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MTM vs TM ... advantages/disadvantages ?

By MTM I mean two midrange sized speakers , one at the top and one at the bottom of the cabinet and a tweeter in the middle . Where as the TM would have a tweeter at the top and the mid at the bottom of the cabinet .
I would like to know what the differences , in sound , are between these two designs . Does one design lend itself to a particular type of use over the other . I am refering to standmount/monitor style speakers .

Thank you .
saki70

Showing 2 responses by eldartford

eldartford
4,262 posts
 
The sound projection axis of a MTM goes straight out, whereas a two-driver system axis tilts up or down depending on whether the tweeter is above or below the woofer. Thus the listener's distance from the speaker has less effect on how it sounds. Besides, it looks good.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Shadorne...The off axis "lobing" which you cite is, in my experience, not a real world problem. Perhaps this is because the drivers flanking the tweeter are usually as close together as possible, (1 foot for the 7 inch drivers of my Madisound Odins) and have considerable surface area so that it is hard to say how far apart they are (acoustically). Furthermore, this lobing would occur for off axis listening in the vertical direction, where the off axis angle will not be large, and is easily minimized by tipping the speaker system. The effect is, however, why you should not generally use MTM speakers mounted horizontally.

Oh, and by the way, two driver speakers also exhibit lobing in the crossover frequency range where both drivers are active.
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