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How come that when most audiophiles

follow the philosophy of "shorter, less complex signal path is better", they then wire their carefully chosen equipment to speaker cabinets filled with a boatload of transformers, capacitors, resistors, and drivers which exhibit gross non-linearities which are only compounded by adding them all together? I believe that the reason is the "specification game" again, where people believe that speakers must have a frequency response from DC to light +-3db, and as a result, speaker systems must have many drivers to cover the range. Notice the specs only show freq. response, and nothing about phase non-linearity induced by multiple crossover components. This seems to be a non-linearity in system philosophy where short signal path does not apply to speaker systems, but is paramount in all other aspects of the system. I use a direct input from source to OTL amp and DIY Fostex based 1-way speaker cabinets. The result is very natural, dynamic, phase-coherent,detailed, and revealing. The only non-linearities I have to deal with are the ones inherent in the driver/cabinet combo. With some careful design and impedence curve mods, I get a more musical sound than any "high end" speakers I have ever heard(and I've heard alot) as well as any of the multi-way speakers I've ever designed and built(also alot). Why do you think that there is this disconnect in thinking regarding short signal path as it relates to speakers?
twl
twl OP
3,251 posts
 
I agree Viridian, that the above mentioned non-linearities should not be minimized. However, driver/cabinet non-linearities are present in all dynamic speaker systems regardless of the number of drivers. So are speaker/room interface problems and amp/driver impedance matches/mismatches. In my above design description, I attempted to explain the methods used to overcome some of these problems the best I could. I have admitted to max. spl limitations, and, at higher volumes, the attendant dynamic range limitations. These are not conflicting with my normal listening volume requirements. Of course, as you mention, IM distortion is present inherently in any driver that produces more than one frequency simultaneously as is also the case in multi-way systems, although I will agree that it may be more problematic in single driver setups. However, if you have ever done any speaker design work, you are aware that the above problems are not solved by multi-way systems. In fact, crossover slope overlap, phase shift,signal loss, even more complex impedance mismatches at diverse frequency points, image shift, and sometimes efficiency level are added to the problems you mentioned. I am not claiming perfection for my speaker design, but am merely pointing out the benefits of short signal path/low complexity philosophy as regards speaker systems in a properly designed one way system.
twl OP
3,251 posts
 
And, I might add, that since I have no commercial expectations, and have only done these speakers for my own pleasure, I have selflessy divulged virtually all of the design parameters to all on this board so that if anyone is so inclined, they may have an easier time of DIY. My sweat can be their gain. I have found the people here to be knowledgable and genuine and I am happy to share any of my experience, designs, tweaks, etc. with any and all.
albertporter's avatar
albertporter
4,949 posts
 
Drubin is right, my punch line is that the speaker I described already exists, the Millennium One by Soundlab.

I might have fudged a bit on one part of the description. The Soundlab employs dual transformers separated by resistors, making for "sort of " a crossover. Other than that the specifications are correct.

Twl's speaker achieves it's musical magic by eliminating much of the multiple driver / crossover errors, producing a purity that attracts many to this type of design.

In addition to the designs high efficiency advantage, it allows use of ultra low powered SET amps, many of which have their own magic.

As Onhwy61 says, all of this is subject to each persons personal preferences. However, I admit I have been attracted to Hammer Dynamics and a low powered SET as a second system for many of these same reasons.
sean
6,231 posts
 
I can relate to what TWL states regarding the benefits of a wide bandwidth point source. I can also relate to his comments about "direct drive" from a power amp to driver. With that in mind, I don't know of any such designs that are capable of deep bass with authoritive weight while being driven by low power amps. For that matter, i don't know of any that are capable of high spl levels without compression when being driven by more powerful amps. As such, one simply chooses the trade-offs in a system that they personally find the least offensive and progress from there. Tis the beauty of having multiple systems. You can experiment in several different directions all at the same time. Sean
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hearhere
55 posts
 
Not all speaker manufacturers avoid the phase issue. See, notably, Dunlavy which documents both frequency and time domain performance. Vendors such as Thiel and Audio Physics (IIRC) and some others also place emphasis on this as well.

Whether "musical" and "accurate" are the same or different objectives is another story, and reflect on the individual designer's (and listner's) preferences.
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