Crossover-less Speakers


I'd like to hear from those of you who transitioned to crossover-less speakers. I have a pair of Thiel CS 2 2s. I like 'em but I'm curious about the full-range crossover-less speaker types. I'd like to know what speaker you have and what speaker you traded up from. Are you getting the full range from your spkrs? Are you experiencing any peaks and valleys in the frequency response? Are you happy with the lows or are you augmenting with a powered sub? Thanks.
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Showing 1 response by 213cobra

I migrated from two systems using crossover-based dynamic speakers to crossoverless and won't be going back. Since that transition, the reduced tonal, spatial and transient coherence, along with the truncated dynamics proximate to the crossover frequencies, are too distracting and intolerable. My crossoverless speakers are Zu Druid and Zu Definition. Both cover the range from 38Hz - 12.5kHz with a full range driver that acoustically rolls off at both ends. The Zu supertweeter is not in the signal path of the FRD, and is rolled in on a simple high-pass filter at 12kHz. In the Definition, the sub-bass active array is rolled in on a simple low-pass filter at ~40Hz.

Once you hear a speaker that addresses the discontinuities of multi-driver design by eliminating crossovers and avoiding any sonic transitions in the heartland frequencies of the music sound spectrum, you *may* still elect a mild crossover speaker such as a Sonus Faber, but it's quite likely you'll not again want to be without the holistic music representation of a well-balanced, well-sorted FRD-based speaker.

Phil