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So many drivers.....better sound or just more sound?

I am sitting in Seattle cut off from my job by the virus: the world all around me is going nutsy....so naturally my mind drifted to the question....."why so many drivers in some speakers?"  This has bugged me since i first heard the Pipedreams (twenty or so 4 inch drivers all the same in a row.... such a different design principle.  I would think you would want the best driver you could afford for a given application....cover the frequency range as accurately as you can afford and then worry about volume level, air moved etc.  For instance, i heard some McIntosh speakers at a friend's house a few months back.  they had 12 mids and 4 high drivers if i remember.  I guess maybe a bigger sound stage ?  That wan't obvious to me in my listening to them.   Am i missing something obvious?   Legacy speakers use like 11 drivers in a set of speakers.....how can they do that?  I would love to know the cost per driver of various speakers.    Not a deep subject but,  i am addled by rain, boredom and the fear that my 401 k is gone..........
Thanks
sm2727

Showing 1 response by itsjustme

itsjustme
682 posts
 
As other have noted, there are many issues here. But many small drivers gives real advantages (at high cost).  The ratio of magnet to piston is large (power to weight ratio, basically). Each driver is stressed less and has less excursion, therefore less doppler effect. It allows more power handling and less stress at hgih volumes. 

There are also trade-offs, especially interference, which are really complicated and i wont venture into here.
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