Okay, the gloves are off. Let the fur fly


I would like to hear one single cogent technically accurate explanation of how a multi-way box speaker can be more musically accurate than single drivers or stats. As a speaker designer for more than 25 years, I have yet to hear an argument that holds water, technically. The usual response involves bass or treble extension, as if that is the overriding principle in music reproduction. My position is that any information lost or jumbled in the complex signal path of multi-way box speakers can never be recovered by prodigious bass response, supersonic treble extension, or copious numbers of various drivers. Louder,yes. Deeper,yes. Higher, maybe. More pleasing to certain people,yes. But, more musically revealing and accurate,no. I posted this because I know that it will surely elicit numerous defensive emotional responses. I am prepared to suffer slings and arrows from many directions. But, my question still remains. Can you technically justify your position with facts?
twl

Showing 1 response by audiokinesis

Fascinating thread here, Twl - spinning into something more like a tapestry, I'd say...

In my experience, the most fundamental quality a speaker has to get right is tonal balance. This implies adequate bandwidth and a non-irritating midrange. After this, personal preference dictates what priority is placed on clarity, timbral shadings, harmonic richness, coherence, dynamic contrast, soundstaging, bandwidth extension, maximum usable loudness, and so forth.

As an owner of and dealer for both single-driver and multi-driver systems, I think that in the lower price ranges the multi-driver systems are generally the better set of compromises. Then at higher price ranges, single-driver systems begin to overcome their bandwidth limitations, and become much more competitive. As an oversimplified general trend, I'd say below five grand mulitiway systems rule, while above ten grand I'd lean towards single-driver systems, and in between I'm not sure.