Can anyone explain how (if) a speaker benefits from more drivers. Many bookshelf speakers use only a tweeter and a mid/low woofer (i.e. Dynaudio 42). Some bookshelfs use a seperate mid and low woofer (i.e. NHT M5) All other things being equal, are more drivers an advantage and how?
if the drivers used in a 2-way cover the spectrum correctly a 2-way usually means a simpler and sometimes better crossover.
now if your talking bookshelves verse floor standers. most bookshelves aren't going to be very big so they don't have to cover the exttremly low bass region that is made up for with a sub.
but floor standers if you want them to cover the whole frequency range including the low region of bass then it is easier with more drivers/larger and a more complex crossover. not to mention will usually have better power handling and give you a more fuller sound.
J. Vigne
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As Kegger says it depends on the drivers, which in turn depend on the speaker company. Contrary to what they would have you believe most speaker manufacturers are nothing more than speaker assemblers and putter in boxes-ers. Few speaker companies can afford to make their own drivers so they buy from other speaker (driver) manufacturers and make a product that suits their needs and budget. Dynaudio happens to be one of the best driver manufacturers out there. It's not always the case but when a speaker company can control all aspects of their designs the odds they will build a good to superior product seem to go up. One of the classis design benefits of a two way design is the simplicity of the crossover. In the case where the manufacturer can control the design parameters of the woofer and tweeter a croosover to the tweeter may be as simple as a small capacitor to block low frequencies from the signal going to the tweeter. In this case the woofer would be designed to have a roll off characteristic that would not need an inductor in the circuit to limit the woofer's upper frequencies. In a system this simple, as is the advantage of any two way design, the money saved on a more complex X-over can then be applied to better quality drivers for the woofer and tweeter. Having more speakers in the system has always given the designer more chances to screw things up as opposed to getting things right. That is not to say a two way speaker is always the best design but when you are on a budget simplicity usually is a benefit. The problem two way designers face is where to put the X-over from the woofer to the tweeter. To low and the tweeter will distort from being asked to do signals outside of its range. To high and the woofer starts to beam the upper frequencies by the very nature of its design. This will give a cupped sound that has a distinct sweet spot for the listener to hear a smooth sound. So there is no right or wrong. It depends on the skill and budget of the designer. With enough of both there are what amount to one way designs that are pretty good. As I used to explain so many things to customers; there is no free lunch, for every positive advantage I give you about this design or that solution, I can almost always give you two disadvantages to the same solution.
As John so very nicely points out, more isn't always better. In fact, my experience is more drivers usually translates into worse audio performance. Why? Simple. First off, the more drivers you have, the more elaborate the crossover has to be. Elaborate x-overs almost always mean phase irregularities, less power transfer, a more difficult load for the amp, and usually frequency dips and peaks. Single drivers have their own problems, but they have less overall phase problems. Time domain math is the most dificult of all math in physics, which is why you see so few designers attempting multi-way time/phase aligned speakers. There are a handfull out there that do it well, but they are, for the most part, un-affordable for the average joe. Smaller monitor speakers almost always image better than floorstanders and are easier to place in just the right spot, but require sturdy stands which add to the cost. Floorstanders usually have better low end response, but not always. Many tend to get muddy in the bass or "chesty" in the male voice range. Not desirable. Sub woofers are another story. To match one to a truly great monitor is quite hard. The speed of the sub will lag behind the monitor, making the sub sound muddy and slow, in most cases. You can achieve very good results.......just let your ears do the listening. Not your eyes. Good luck
J. Vigne
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Posted on
Time domain math is very difficult, but, to me the hardest is when they put aspirin on sale and you have to figure out how much per tablet that comes to because the sale sign doesn't include that number. Makes my head hurt. I'd rather listen to mid fi.