more than the present. Why is so much of today's
audio being fed into tweeters at frequencies four times below where they should
be coming into action at?	
	
Now when my fourteen year old grandson can tell Grandpa what speaker system is
being employed from the opposite end of my home, I need to turn it down! (LOL!)
Just kidding, as I do not like to experience the room shake effect while
listening to music. The music that I feel is due to emotion, not vibration. He
can tell if I have the James B. Lansing Century L-100 in use or the B&W 630
bi-wired. So it is not just a nostalgia issue here guys! If a teenager can tell
without looking, there is something happening!	
	
Duane w8DBF