Single driver speakers - opinions

Single driver is great in theory, but doing it right is hard and usually too expensive to have mass appeal.

For example, I am most familiar with the Ohm line. Over the years, Ohm has been very successful in delivering very good designs that leverage highly omnidirectional single driver technology to various extents in a cost effective manner.

The Ohm F and A of years past are legends in this category.

The newer Walsh CLS designs from Ohm have built on this approach using a similar but different wide range driver that covers most of the frequency range that most people can hear, but uses a separate phase aligned super tweeter for the very top end.

If there were a true single driver speaker out there that did it all in a reasonably compact design for a price I could afford, I would be very interested.

The Carder Sound design has caught my eye as reasonably practical (though still very big/tall) and potentially highly effective in delivering the most satisfying sound from a single conventional full range driver at reasonable cost. I would consider these if/when I have room for another pair of larger full range speaks.

In terms of the best single driver design to work from that I've heard of (meaning fewest limitations overall) I'd say the Walsh driver design concept found in many Ohms and the larger (and expensive)German Physiks speakers (DDD) is the best.

Here's a resource discussing DIY Walsh designs:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread/t-14337.html

I've read some things on the web published by ebay member Mamboni as well that seems to provide practical guidelines for constructing a DIY Walsh speaker.

The Fujitsu look very cool. They remind me of the larger Cabasse's I've seen but not heard.

Are they related in design?

Mrtennis,

I agree that no end speaker design is best.

However I would arguably of course assert that a single Walsh driver or perhaps it's descendant, the DDD driver, invented by Lincoln Walsh back in the 60's and tweaked by companies like Ohm and German Physiks over the years, is capable of doing more things that make for good sound reproduction well and has the fewest inherent physical limitations of any single driver design that one might design a (comparable sized) speaker system around.

I'm expecting someone to challenge my assertion regarding the Walsh driver?

For example, typically, they are not an easy load to drive. For the most demanding applications, tube amps need not apply.

DIY can be fun.

It doesn't have to be hard. Start with an old existing design that you can pick up cheap and try just upgrading drivers, etc. This can make a big difference.

I do not have time for major DIY work. I did do a DIY bass driver upgrade with very minor cabinet and internal damping mods for $130 to my 30 year old Ohm Ls using new high quality Morel woofers. THe results were definitely a big step forward. These speaks sound very good now on most genres even in very large rooms. They are not as smooth still as my professionally designed models, but compete far better than I had really expected prior.

"I probably cannot hear above 14kHz"

Good point Kijanki.

I've tested + neither can I for the most part.

I used to though with the same test recording when younger though and on a much less expensive system.

I suspect few past their 30's really can.

So in reality, single driver designs that do not cover the extreme high end but cover the low end satisfactorily is a very practical solution for many more than might be expected, I believe.

I can hear the tweeter supplementing the Walsh driver on my Ohms when on axis, so I would not fore go it in the case of the Ohm Walshes.