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Why Aren't More Speaker Designers Building Augmented Widebanders?

Over the years I've owned a number of different speakers - KLH, Cerwin Vega, Polk, Opera Audio, Ars Aures, and Merlin VSM. One thing they all had in common was a crossover point in the 2000 hz (+ or -) range. I've read reviews of speakers where the reviewer claimed to be able to hear the crossover point, manifested as some sort of discontinuity. I've never heard that. My Merlin VSM's for example sounded completely seamless. Yet my new Bache Audio Metro 001 speakers, with a single wideband driver covering the range of 400 hz to 10,000 hz, augmented by a woofer and a super tweeter, sounds different from all of these other speakers. The midrange of the Bache 001's is cleaner, more coherent, more natural than I have heard before. Music flows from the speakers in a more relaxed manner, and subjectively dynamic range is greater, with no etch or brightness, and no loss of resolution compared with the Merlins. I have to conclude that Bache's design has an inherent advantage over more traditional designs with a crossover point or points in the midrange frequencies. I wonder why more speaker designers haven't tried this approach?
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Showing 1 response by erik_squires

erik_squires
15,929 posts
 
I wonder why you don't make your own? :) 

There's an ongoing, re-hashing going on at DIYAudio.com about the crossover in the midrange debate, again. Personally I'm of the opinion that there's nothing inherently wrong with a "low" crossover around 2kHz. As another DIYer put it, things were different when simulation and measurement tools were more limited, slower and expensive. With modern tools it is MUCH easier to get a seamless transition from one driver to another. 

I listen exclusively to 2-ways I built with "low" crossover points and they disappear, with no trace of integration issues. You might also listen to Joseph Audio who uses this approach even in 2-ways. 

The use of a wide band has ardent followers in the DIY community, so maybe you should consider looking into DIY'ing one for yourself. There are some interesting 2-way designs, called "Woofer Assisted Wide Band." where a single driver covers 400-ish to 20kHz. 

There are significant sacrifices to be made in distortion, extension and dispersion with a WAWB, but there's no math to explain what you would like. You should listen for yourself. 

Best,

E
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