Terminology gets a little confusing...What is the name given to a full range drivers without crossover vs full range with crossover?
Coaxials - Reality vs. Experience?
Should say "hype vs. reality" in the headline.
Coaxial speaker design has been around in one way or another for a long time. I often think I’ll be absolutely blown away by them, but in practice traditional vertical layout speakers often have sound as good, or have other features that make them sound better.
Thiel, KEF, Monitor Audio, Tekton, Seas are among the many players attempting such designs, but none has, by the coaxial drivers alone, dominated a segment of the market.
What are your listening experiences? Is it 1 coaxial speaker that won you over, or have you always preferred them?
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- 97 posts total
@tomcy6 For me: Coherent, natural sound with solid & sharp imaging, because the tweeter and mid/woofer covering the critical midrange crossover point act more like a single point source rather than a tweeter and woofer barking at you from different locations.
Yes, coherent is the word. I'd say it's a little bit like listening to a mono sound source like a single driver kitchen radio. It's a less busy sound, more laid-back and one that's easier to follow, but one that still strangely seems to have plenty of detail. As you said earlier, "Tannoys are not for everyone - you either "get them" or you don’t."
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I own some older small KEFs I use as nearfield studio monitors (and have owned some nice largeer KEFs) and they sound great. Also, I don’t think anybody should equate a single driver/whizzer cone with a true coax. I used old Altec coax stuff years ago in studios and they were superb, heard Tannoys sound great, and although I haven’t heard the new Andrew Jones MoFi speakers they’re certainly getting great reviews, and his explanation of the design is interesting. 10" speaker moves very little providing some serious loading to the tweeter. |
Running altec 604-8G coaxials in 9 cu ft cabinets with phase aligned crossovers. Really lovely to listen to, and have heard nothing comparable. Best to give a listen to a good coaxial implementation and make up your own mind. Different people have different ears, different perspectives, and different objectives. |
I was really thinking about my Dad's coax driver from the mid sixties 😁....I'm not knocking coaxial drivers, I just said they aren't the ONLY way to go, or at least that was what I was suggesting. I do have a pair of KEF LS-50s in my garage, so there is that.... |
- 97 posts total