erik_squires11,802 posts 02-06-2022 12:13pm A very long and convoluted way to say you don’t like crossovers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well xovers are onlt part of the problem here. I recall readinga comment on a forum where the FR fan said something to the effect **xovers,, those blood sucking life-out-the-music gadagets...** Paraphrase all mine. But he did say **blood sucking** as i clearly recall in my early days researching FR as a possible solution to my speaker crisis. When I ran the Seas W18E001 wide open no cap/xover, it was then at that moment I realized these things (yours included, the ones in your speaker right now) are flawed. The sound was just horrible, just aweful. Garbage. Then I realized these so called *mid* woofers are a big fat lie by Seas/Scan/SB. Fact is/thruth is, these things are musically good up to 500/600 hz. Not the claimed 2khz. *Mid*tweeters wide open, sound thin and fake w/o a cap, running FR wide open. So now i figured these things really are only good for pizzaz, ambience, a bit of sizzle, Much needed I agree. 5khz is cutoff. I’m looking a huge beefy Nd tweeter that I know will go to 4khz, with ease. Still in a shootout, the 2khz-5khz which manufacturers claim their gadgets can operate, will not out perform the fq’s voiced through a FR speaker. I employ dual tweeters for a huge sound stage effect in my classical music. In this regard, tweeters are a marvel invention. w/o them, FR speakers would sound a bit dull if not boring after some time. But try to take more than what the little guy is willing to give up, now ya come into distortion and crappy soundstage. Neither speaker can do what the manufacturers lay claim. There are so few tweets/woofers that actullay go above 90 db sens, and here is the flaw. Low sensitivity. 89 is low, 88 is very low, 87db sens is worthless trash. A tweeter has to be 91db as the limit sens rating. Seas might have a higher sens tweeter, but ya gonna pay $$$$$$$. Same for woofers, very low sensitivity making the gadget severly limited in any fq’s above say 500hz. FR w its higher sens, always beats out any box/xover style speaker, Always, everytime, w/o fail Wilson can stick as many speakers ina cabinet they wish, ain’t gonna change the voice of the mid zone fq band. Addinga bunch of drivers does not make the flawed sens issue to disappear. All amplifiers just love FR speakers,
WE’ve all agreed here on audiogon, that speakers make the system, for good or for bad. And we’ve all come to the conclusion commercial speakers are nothing more than house sound. Wilson, Dali, all the same. Just dif flavors. Why is this? Because of the missing core mid fq’s, this is what is really going on. Consuumer speakers are flawed. Its all a money making scheme, to try to convince you the new latest speaker is **the real deal** The Seas Thors did voice incredible fidelity, But they are flawed by default. FR are not flaw free, All these high tech FR w 96+++ sens rating, there’s no way I could enjoy my music vouced witha 96db sens FR speaker, Thats wayyyyy too high. 95db is the ideal and if not perfect db sens for a reall good balance of bass/mids/highs w/o feeling the agression of a higher sens FR voice
~~~~AER and Voxatix ~~~would never work out in my system. Cube I am not sure of their sens ratings. Another thing w commercial speakers I can not beleve some 50 yrs later they still employ paper cones. paper is paper, ots cheap and has a muddy sound. Treat them as much as you like, its still paper. Seas corrected this flaw by using magnesium. But again, its too stiff, the life of the music is missing in some fq bands.
Tweeters are a success. Here we have technology that is just as good back in 1970’s as it is today. But lets not attempt to make the gadget do more than it is TRUELY capable of, its limitations. 3500, maybe, but really 5khz, is perfect.