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single driver speakers

Someone please help me out here...

I am struggling to understand how a single driver system can sound anywhere near as good as a multiple-driver system with crossovers...

I understand that crossovers and multiple drivers can have issues with interference, phase, etc - but those drawbacks would seem to be vastly outweighed by the increased frequency response and clarity within a frequency spectrum that a multi-driver system produces.

I see these

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis8ij2i-voxativ-ampeggio-due-70-off-priced-to-move-full-range

and just can not wrap my mind around how they could sound better than a multi-driver system costing 1/10 as much. (no knock intended on the seller of these speakers, I was just browsing listings and saw them so it made me wonder)

Thanks!
babyseaotter99
mozartfan
2,143 posts
 
Again If
anyone here can put up a  fast shooter that will out draw this 
1929 
Field Coil in midrange/vocal PRESENCE.
Please post, and meet at the OK Corral, sundown,.
btw did not care for any of your 3 speaker choices. back to Square 1 The 1929 Field Coil design. 

Few xover/boxes can match this midrange/voice presence. 
Unreal
WE all been on the wrong path to speaker heaven. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrqv5nOjLuw
oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 
Strunz & Farah "Rainmaker" is one of my test tracks.. If a speaker system can get by that track and sound GREAT.. I'm all for it..

RMx Elixirs or RM30, MY MB columns and GRs OB servo system..

I've heard better but 10X my price range and 10X the cost to treat a room to make them work right..

A 1k system was great to get my attention. It took a 10k system, to beat that. AND a 100k system to beat that.. 10k is fine, 1K is even better. :-)

Regards
larryi
4,038 posts
 
First, I would like to correct something I said above--The Charney speaker that I really liked was the Companion with the AER driver, although the Voxativ driver was a pretty close second (AER had better top end extension).  I would like, someday, to hear the bigger Concerto speaker.  The Charney and Voxativ Ampeggio are the only single-driver systems (not counting coaxial speakers) that I found to be complete in their capability and lacking in excessive tonal coloration.

The realm of fullrange driver systems becomes much more interesting when such drivers are used in multi-way systems.  An ideal system, to me, would be an old Jensen M10 field coil used as a woofer/midrange and a Western Electric 597 field coil tweeter.  The cabinet would have an open back (to allow for cooling of the field coil drivers) so it would be, in essence, an open baffle system.  I've heard such a system with the M10 and a Jensen RP302 tweeter and can only imagine how much better the 597 tweeter would be.  

Nonetheless, I don't think any one particular approach is the be-all-and-end-all.  I have heard plenty of systems using all kinds of wildly different drivers and approaches that sound quite good, although good in different ways.  For the crowd that appreciates the dynamics, immediacy and lively realism of full/wide range drivers, there are other approaches that work well too.  I happen to like multi-way systems with compression driver/horn midranges and tweeters.
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