A 3 way design will most likely "blow away" everyone at first listen compared to a single driver.
The simple reason is that 3 ways that blow away have tweeters running hot in the 10+kHz zone, and that creates an amplified spaciality feeling. However, listening to that for extended time will be tiresome and leave you jaded as music is not like that in real life. True, real life has the "extension" but it is not exaggerated. Although I have to add you can do a 3 way (or 2 way) design without running the tweeter so hot, but then the blow away factor will tremendously decrease... and trade for the ability to actually play a wide range of music,without listening fatigue.
However, no matter how well the drivers are integrated, the crossover regions will ALWAYS make the sound more MECHANICAL.
Single driver solutions are best when the frequency range is balanced: eg 60Hz-16kHz, or 40Hz-18kHz. 60Hz-20kHz is imbalanced, just as 30Hz-10kHz. If the material is not centered on the midrange, but shifted up or down, then it will always sound unnatural. The frequency response curve has to work with the brain's natural freq sensitivity. (Look at equal loudness contours). Listening to a 60Hz-16kHz single driver has the same effect as listening to the 3 way while playing QUIETLY. When you listen at quiet to medium levels, your ears CAN NOT interpret frequencies below 40Hz or so, nor above 16kHz or so. (The quieter, the more the ears/ brain cannot interpret). So, the brain perceives a single driver speaker as true full range at quiet volumes.
Hence, single driver speakers are king when going for lower listening levels.3 ways are on a roll when you blast them.
Nowdays everyone is going deaf, and seem to be a race who can listen louder... in that case, 3 ways only.
Quiet listening - single driver is ultimate.So, next time you got a chance to compare single driver VS 3 way - try them out when playing quiet music.... and also try out how long until listening fatigue sets in. Single driver will be a winner there as well.
Every method has a compromise, we need to pick our choices to match our habits.Eg no multidriver can touch violin rendering by a single driver...and no single driver can beat taiko drums or the Wannamaker organ on a 3 way...
The simple reason is that 3 ways that blow away have tweeters running hot in the 10+kHz zone, and that creates an amplified spaciality feeling. However, listening to that for extended time will be tiresome and leave you jaded as music is not like that in real life. True, real life has the "extension" but it is not exaggerated. Although I have to add you can do a 3 way (or 2 way) design without running the tweeter so hot, but then the blow away factor will tremendously decrease... and trade for the ability to actually play a wide range of music,without listening fatigue.
However, no matter how well the drivers are integrated, the crossover regions will ALWAYS make the sound more MECHANICAL.
Single driver solutions are best when the frequency range is balanced: eg 60Hz-16kHz, or 40Hz-18kHz. 60Hz-20kHz is imbalanced, just as 30Hz-10kHz. If the material is not centered on the midrange, but shifted up or down, then it will always sound unnatural. The frequency response curve has to work with the brain's natural freq sensitivity. (Look at equal loudness contours). Listening to a 60Hz-16kHz single driver has the same effect as listening to the 3 way while playing QUIETLY. When you listen at quiet to medium levels, your ears CAN NOT interpret frequencies below 40Hz or so, nor above 16kHz or so. (The quieter, the more the ears/ brain cannot interpret). So, the brain perceives a single driver speaker as true full range at quiet volumes.
Hence, single driver speakers are king when going for lower listening levels.3 ways are on a roll when you blast them.
Nowdays everyone is going deaf, and seem to be a race who can listen louder... in that case, 3 ways only.
Quiet listening - single driver is ultimate.So, next time you got a chance to compare single driver VS 3 way - try them out when playing quiet music.... and also try out how long until listening fatigue sets in. Single driver will be a winner there as well.
Every method has a compromise, we need to pick our choices to match our habits.Eg no multidriver can touch violin rendering by a single driver...and no single driver can beat taiko drums or the Wannamaker organ on a 3 way...