Distance between tweeter and mid

[Sony]

Hello again!

Will reducing the distance between tweeter and mid-range drivers in a 3 or 4 ways design have a significant impact on sound?
How about the risk of magnetic interference between mid and mid-range driver?
Should one try to put them as close as possible or perform some testing to find the right distance?

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Hornlover]

Generally, the closer the better. A single point source is ideal, but not possible with multi-driver systems. The closer you can get them, the better. Of course, it also depends on listening distance. If you are in an auditorium, then 30cm or so between drivers will be no problem, but if you are 1 meter from them, then a separation of 30cm will sound like 2 point sources. Dont worry about magnetic interaction, as the stray field isnt used. Also, a vertical orientation is prefered.

[rabbitz]

Maximum distance between the tweeter and mid should be the wavelength (W in metres=345/frequency) of the crossover frequency but the higher xo the less chance there is of achieving it. Get 'em as close as you can.

[nuppe]

I agree with the previous posters, but i just wanted to add some personal experience:

I tried making a prototype speaker with a big distance between mid and tweeter. The idea was to time align the "acoustic centers" of the drivers using a shallow (and wide) cone shape around the tweeter (to minimize diffraction). With the drivers this far apart (25 cm center to center), it's clearly audible that the sound is coming from two separate speakers. At about 2,5-3 meters it gets harder to tell, but nearfield it is somewhat distracting. I decided to skip the cone idea because of this and use digital delay instead to time align the drivers. The next rebuild will have them as close as possible. I should add that i cross pretty low (2 kHz, maximum distance is about 17,5 cm), but it's still a problem.

/Andreas

[ataraxia]

i feel your pain on trying to physically time align the drivers while still conforming to the wavelength rule. i tried a couple different ways of doing it with a conventional cabinet but never liked the result. im thinking i need to take up wielding so i can make a baffleless (sp?) frame work (kinda like what vandersteen does) and mount the drivers in that. unfortunately, however, i am both too poor and pressed for time to pull it off right now. but the idea is always in the back of my head... lurking.

[blacktone]

Sorry if this is slightly off topic, but I need some help .

Space constraints in my bedroom mean that I need to stack a non-magnetically shielded speaker (from a panasonic mini system which I'm going to use as a loud alarm clock) on top of my Eltax Monitor IIIs (which have a magnetically shielded tweeter at the top, but non-shielded woofer). Will magnetic interference degrade sound quality / damage either of the speakers? From this thread so far, it seems like a feasible set up.

Opinions please!

Many thanks in advance.