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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Greg Belman of Bache Audio has perfected the use of wide band drivers (covering most of the frequency range) augmented by a woofer and (super) tweeter - no negatives that I can hear with any of his models. My upgraded Metro 001's are extraordinary - 4" Tang Band bamboo wide band driver covering 500hz - 9,000 hz is superb, as is the legendary, out of production Japanese version of the Fostex FT92-EX2 tweeter.

About seven months ago Greg Belman emailed me to say that he had figured out a crossover upgrade that would improve the sound. A couple of months ago he emailed me to say that he had tested an Eton woofer in the Metro 001 as an upgrade of the Tang Band unit currently in my speakers. The Eton produced both deeper and tighter bass but required enlarging the port. I asked if he could replace the air motion transformer tweeter with the Fostex FT96-EX2 he has used in more expensive models, and also rewire the speakers with Stage III Concepts (tweeter) and Dueland tinned copper (wideband driver and woofer). Several weeks ago I finally drove up to Brooklyn to take him the speakers. When I arrived I discovered that he had actually built and tested a prototype with the Eton and Fostex drivers that I could listen to and compare with my current speakers. Needless to say upgrading those two drivers made a significant improvement.  Still breaking in but initial listening suggests significant improvements in sound quality. With the Eton woofers bass is subjectively deeper, more forceful, and more articulate. I was told by the designer that the Fostex FT96-EX2 tweeters, which extend to 33hz, would expand soundstage width and depth, and that is what I am hearing. Timbre is more realistic across all frequencies (particularly noticeable with piano), and images are more naturally fleshed out with no spotlighting. Every piece of music I've played has sounded more natural than I remembered.