Do these only work with compression drivers? What would happen if a 3" full range driver was used instead of the compression driver?
If you are willing to accept a lower maxSPL, then a small full range driver at the throat can be used. Bushmeister did just that, built a speaker with the 18 Sound XT1464, and a 2" SB Acoustics driver at the throat, crossed to a pair of 8" SB Acoustics woofers around 500 or 600 hz.
He did have to route out the throat with a roundover bit, and build up the frame of the 2" driver with epoxy putty, plus make a rear chamber.
Apologies to @mayhem13 for the hijack
This sounds like exactly the project that I am after for some 1.5-3" drivers on hand. If it can work well with a pair of 7" woofers in WTW. Can such a horn form the "baffle" of a cab with all three drivers mounted on that. The woofers would back into the cab and the 3" would be in its own volume inside the main cab. I can afford around 350mm width and around double that in height for the cab
I'd look through this thread, follow the links on the first page to the main breakdown of the Xbush build. Some time after the first box iteration, the multi-entry horn was transplanted into spheres.
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/a-bookshelf-multi-way-point-source-horn.285030/
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...y-unity-horn-of-spherical-proportions.297620/
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MEH isn't necessarily 'better'.. but the process of crossing them is a simpler one, so considering how difficult that can be you're likely to hear more success stories.. especially from people that are surprised at their results.
If crossing is something you can do with ease, then you'll be fine without MEH. Keep in mind when I say a cross, that it's not just an electrical thing but a set of acoustic conditions.
That would work, but it has fewer advantages IMO. If you wanted to use cheap drivers or get huge PA-type SPL, for instance, it could be very sensible. Otherwise for most home hifi situations a good compression driver in a horn could do that at low distortion by itself, potentially better and certainly more simply.
I'm only a little ahead of you in this journey, but have spent some months researching the answers to very similar questions. And the answers are not straight forward. But I'm beginning to conclude that for home use, a MEH is most intetesting in full or at least wide range applications. Wider range than you could get with a single modern compression driver. And where you want to control directivity beyond what direct radiators (including Planet10s WAWs) can conveniently do.
Earl Geddes did find that compression drivers above 1inch fell off too early at the high end. Though that was in his choice of horn type; it isn't necessary saying that larger format drivers cannot work in other horns or MEH. Certainly people have had success in this, for high quality hifi situations not just in PA.
There is also the thorny question of what directivity is actually wanted. Narrower might be good for imaging but a lot of people like wider, especially at higher frequencies, to add a sense of spaciousness. The lower end, down to several hundred hz or lower (and at least down to 1khz) seems to me to be where control is most valuable, and also unfortunately the most difficult to achieve in anything small. So again, I'd personallybe less interested in a MEH (or any horn) for just the higher frequencies without specific reason - like achieving higher SPL in a PA situation.
Just the journey that my own thought process has led me down, anyway, in case it is of any use. Yours may of course differ.
My experience differs...I do think MEH is a 'better' acoustic speaker, than the many forms of speakers I've owned..which is surely most to them.
Yes, the process of crossing them is simpler...but only due to their acoustic superiority.
I find crossing super easy, almost barely worth consideration .....other than for smoothing out acoustic polar responses.
This is true for TMW, MTM, etc, you name it..doesn't matter.
But all those more conventional alignments have greater geometric displacement between driver sections than a MEH.....
and move further away from "point source", and lose a little SQ as a result.
It's really that simple, imho.
MEH is an elegant solution, the compromises being size (big), complexity, need for very precise design & execution, thus cost (large), limited dispersion (an asset sometimes). It can maintain time over a bunch of ranges, but if the entire range can be done by a single driver the only point would be as an acedemic pursuit.
Note that more ways, more drivers, can result in greater levels, somethign usefulk for live venues.
dave
Note that more ways, more drivers, can result in greater levels, somethign usefulk for live venues.
dave