2-way with just 1 cap and 1 inductor

[speakerdoctor]

I'm, again, upping very old thread if we could have more discussion about this subject.

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2-way with single cap! How do we make it? Many people listen to music with 5-8" fullranger, how on earth there are so less 2-ways with minimal XO? (good tweeter costs so much?)

Rules here:

* Listening level must low. Tweeter with 1st order (electrical) does not handle much power.

* Tweeter must be very good, very low Fs and with low impedance rise at Fs

* woofer must be soft coned so it has no break up

* woofer should have little "natural BSC" (they exist but not often) OR enclosure must be wide

* woofer should 6,5"-8", I think. Smaller aren't enough capable producing bass and bigger are too beaming

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Which driver do you think is harder to find for this? Tweeter or woofer?

I've had Epos ES14's (one cap XO) for 3 years now and I know it is possible to enjoy music through them. Something playing LOUD! Never burned tweeter.

You list all good points with one of the most important being playback level. If you want a speaker to play in the 100 dB+ range, don't build a 1st order 2-way.
I built a very nice one with SS drivers and a 3 component xover (no cap) fashioned after the Sonus Farber Extremis design (see stereophile review). I call them the "Intimates" because they play excellently in the 70 to 95 dB range. They may soon be available as a kit on my website.

 

[AllenB]

Tweeter with 1st order (electrical) does not handle much power.

You can try something with a horn.

woofer should have little "natural BSC" (they exist but not often) OR enclosure must be wide

I agree. You cannot fix baffle step in a crossover, you can only compensate for it.

* woofer should 6,5"-8", I think. Smaller aren't enough capable producing bass and bigger are too beaming

You can choose a size that matches your crossover frequency so it begins to beam the same as the horn.

 

[alspe]

You can try something with a horn.

Horn tends to gain tweeters output so R of L-PAD would be needed.

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Seas T29MF001 has bit more xmax than other Excels, 1,4 mm. (It is little bigger than T25-series domes) Also it has quite even impedance. It is hard dome so it would be pistonic even at low end and with larger excursion?
I believe is pricey but might it one of the most suitable tweeters for 1st order XO 3000 Hz?

 

[AllenB]

If you can cross low and you need a woofer that is directional at the crossover point, it won't be small. You can use an efficient woofer with not much tweeter padding required. The point was about the low crossover point and high output.

Anyway, with useable listening volumes at less than a Watt, how much does it matter?

 

[alspe]

Yesterday I listened some music and, again, got thoughts why an earth there is so little simple crossover speakers? Does them look much worse in simulation board than they really are in real world. Of course you should listen in moderate level, I'm not speaking of PA speakers without driver protection.

Probably the best midrange clarity, [or better word could be naturality, sound cames with ease,] that I have heard in speakers I've owned, were Epos speakers which do have straight connected midbass and tweeter with one series cap. Don't know what makes them sound good and natural, but they are.

I think you should not be afraid of using very simple XO if you find right drivers. Good tweeter does not die that easy when brains are used during listening.
woofer with natural roll off is hard to find, other than A26RE which is too big.