I think neil's referring to active speakers. But most active speakers I know are bookshelves/monitors, not floortanders. Amongst powered speakers, my favourite are the genelecs.
Anonymous
Posted on
It depends on the speaker. Some run everything off internal amps; some don't. It is up to the designer.
A passive radiator is a woofer without a motor. Just a frame and a cone. It's used in place of a port to allow the designer to make a smaller box. It can also be an advantage helping control the cone movement of the normal woofer by behaving more like a sealed box than a ported box. Performance wise a ported design is almost always better but there are many things to consider in speaker design.
There are many reasons a company or a builder may choose a two-way or three-way system. Mostly it's going to be a cost consideration. A two-way system is going to have fewer parts and take less time to design. Another equally important reason is marketing. A two-way system is usually going to require a smaller cabinet. Many buyers prefer a smaller cabinet these days as opposed to the 70's when bigger was better.