Coaxials - Reality vs. Experience?
Should say "hype vs. reality" in the headline.
Coaxial speaker design has been around in one way or another for a long time. I often think I’ll be absolutely blown away by them, but in practice traditional vertical layout speakers often have sound as good, or have other features that make them sound better.
Thiel, KEF, Monitor Audio, Tekton, Seas are among the many players attempting such designs, but none has, by the coaxial drivers alone, dominated a segment of the market.
What are your listening experiences? Is it 1 coaxial speaker that won you over, or have you always preferred them?
I don't know. Maybe the benefits of coaxial speakers are overstated. I liked the KEF LS50 Meta, but I also enjoyed many other 2-way speakers from the likes of Castle or Atohm. I'm talking about the $2k price bracket. I'm saying that if you try a dozen speakers around the same price, then the coaxial speakers won't necessarily stand out. I'll just be a weirdo and enjoy my single-driver speakers for now. I think that they sound fantastic. |
@deep_333 Yamaha and Technics are so underrated! However, the low efficiency of Technics speakers in general made me look the other way. The story of old manufacturers recycling old designs is best exemplified by Focal. Their drivers have even gotten worse over the years for "economy of scale" reasons. The materials are of cheaper quality these days. The new Focal Vestia line is using tweeters from the Focal car electronics division. I am a bit perplexed about your statement regarding KEF. The build quality and engineering of the KEF LS50 is hard to beat for the money (you literally have to go to small boutique manufacturers which underprice their goods or assembled DIY projects with quality parts). The KEF R3 Meta measures extremely well regardless of price. But I'll concede that measurements don't tell the whole story. If it were the case, all amplifier companies would go out of business and everyone would be using class D mini amps from China (forshadowing maybe...). |
@deep_333 The Closer Acoustics OGY + Creek 4240 + Bluesound Node setup is serving me well. I like how responsive the OGY are to amplification. You can make them sound clinical with a budget class D amp or warm with a budget British A/B amplifier or a tube amp. I suppose that 2-way speakers (even coaxial) with crossovers are less responsive to amplification. The crossover kind of tunes the sound. That may also explain why the coaxial design doesn't seem to standout compared to having separate drivers. I am just speculating. Re: engineering. From what I see on the internet, it seems that engineers focus a lot on measurements and reducing resonances (through measurements). Perhaps engineers have shaped the industry more than they want to admit. We're clearly heading in a specific direction: small narrow enclosures, dead cabinets and many drivers. This direction should result in a very clinical sound. I go to a lot of live shows and it sounds different compared to Hi-Fi. You have a lot more resonances and vibrations. Sounds kind of blend together into a wall of sound (especially in an orchestra of string instruments). Stereo imaging is a fiction. Granted, most if not all rock concerts have terrible sound. Jazz, electronica, folk and orchestral music sound a lot more clear. |
