Which sounds better 2 way or 3 way speaker design

@sounds_real_audio wrote:

Not sure anyone knows what a two and a half way is

Come on..

@rauliruegas wrote:

Now, a woofer in a 2-way design usually crossover around 2khz and the most critical frequencies are handled by that woofer and it’s here where is developed that high IMD due that that woofer handled from around 40hz and up and that developed IMD puts a lot of " dust " in the midrange and in the HF because we have to remember that everywhere are developed harmonics that starts in the bass range.

+1

@toddalin wrote:

"Dedicated midrange driver" is typically an oxymoron and very few three-way systems will not put some of the midrange in the woofer and/or tweeter. You would need to run the driver from ~80Hz-~4kHz for it truly to be "dedicated" to the midrange.

True, referring to a midrange driver as "dedicated" is with most any speaker design incorrect, and that’s even without taking into consideration the harmonics which are somewhat higher in nature and are said to extend an octave or two beyond ~4kHz.

However having a high efficiency woofer section with prodigious displacement area that’s high-passed steeply below ~80Hz bodes well for covering the lower range of the midrange, not least considering that it’s effectively freed of LF and in all but the most insane SPL situations will see virtually no visible excursion. That’s something very few speaker designs can make a claim to do.

raulirueguegas : what is. a 2,5 way speaker?

A 2-1/2 (2.5 way) uses two "lower frequency" "drivers" and an "upper frequency" "driver".

One of the "lower frequency" drivers is allowed to play all the way down to its lower limit and crossed over to the "upper frequency" driver just as a typical 2-way speaker would be crossed-over (or bi-amped).

The other "lower frequency" driver is also played down to its lower limit and is not allowed to play up to the high frequency driver, but rather rolled off at some lower point.

The "upper frequency" driver, is just that.

Any of the drivers can be any of the designs (e.g., cone, horn, Heil, electrostatic, etc.) so long as it can do the job and that has nothing to do with the number of "ways" in the system.  So, at least in theory, if you add a sub to a 2-way, you now have a 2.5-way.

I have two 2.5 ways myself. One is a Super Big Red that uses a Utah aux woofer (the 0.5 way), the Altec 604’s paper cone, and the Altec 604’s integrated horn.

The other is my own creation and uses a JBL 18" woofer (the 0.5-way), a JBL 9.7" woofer, and a Heil AMT.

The JBL 2235 is their contribution to the 2.5-way market.

Ooops, 4435.  Stupid edit time out!

Definitely 3 way !
ALL 2 way have a hole in middle and are compromised ! and my Vintage 40 yr old Allison AL130 ( 3 way w/ push pull twin 8" woofers and the unique CONVEX mids and tweeters ) not to mention unusual crossover points! = 450Hz and 4,000 HZ ( adroitly bypasses the midrange and voice issue ? ) are vastly superior to MANY modern high-end speakers! ( note they were $1,200-1,500 back in day so about $ $11,200 today! defo "high end " speakers if sold today!
too bad so sad noone can make the unique and proprietary and nearly IMPOSSIBLE to make tweeters and mids ( they were actually assembled by robots! YES! )
add a couple modern GR research open baffle servo subs or a vented and sealed combo of 2 servo subs your fav brand and you will have near-perfection ( filter to the speakers at 80-90 Hz fr subs so the tower speaker woofers just do low bass ! )