single driver speakers


Someone please help me out here...

I am struggling to understand how a single driver system can sound anywhere near as good as a multiple-driver system with crossovers...

I understand that crossovers and multiple drivers can have issues with interference, phase, etc - but those drawbacks would seem to be vastly outweighed by the increased frequency response and clarity within a frequency spectrum that a multi-driver system produces.

I see these

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis8ij2i-voxativ-ampeggio-due-70-off-priced-to-move-full-range

and just can not wrap my mind around how they could sound better than a multi-driver system costing 1/10 as much. (no knock intended on the seller of these speakers, I was just browsing listings and saw them so it made me wonder)

Thanks!
babyseaotter99

Showing 1 response by tutetibiimperes

@czarivey 

I heard the Cube Audio Magus speakers at AXPONA, they were playing a lot of old-school jazz and big-band (Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, etc).  It sounded great - a lot more bass than you'd expect from a single-driver (the cabinets use quarter-wave transmission lines, so I'm sure that helped) and the treble was smooth and pleasant, I didn't feel like I was missing anything in the sound of the trumpets for example.  

I don't know how well they'd hold up to a full orchestral recording of Mahler's 2nd or Shostakovich's 5th, or if they'd be able to throw down some hard rock, I have a feeling that the single driver could easily get overtaxed if asked to reproduce a huge frequency range at high SPLs, but for what they were playing they sounded fantastic.