waveguide speakers


What are the advantages/disadvantages of speakers with one driver loaded with a waveguide or both the tweeter and the mid/woofer loaded as such.

If I understand correctly distortion is lowered somewhat since less power is required, side wall reflections are reduced somewhat and the sweet spot is much larger.
Thanks
harley52
Also do some research on Audiokinesis speakers and their design principles. Dr. Geddes was a mentor to Duke LeJeune and both use waveguides in their designs.
The foam plug that Dr. Geddes uses is patented and a key part of the WG design. With over 21 patents, he has a clue!

Look at the bottom here. http://gedlee.com/Earl_resume.htm
As indicated above, Geddes is an expert on this. I have heard that Genelec was the first to produce speakers with waveguides. I have Mackie HR624mkiis that have waveguides and love them - way better than the "audiophile" speakers I have owned in the past - BW 805s, Acoustat, Rogers, Advent. Undoubtedly the waveguide has something to do with it since it allows dispersion to be controlled, particularly in the crossover region - it flattens the power response to that of the direct response and reduces early reflections as well. See the Geddes website - BTW the Mackies have a similar measured response (flat on-axis and smooth even tapering in the highs off-axis even in the xover region) to the Geddes speakers.