Is the ideal multi-way a 3-way with limited bass?


Hear me out here.

3 way speakers with the traditional large woofer benefit from high bass output, and improved midrange clarity due to the lack of Doppler distortion affecting the mids, but with a lot of modest listening areas the big woofer can also be detrimental.  They produce too much bass, which together with room gain and room modes causes flabby and exaggerated bass.
So, lacking ARC or EQ capabilities perhaps the best compromise for the purist is to have a big woofer 3-way but with a limited -3 dB point, say 45 Hz or so.


erik_squires
K, now don’t mix the pills up again. That’s one red and one green, not the red and green, that for constipation... ;-0

10 is way to many any ways.. I’ll try 5, can we cut a deal on that and go for a flat, two and a studer?.. Da, da ,done!

Control yourself man... LOL This is a pubic, bone.. ops...Public, forum!! :-)

One more thing K... The doppler, is transient, not all speakers do it, but it's real just like lobing, ringing and all kinds of design issues...NOT addressed by every speaker designer...$$$$$$$ is money right... Stuff cost money.. You get what you pay for sometimes.. or better yet Make for yourself...

Regards
oldhvymec,
Any speaker with a moving diaphragm will have doppler distortion. It is not transient, it is any time one driver is playing multiple frequencies. Reducing the travel of the travel for the same sound level will of course reduce the doppler distortion.  Reducing the frequency range of any given driver will reduce it.
This is just my two cents worth.  My room is a converted dining room.  It is not large and I wanted to hear full orchestra and rock out to The Who as well.   I found most large speakers, capable of such output have very little or no adjustability in the bass.  As a result, I have found, common wisdom is you have to match the speaker to the room, or use EQ and big bass traps.  I have enjoyed a number of satellite speakers with subwoofers of various brands, and carefully executed, they work well but I always found a disconnect in tonal accuracy.  Recently I walked into a dealer that introduced me to Vandersteen speakers with built-in and adjustable subwoofers.  Since I have never seen this idea in an analog based speaker, I decided to give them a try and ended up buying a pair of Quatro CTs, after trying them at home.  I was pleased to see that my room measures well in most low frequencies, but I did have to boost a bit at 20 hertz and take out a bit at 80 hertz.  The speaker made it possible.  EQ's have a bad name with purists because of phase shifts.  Since Vandersteen has put so much effort into being phase correct and devoloping the necessary driver technology to make that possible, I am certian they would not "mess it up" with the controls in the bass.  So far so good.  I am into them for a few months now.  This is one answer to your question and the right one for me.  I hope you find your solution as well.
Hi @jamesbgood

Yes, that works really really well. I’ve gotten to hear Vandersteens with the built in EQ/subwoofer and as far as I can remember, they are the ONLY full sized floor standing speaker I’ve ever heard worth a damn in a hotel room.

I have personally had really good results with a sub/eq and bass traps in a room as well, but what a giant PITA to set up right.  I doubt most people can consistently achieve such good results.

Best,

Erik
There's something to be said for huge woofers and not making them dig too deep would be easier to drive. I think stereophile reviewed a pair of cerwyn vega x215's