how to tell if a TAD 803 is 2005 2 way version?


"2005 produced 2-ways (last of them close out priced, now gone) have a crossover with a main driver that plays up to 3kHz - many said this speaker is too hot on top. Newer 2006 crossover-less design has a 10k main driver that is directly wired to the binding posts, plays close to flat on top."
paul

i bought a pair from a nice audiogoner who didn't realize there was an 803 and an 803sd (mine just say 803) and then i just read paul's post quoted above, so i'm wondering how i can tell what speaker it really is as i really wanted to try a single driver speaker.

as always, thanks for any help everyone
thomp9015
well, first it's not really a single driver speaker. it's a wide range driver coupled to an attenuated tweeter. semantics.

i suppose the best way is to open them up. if there's a crossover inside, it's the two-way. if there's no crossover per se, but one resistor in the tweeter circuit, it's the other.
I think Paul put a sticker under the grills of some of the ones he converted to the single-driver model, although I had one pair that was the SD version that didn't have the sticker.

I can tell you that the SD version sounds markedly rolled off in the treble compared to other speakers. It may play "close to flat" on top if "close" is defined as -3dB at 15kHz and around -6dB at 20kHz...
musicdoc, thanks for letting me know how to tell by actually examining the guts of the speaker, but i wanted to know how to figure it out without de-coupling the cabinet/driver...which leads me to a mild complaint about yout post, less about stereos than communication....

"well, first it's not really a single driver speaker. it's a wide range driver coupled to an attenuated tweeter. semantics."

Musicdoc

i know you probably did not mean it, but...
well first...if it is semantics, what's your point? that such usage is evidence that i lack status (or ??) of some sort or degree...even if the speaker designer and everyone else who talks about the TAD 803s refers to them as single driver, even when they point out that lil' horn loaded thingie on top?

if they are all wrong just give them evidence demonstrating the importance of the semantics, admittedly part of a much larger issue, as i simply enjoy sweet sounding monitors like the TAD and will refer to better references than anonymous cybernauts when i feel i need an education, semantic, electronic, or otherwise; i don't pay significant bucks for on-line access to gratify others' insecurities by enduring such passive aggression, i.e., see my prior post relevant to this same egocentrism...IMHO

season's greetings to all (including you musicdoc, whoever you are [remember Zappa at the end of Bongo Fury: "goodnight Austin Texas wherever you are"])

"information is not knowledge, knowledge is not truth, truth is not wisdom, wisdom is not beauty, beauty is not art, art is not music, music is the best"
FZ

cheers
my post was in no way intended to be an indictment, criticism, sarcasm, condescension, or the like.

and no offense, but read your own reactionary post and see if it doesn't in some way reflect what you presumptuously infer about me. everyone is free to his or her own opinion, truth, reality etc.

i was simply making a point, which is the seller is misrepresenting the product to an *eensy weensy* degree. single driver by definition is just that--no more, no less.

that said, i own and enjoy what i would call the "wide range" version.

peace. may we all in some way benefit from each other's input here, even with the limitations of language, the limitations of words on a screen devoid of intonation or intention.