Woofer-Assisted Wide Band


In the old days of dynamic speaker drivers everything was done with a single driver. Now multi-way speakers with multiple drivers covering different ranges are the most common.  With this of course come some issues, and all sorts of ways to fix them.

But even today in the 21st century there are some interesting varietals of single-driver speakers attempting to claim a spot on the high-end though. Some use little paper "whizzer" cones and transmission lines. Some use mechanical crossovers (no caps).  Others like Kef and Thiel attempt to solve some of the issues by using a coaxial arrangement.

One of the cool ideas I have seen lately is "woofer assisted wide-band." The idea is that the main speaker is a single driver that covers from around 400 Hz on up. This keeps the crossover well out of the midrange and treble. An additional woofer is used to cover the lower octaves.

What about you? Are you a firm believer that multi-way speakers are the wrong way to go?


erik_squires
My Ohm Sound Cylinders function well from 30 hz to 8k hz with a single 8 inch driver but need help in the last octave by using a pair of dome tweeters. They do sound stunningly coherent with this arrangement and come the closest to the "full range driver" principle. Second choice would be the Carver Amazing speaker - 4 12 inch woofers operating up to 150 hz and then a 48 inch ribbon out to 20k. They sounded remarkablely smooth and clear!