Crossover-less Speakers

I use the Bob Brines FTA-2000s now. I owned GMA Europas,several Maggies,Paradigms,Omega,Soliloquy 6.3s and a few others. I consider them full range as a whole. Lows are very good without being over blown or bloaty. I only use a sub for movies or compressed MP3 music which sound better with over blown bass..lol. My speakers do have baffle step correction circuits installed..these aren't crossovers though. They help give the speaker a very flat frequency response without the shout associated with some crossover less wide range speakers. The bass roll off is also very smooth and clean. Transmission line bass done right is hard to beat.

They won't play at extreme sound pressure levels. Meaning over 100 dB or so. Not a problem for me since I never listen at these levels any way.

Active speakers do not have crossovers in the traditional sense (where up to half the energy is absorbed in a passive filtering circuit and with all kinds of associated phase issues). Add active speakers to your list to audition and you may be surprised.

I'm currently using a pair of single driver crossoverless speakers built by Larry Moore of UltraFi Audio. They are a simple bass reflex enclosure and use the Hemp Acoustics FR8.0DIY driver. For reference, here is a link to a review of my actual speakers (I bought the review pair):

http://www.hempacoustics.com/Review.pdf

I really like these speakers in my small-med room and with my choice of music. I do not have any need or desire to suppliment the bass with a subwoofer. I don't notice any frequency anomolies and the high frequency response seems well extended and as crisp as it should be.

My setup is fairly near-field with the plane of the speaker being about 6 feet from my listening position. In this setup vocals are distinctly front and center, leaning toward forward. Imaging is spooky good with the soundstage spread well outside the edges of the speakers.

Overall, I'm very happy with these speakers, especially considering their modest price.

My most recent speaker before these were Reference 3A MM DeCapos. I've also owned Tyler Audio Taylo Reference Monitors, a pair of Italian made monitors from MTD, a pair of Triangle Titus XS and various assorted mid prices speakers.

With my current amp and CD player, these speakers produce the best sound I've heard in my system.

However, I will caution you that all single driver speakers are not magical. At least not to me. I've heard or owned severl other moderately priced single driver speakers and I could not live with many of them. Some were shouty, some had inadequate bass extension and some just sounded like an old am transistor radio! I would suggest listening before buying, or only buy something that has a huge following that can be quickly re-sold if you don't like them.

Enjoy,

TIC

The Lens by 47 Laboratory.
One of the finest speakers I have ever listened to.