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So many drivers.....better sound or just more sound?

I am sitting in Seattle cut off from my job by the virus: the world all around me is going nutsy....so naturally my mind drifted to the question....."why so many drivers in some speakers?"  This has bugged me since i first heard the Pipedreams (twenty or so 4 inch drivers all the same in a row.... such a different design principle.  I would think you would want the best driver you could afford for a given application....cover the frequency range as accurately as you can afford and then worry about volume level, air moved etc.  For instance, i heard some McIntosh speakers at a friend's house a few months back.  they had 12 mids and 4 high drivers if i remember.  I guess maybe a bigger sound stage ?  That wan't obvious to me in my listening to them.   Am i missing something obvious?   Legacy speakers use like 11 drivers in a set of speakers.....how can they do that?  I would love to know the cost per driver of various speakers.    Not a deep subject but,  i am addled by rain, boredom and the fear that my 401 k is gone..........
Thanks
sm2727
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,895 posts
 
What I said was crystal clear to any non science denier - what is difficult to understand about breakup in the pass band ?
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,895 posts
 
But in general a line array has three major virtues ( if you want the seminal engineering text on the subject consult Harry Olson : Elements of Acoustical Engineering )

Controlled dispersion and relatively high output with a low duty cycle. virtues but with significant tradeoff.

 For those of us with real tangible ownership experience w line arrays, the magic is good and the downsides significant- often the designer ( really talented engineers like Nudel ( odd he didn’t join the “ we club of writers ‘ ) eventually end up with three line arrays...which dont blend all that well... when it fells - awesome, when they don’t maddening.... where is Infinity today ? And they were built with mostly stellar drivers.

as mentioned  By others, all speakers involve trades and most engineered to a price point - enjoy the music...
cd318
2,636 posts
 
As an owner of Tannoy dual-concentrics I have an innate prejudice against line arrays that just won't go away.

I know they can sound lovely, but it is what it is.
richopp
760 posts
 
Check out the speakers made by Magnepan.  They incorporate a stretched length of Mylar as a "driver" for their speakers rather than a number of drivers.  Tweeters vary from ribbons to Mylar depending upon the model and when it was made.

You might notice the sound of the music is close to the sound of the music live as well.

Cheers!
dwmaggie
222 posts
 
SM2727 stay well, take care of yourself.  +1richopp.  Levity, "An long tall speakers, with music up to yar".  Apologies to Leo Sayer.  Buy the speakers your ears like, preferable after listening with your equipment and listening room.  Bryston has a 20 year warranty, I remember reading somewhere, here or there.
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