Advantages of speaker design?

[Ohmage]

Hi,

Are there any advantages of different speaker designs and sonic benefits (ie. 2-way vs. 3-way vs. 4-way)?

thanks,

Ohmage.

[j_garcia]

Shouldn't make any difference for a well designed speaker. The job is to accurately reproduce sound within it's intended response range regardless of how many drivers they use to do it. IMO, the more drivers playing different frequencies, the more complicated the x-over, making for potentially more tradeoffs. 4, 5, 6 or 10 drivers does not necessarily mean it is a 4-way, 5-way, etc...

[Pyrrho]

Hi,

Are there any advantages of different speaker designs and sonic benefits (ie. 2-way vs. 3-way vs. 4-way)?

thanks,

Ohmage.

There are both advantages and disadvantages to each, though in practice, it is something that should be ignored when selecting speakers. You should listen to various speakers, and select the ones that sound the best.

Often, with inexpensive speakers, you are far better off with a 2-way system, because they can put higher quality speakers in the boxes if they put in fewer of them. But, still, you should ignore this and simply purchase the ones that sound best to you.

[cornelius]

I think what Pyrrho said makes a lot of sense. But, I will add that some more unique designs might sound good to some listeners. I've been using a pair of Ohm Walsh floorstanders for about year now, and I love the way they sound. Pretty amazing speakers that I hope more and more people will get a chance to hear.

[tbewick]

I know that horn-loaded designs aren't that popular any more, but I've think my refitted Tannoy Lancaster speakers sound superb. They use a point-source design, where the tweeter is horn-loaded into the woofer, which improves efficiency. I find the sound far less tiring compared to the two-way and three-way designs I've tried.

There is a book I'd recommend if you're interested in this subject. I've only browsed through it, but it appears fairly comprehensive - "Loudspeaker and Headphone Handbook", 2nd edition, edited by John Borwick. Focal Press, 1994.