2. speakers
  3. 135527-20253

Is the 2.5 way speaker the ideal home speaker?

Time for what I hope is another fun thread. 

One type of speaker which is actually pretty common but which gets little press / attention here on audiogon is the 2.5 way. 

A 2.5 way speaker is almost a 3-way, but it isn't. It is a speaker with 3 drivers, but instead of a tweeter, midrange and woofer (TMW) it lacks a true midrange. The "midrange" is really a mid-woofer, that shares bass duties with the woofer. Often these two drivers are identical, though in the Focal Profile 918 the midwoofer and woofer were actually different drivers with the same nominal diameter (6"). 

The Monitor Audio 200 is a current example of the concept, but I am sure there are many others. It's also quite popular in kit form. One of the most high-end kits I know of is the Ophelia based on a ScanSpeak Be tweeter and 6" Revelator mid-woofers. I haven't heard them, but I am in eternal love with those mid-woofers. I believe the original plans come from the German speaker building magazine Klan Ton. 

However many other kits are also available

But regardless of kit, or store purchased, are you a 2.5 way fan? Why or why not? 

Best,


Erik 
erik_squires
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,426 posts
 
Thank you Erik.   Link you provided states that range of fundamental for woman voice is 165-225Hz  while I found this:
http://www.seaindia.in/blog/human-voice-frequency-range/

that states: 350Hz - 3kHz for fundamental frequency - about 15 times higher.  I don't doubt Wikipedia and just wonder.  Could this be that "typical" voice is in narrower range while soprano can get 15x (almost 3 octave) higher?   Perhaps it is "talking" (Wikipedia stated "speech") vs. "singing". 

I appreciate your comment about "not laser like" start of beaming phenomena - my tweeters might already provide wider dispersion where large midrange speaker starts to beam.
erik_squires OP
16,013 posts
 
Be careful reading that. There is a significant difference between the fundamental and the range. The fundamentals are the bottom, pure note. But the range is far higher.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,426 posts
 
Erik,  Paradigm Studio 60 v2, I had before, was sold at about $1k.  It usually means that manufacturer sell them for $500.  In my company cost of materials is about 30% of the cost of the product.  That would imply $170-200  for three speakers, box, xover etc.  I did not like sound of the metal dome tweeter and found it to be one of the cheapest Vifa tweeters available.  It is very tempting to build speaker using the best drivers available, including underhung motors etc.  Unfortunately I already attempted to replace this Vifa tweeter and to redesign xover with high quality components.  The purchase of Hyperion speakers was direct result of this attempt.  Perhaps I'll learn more and try again one day.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,426 posts
 
Erik, they stated "fundamental" . For harmonics they claim 17kHz (hard to believe).

I found that high "C" for soprano is about 1kHz, but they can produce "whistle tone" (or falsetto) at D7 or 2349.3 Hz and this is the highest voice human being can produce - hence 3kHz is not even possible.
sethtuber's avatar
sethtuber
1 posts
 
I am very happy with my Advent Heritage speakers which are a 2.5 way design. This is for two main reasons - they were a little over a hundred dollars including the refoam kit and they sound great. Also they come in a cabinet that is solid pecan front and back. Also they are fairly efficient. Lovely bass extension and nicely detailed treble. It did take several hours to replace the surrounds on all 4 drivers but so worth it. Currently powering them with Kenwood M1/C1 set at 105 wpc. 
More to discover