Is the ideal multi-way a 3-way with limited bass?

Wait wait, last week we were all schooled that all speakers sound exactly the same. Now we are being educated in how different speakers sound different depending on how they are built?

When will the madness end??

The differences that are reported are partly psychological. Some differences are real but are a result of POOR SPEAKER DESIGN. 
Now once you remove these, you are left with one conclusion. All speakers sound the same. REPEAT ten times after me. All speakers are the same and they SURE AS HELL SHOULD BE

What situation, other than aesthetics, will a huge floor stander be superior to relatively full range speaker as erik has described coupled with good subs?  The only case would be if the ideal place for the subs just happened to coincide with the location of the floor standers. That will rarely be the case.

kenjit1,170 posts11-13-2020 2:11pmPerfect sound reproduction requires flat response 20-20khz. Anything less is WRONG.

Perhaps you can explain to me kenjit, what, other than a digital audio chain and amplifiers have a flat 20-20KHz response in music recreation?  I can tell you that microphones don't. I can tell you that previously tape recorders did not.  I can tell you the recording and mastering engineer will rarely not play with frequency response. I can tell you that most recordings are done with a microphone close to the instrument or singer so the response is artificial already.

Now don't get me wrong, flat response in the right room sounds wrong, but perfect flat response isn't going to happen.

K, now don’t mix the pills up again. That’s one red and one green, not the red and green, that for constipation... ;-0

10 is way to many any ways.. I’ll try 5, can we cut a deal on that and go for a flat, two and a studer?.. Da, da ,done!

Control yourself man... LOL This is a pubic, bone.. ops...Public, forum!! :-)

One more thing K... The doppler, is transient, not all speakers do it, but it's real just like lobing, ringing and all kinds of design issues...NOT addressed by every speaker designer...$$$$$$$ is money right... Stuff cost money.. You get what you pay for sometimes.. or better yet Make for yourself...

Regards

oldhvymec,
Any speaker with a moving diaphragm will have doppler distortion. It is not transient, it is any time one driver is playing multiple frequencies. Reducing the travel of the travel for the same sound level will of course reduce the doppler distortion.  Reducing the frequency range of any given driver will reduce it.

This is just my two cents worth.  My room is a converted dining room.  It is not large and I wanted to hear full orchestra and rock out to The Who as well.   I found most large speakers, capable of such output have very little or no adjustability in the bass.  As a result, I have found, common wisdom is you have to match the speaker to the room, or use EQ and big bass traps.  I have enjoyed a number of satellite speakers with subwoofers of various brands, and carefully executed, they work well but I always found a disconnect in tonal accuracy.  Recently I walked into a dealer that introduced me to Vandersteen speakers with built-in and adjustable subwoofers.  Since I have never seen this idea in an analog based speaker, I decided to give them a try and ended up buying a pair of Quatro CTs, after trying them at home.  I was pleased to see that my room measures well in most low frequencies, but I did have to boost a bit at 20 hertz and take out a bit at 80 hertz.  The speaker made it possible.  EQ's have a bad name with purists because of phase shifts.  Since Vandersteen has put so much effort into being phase correct and devoloping the necessary driver technology to make that possible, I am certian they would not "mess it up" with the controls in the bass.  So far so good.  I am into them for a few months now.  This is one answer to your question and the right one for me.  I hope you find your solution as well.