2-way speaker with best bass

The cone of a loudspeaker "breaks up" well below the frequency where it quits making sound. "Breaks up" means that different parts of the cone vibrate at frequencies that have more to do with the cone's mechanical caracteristics than the music. In other words, noise. This sound is undesirable, and should be eliminated by use of an electrical crossover of one kind or another. Output at the desired music frequencies aproaching breakup also exhibits large dips and spikes, also undesirable.

Some cone drivers are better than others. Exceptionally good ones are called "full range". They experience cone breakup too, but the spurious sound is of a pleasant nature that some people like.

This was meant more in the spirit of a "best of" list, rather than as a consultation regarding a specific system.

Recently I briefly heard a diminutive Sonus Faber speaker (not sure which model) putting out prodigious quantities of bass, driven by a Simaudio I-7 integrated, though ultimately it struck me as tending more to the one-note variety.

BTW, I'm surprised to see no votes yet for the Mani-2. What else are the heavy-hitters in this field?

Merlin VSM-MXe with BAM, incredible bass quality for a two-way.

Twoleftears:

Bass extension and response depends so much on the listening room size and what's in it. Thick carpeting makes a huge difference over even thinner commercial grade carpet. Drapes and upholstered furniture helps tremendously. A first floor room on a slab (vs say a wooden floor with a basement underneath) is a more difficult environment for bass production. The same two way speaker can sound so fantastic in a smaller room with the right treatments vs even a slightly larger room without the right "bass traps" inside. Adding a 2nd powered subwoofer and bass traps are excellent suggestions.

Having said this, I would say a two way speaker with a mid-range/bass driver in the 7" to 8" diameter area vs the more popular 5" to 6" size will produce more bass ext. The Focal 807V Chorus 2-way speaker for example has a 7" mid-range/bass driver with a low frequency point of 41hz. Just a suggestion.

Talon Raven-C