3 way vs. 2 way


I currently have Mirage M5si bi polar speakers, I believe these have two tweeters and two 6inch drivers. For my room size I want to go to a conventional speaker. I would also like to give a high end store in my area the business as the owner is a friend. He carries Totem and B&W. I notice may of the Totems have only a tweeter and a driver. Can I get as good sound out of smoething like that as compared to a speaker with 3 or 4 in the cabinet?
zar

Showing 1 response by reubent

Zar,

The number of drivers in a speaker is no indication of relative sound quality. The sound quality comes from the quality of the drivers and the implementation.

Many folks on this forum think a single driver per speaker is the absolute pinnacle of speaker design (I personally use a single driver speaker).

That said, a bi-polar speaker is going to sound different than a traditional speaker that has all of the drivers radiating in the same direction. You may loose some of the "presence" and off-axis response from your current speakers, but you may also gain some accuracy and pin-point imaging offered by a conventional configuration.

I would highly recommend you audition the Totem and B&W line and arrange for an in-home demo if possible. You may find that you love the attributes of these speaker lines or you may find that you prefer the Mirage sound.

Enjoy,

TIC