active speakers, Paradise? Trouble in paradise?

Without disputing the discussion re: x-over and beaming which, in my view, is spot on, people might want to consider the other side of the coin.

If you cross from the mid driver to the tweeter much below 2K, you're nearing the a region where our hearing is more sensitive. Some would say that a well designed x-over circuit mated to appropriate drivers anywhere north of One-ish khz minimizes damage, but others disagree. The single driver crowd is all over this one.

I mentioned omnis earlier (and noted that they ARE rare) because they do satisfy both of these concerns. One driver is nearly full range (75hz to 7khz in my case) with only a subwoofer and (effictively) a supertweeter to augment. Dispersion remain essentially consistent without the need for x-over circuits where they MIGHT cause mischief.

Obviously, all designs involve trade-offs. This is just one more "recipe" to consider.

Marty

Marty,

The Ohm design deserves a whole discussion in itself. I do not believe that they are immune from the laws of physics - and a large radiating surface is still going to beam - but by changing the orientation of the cone the beaming will occur towards the ceiling and in the direction of the cone movement (which still yields a reduced dispersion in the horizontal plane at higher frequencies)

Shad,

Fair observation. However, I have measured on axis (uni mic) and something like power response (multi sweeps with an omni mic) at my listening position. I suspect that you'd be pretty impressed by both the absolute quality of each measurement and by the convergence between them.

BTW, I've treated the crap out of the room (absorbtion, diffusion, hemholtz, etc.) and use DRC EQ below 75hz, which helps.

As I indicated earlier, omnis are merely one more way to
skin this particular part or our common SQ cat and, while I think it's a good approach, I'm the first to admit that it is neither perfect, nor suitable for every taste.

Marty

My Genelec 8020B have a 4 inch mid/woofer and are crossed over at 3 KHz.

The dispersion is nice and even but the woofer is small and Genelec provide plots (which you can find on line)