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Is the 2.5 way speaker the ideal home speaker?

Time for what I hope is another fun thread. 

One type of speaker which is actually pretty common but which gets little press / attention here on audiogon is the 2.5 way. 

A 2.5 way speaker is almost a 3-way, but it isn't. It is a speaker with 3 drivers, but instead of a tweeter, midrange and woofer (TMW) it lacks a true midrange. The "midrange" is really a mid-woofer, that shares bass duties with the woofer. Often these two drivers are identical, though in the Focal Profile 918 the midwoofer and woofer were actually different drivers with the same nominal diameter (6"). 

The Monitor Audio 200 is a current example of the concept, but I am sure there are many others. It's also quite popular in kit form. One of the most high-end kits I know of is the Ophelia based on a ScanSpeak Be tweeter and 6" Revelator mid-woofers. I haven't heard them, but I am in eternal love with those mid-woofers. I believe the original plans come from the German speaker building magazine Klan Ton. 

However many other kits are also available

But regardless of kit, or store purchased, are you a 2.5 way fan? Why or why not? 

Best,


Erik 
erik_squires

Showing 1 response by kren0006

kren0006
1,859 posts
 
To my ears, my 2.5-way Spendor D7’s sound swell. They have fairly sophisticated rear ports, but I still need to bring them out into the room (which is a large room) or I get a little too much bass. That said, I supplement with REL S/5 to get the bass in the 20-30 Hz range, but I dial it way back on the sub crossover (to about 35 Hz) and volume (just about 5 clicks of 40 I think).


Haven’t yet ventured into room treatments and I know there’ll be hell to pay from my better half if I ever show up with some gawd-ugly looking foam treatments for the walls but if I know myself eventually I’ll go there and risk the wrath ...
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