2. speakers
  3. 148768-20253

Speaker of the Century Award Goes To ....

The 2.5 way speaker.


You guys probably thought I was going to fanboy over a brand, and I'm not. I'm going to fanboy over a speaker design. IMHO the 2.5 way speaker is THE ideal high end speaker for the majority of enthusiasts.


First, what is a 2.5 way? It is a speaker with 3 drivers, but the mid range lacks a high pass filter, so  it shares output with the woofer.  It has a number of advantages over smaller and larger speakers:
  • Similar footprint to stand mounted 2-way speakers
  • Ideal bass output for apartments and modest homes
  • Easier to integrate than big speakers
  • No subwoofer
  • High sensitivity compared to a 2-way using similar drivers
  • Reasonably priced


A number of brands have taken this approach including:
  • Focal
  • Joseph
  • Monitor Audio
  • DIY kits like the Klang Ton Ophelia, and Zaph Audio

So for the average enthusiast who is not a San Francisco billionaire I argue here (for the sake of an argument) that the 2.5 way speaker should be considered one of the great technical innovations in terms of users and results.
erik_squires
teo_audio
2,197 posts
 
Many three driver speakers these days, with a tweeter on top with two woofers below... can be looked at as likely being 2.5 way-ish.

A large number of the paradigms that have been built in this fashion are 2.5 way speakers.

Again about the planars folks, don’t get me wrong, I like them all too. Dr West makes some fabulous ones...and if you want to talk about complex designs, there’s a good place to start...
yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
5,653 posts
 
I’ve owned Spendor that was a 2.5 way design and they sounded outstanding. My friend has the Proac D48R and it is another great sounding 2.5 way sounding speaker!
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
My answer to the original post is: None 
In order to be a "speaker of the century" it would have to be a lot better than anything currently being manufactured. There are so many wonderful transducers, it would have to show dominant superiority, and currently there is no such technology.  Imo, a 2.5 way is a nonstarter for such an award.  YMMV  

erik_squires OP
16,039 posts
 
Sorry DS, that's not the criteria I am using. :)

The "Speaker of the Century" is about what's best for the median enthusiast. What speaker is great sounding, affordable and live-able.
Under these criteria, the 2.5 has a lot going for it.

The whole point of this thread is to put entry to mid level enthusiasts front and center. Leave the super speaker reviews to the rags. :)
rpeluso
1,044 posts
 
My set of "augmented one-way" UniField 3 MII speakers are pretty great.  So I nominate this design for consideration.  For what that may be worth.  Most likely nothing, to anyone other than me.  Highs, mids, lows, imaging, beauty both in sound and visually.  
More to discover