Electro-Voice XEQ-2
A single-channel electronic crossover that made you buy two, tune a module, and earn every bit of the result.
Overview
The XEQ-2 is an equalized, single-channel electronic crossover. Read that first part twice, because a stereo system needed two of them. That means two chassis, two power cords and two sets of modules.
Crossover frequency lives in a plug-in module. You order it from stock, or have one custom-made for a non-standard frequency.
Time alignment comes from a variable time delay. It delays the low-frequency channel relative to the high.
Two details reward a close look.
Period coverage was thin but real. Modern Recording (July 1981, p.38) noted the XEQ-2's introduction as an active crossover/equalizer designed to complement E-V's line for the sound reinforcement market. DB-Magazine (July 1987, p.72) listed the XEQ-2 alongside its successor the XEQ-3. It described the two-way unit as having 18 dB per octave slope, low-frequency Thiele EQ, variable time delay, and plug-in crossover frequency and high-frequency EQ modules. The XEQ-3 moved to fourth-order Linkwitz-Riley networks at 24 dB per octave, added a level display and per-output polarity and mute switches, and listed at $716.00. The XEQ-2's own original price isn't documented in the sources at hand.
The XEQ-2 is flexible and deeply configurable, and that is also where the complication comes from. Stereo takes two units, and each frequency and horn needs its own module. The manual is full of formulas for the owner who wants to go off-menu.
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