Sonic Differences Between 2-Way and 3-Way Speakers

I've gotta disagree with you, brucegel, a speaker not capable of getting down to at least the 30hz region always souds hollow, empty and lifeless to me. It is that visceral bass that makes for much of the emotional connection to the music, the quality bass that is more felt then heard that is critical, at least for the wide breadth of music I listen to.

FWIW, my current "3-way" speakers are very wide at the bass cabinet but use a minimum baffle design for midrange and tweeter, and this design sounds better then the 2-way floorstander I owned that was half a wide overall, yet the big 3-way images better, much better, and even surpasses the majority of monitor speakers compared them to. I've found the really good full range speakers to be more coherent, dynamic, transparent, involving, and more believable then constricted 2-ways, which always sound like speakers to me.

I tend to believe the heart of the speaker is the unseen and less glamourous electronics chosen by the gifted designer, not the drivers themselves, be it their number or quality, or even the box or frame they sit in that are the most important element of a great sounding speaker.

My benchmark for my opinion on bass is always live unamplified music.Once you amplify all bets are off as it were so my psychoacoustic comment applies to live classical,live jazz,live anything.I dont like most recordings with deep bass because they sound inherently hi fi ish to me and thats not what my criteria is for a system.I am hampered to a degree because I work for the SEATTLE SYMPHONY and get to hear what real instrument sound like in real space(there are two halls, one is 2500 seats and one is more intimate at 500 seats)so my orientation lies there.I understand the strong opinions about extension to 30hz and yes it can be more complete sounding and there are magnificent three way designs but I always return to two way designs for critical listening,whether this is mere coincidence or something inherent in design isnt important to me but what is is the greater detail retrieval and lucidity if you will that I prefer with two way but it cuts two ways,I mean both ways depending on your priorities doesnt it? My reference 3A DECAPOS have only a capacitor to prevent the tweeter from toasting otherwise no crossover and that in itself is a reason why they trip my boat but the carbon fibre woofers full range and speed give the impression of deeper than its 42hz spec.I think we can all agree that there are some very talented speaker designers out there that we are the happy beneficiaries of!

Hi Bruce, I noticed in another thread you used to own Spica Tc50s. I own the Spica Angelus, and they're wonderful for most classical. However my live blues recordings (for which the Spicas also do a stellar job on midrange) come to life now I've added a REL subwoofer.

Now I'm not trying to pick a fight, but do you think ALL classical music does not have low frequencies ? What about tympani? I think this has a low frequency component.

I also listen to quite a lot of choral music with organ backing, and those low organ pipes really need the sub.

I guess it's down to taste in music, but you're right that there are some great designs out there. It's such a shame spica is not still in business.

Okay, they can both be great, or suck, depending on how well they are done, and what parts are used. There is not one speaker system in the world that is not a compromise. None. You are compromising something with any design you choose, regardless of what it costs.

Since the 2-ways are getting "picked on" at the moment, if you'd like, I could tear a hole a mile wide, in the 3-way design, by pointing out the plethora of problems with them. I can also do the same with my single-driver system, 2-way, 4-way, subs and sats, and so on.

The bottom line that I've gotten out of the numerous threads regarding speakers on this forum, is that different people like different strengths and can accept different weaknesses in speakers.

It breaks down into 2 main categories, bass lovers, and those who can live with less bass, although not much less. A bass lover will accept what the added driver and crossover complexity will do to the sound, to get his level of deep bass response. One who will accept less bass will do that to get the coherence he wants out of his 2-way, or 1-way.

Oh, I can already hear it. "What do you mean that my 3-way isn't coherent?!". It may be. But likely not as coherent as a less complex speaker design. In a cost no object speaker, maybe the 3 way will be as coherent, but there will be alot of money involved. Not everyone has that amount of money. Excellent bass response is expensive. Probably the most expensive and difficult thing to get in a speaker design. So many would choose to accept a 40-50Hz bottom end, and save a large amount of money, and get a more coherent sound for the money that they can spend.

The woofers are the most expensive driver generally. They also require a large box size and bracing for lower bass. This translates into money. Added crossover costs more. Added design complexity costs more. For a given price, say about $4k, you can get better quality parts and design for your money in a 2-way, if you can live with higher than 20Hz bottom end. To get the same quality in a 3-way with deep bass response, you are going to about double the cost to $8k. And you still may lose something in the bargain, because added complexity means more likelihood of error, or problems.

There are some things, like deep bass response that most 2-way, and 1-way speakers will never do as good as a quality 3-way, but folks, and I know you hate to hear this, there are some things that a 1-way or 2-way speaker will do, that a 3-way never will do as well. Like point-source imaging. Lack of driver overlap, and no(1-way) or less(2-way)crossover distortion. You may think that your 3-way is perfect, but that is not right. It has problems in those areas no matter how good it is.

So what I'm saying is, buy what you like. You are the one who has to listen to it. Convincing us that a certain type of speaker is better than another is chasing your tail. In truth, you are only exhanging one set of problems for another. The problems that bother you the least, and the strengths that you require the most, will be your kind of speaker, no matter what I, or anyone else will say.

Well said Twl...the immutable laws of physics trumps all.