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 5 responses by tomic601

Charlie...

Ego and a poor memory ? Shall we dredge up that post of yours where you recommenced Tekton while admitting you had never heard them ?

I was very very careful to not call out Tekton because they are just another in a long list of companies using a bunch of inexpensive drivers in an excitable box. Lots of bang for the buck, if bang is the objective.

OF course I have heard them, 3 models in three different systems, 4 different rooms. they certainly have ear candy that some people like, where is that hat of yours ?????.

and since you are trying to deliver a partial lecture on comparative advantage to a retired Economist. When the car or in this case comes back with an orange peel paint job, I would ask why ?

when you graduate from ear candy you discover why your ear brain likes certain things like distortion, loud, hyper dominant leading edge, etc...some of us ask why...others are hooked on the loudness button at any volume level.
But in general a line array has three major virtues ( if you want the seminal engineering text on the subject consult Harry Olson : Elements of Acoustical Engineering )

Controlled dispersion and relatively high output with a low duty cycle. virtues but with significant tradeoff.

 For those of us with real tangible ownership experience w line arrays, the magic is good and the downsides significant- often the designer ( really talented engineers like Nudel ( odd he didn’t join the “ we club of writers ‘ ) eventually end up with three line arrays...which dont blend all that well... when it fells - awesome, when they don’t maddening.... where is Infinity today ? And they were built with mostly stellar drivers.

as mentioned  By others, all speakers involve trades and most engineered to a price point - enjoy the music...
What I said was crystal clear to any non science denier - what is difficult to understand about breakup in the pass band ?
Miller have you suddenly cloned that massive ego into “ we “. ?

instead why not make a reasoned argument for breakup in the passband as self appointed advocate of the “reigning champion” ?


Lots of cheap tweeters with breakup ( non pistonic motion ) in the passband is not the answer....