I'll have a stab....
A 3 way uses 3 distinct drivers, with a 3 way crossover. eg. the crossover passes a different (but overlapping) band of frequencies to each of the 3 drivers.
A 2.5 way also uses 3 distinct drivers, but with a 2 way crossover. eg 2 of the drivers receive the same band of frequencies (eg. woofers wired in parallel), whereas the 3rd driver (eg tweeter) receives another band of frequencies.
Just think of a 2.5 way as the same as a 2 way speaker but with an extra driver.
Why add the extra driver you ask? - well if the driver is wired in parallel - you get +6dB more output (twice the cone area (+3dB)and twice the current draw from a lower impedance (+3dB) and more power handling capability.
Let the corrections begin 🙂
Dave.
A 3 way uses 3 distinct drivers, with a 3 way crossover. eg. the crossover passes a different (but overlapping) band of frequencies to each of the 3 drivers.
A 2.5 way also uses 3 distinct drivers, but with a 2 way crossover. eg 2 of the drivers receive the same band of frequencies (eg. woofers wired in parallel), whereas the 3rd driver (eg tweeter) receives another band of frequencies.
Just think of a 2.5 way as the same as a 2 way speaker but with an extra driver.
Why add the extra driver you ask? - well if the driver is wired in parallel - you get +6dB more output (twice the cone area (+3dB)and twice the current draw from a lower impedance (+3dB) and more power handling capability.
Let the corrections begin 🙂
Dave.
You got it exactly wrong. 
A 3-way speaker uses 3 different speakers with a 3-way crossover.
A 2.5-way speaker uses 3 speakers that are not all different, but a 3-way crossover, so that the two identical drivers recieve different frequency bands.
This is a popular PA setup--two identical 15" woofers and a horn tweeter, with a 3-way crossover to get more power out of the woofers.
This can also be used in a correctional fashion along with L-pads if the driver has "shelfy" response. (I haven't actually seen this done, but it sounds like a good idea.)
A 3-way speaker uses 3 different speakers with a 3-way crossover.
A 2.5-way speaker uses 3 speakers that are not all different, but a 3-way crossover, so that the two identical drivers recieve different frequency bands.
This is a popular PA setup--two identical 15" woofers and a horn tweeter, with a 3-way crossover to get more power out of the woofers.
This can also be used in a correctional fashion along with L-pads if the driver has "shelfy" response. (I haven't actually seen this done, but it sounds like a good idea.)
To clarify, a 2.5 way speaker uses two identical woofers, both operating through the bass region, but one of them (the one farthest from the tweeter) rolled off at a lower frequency than the other. This gives a vertical polar response close to that of a regular two way, but with the power handling of two woofers rather than one.
The lower woofer is usually rolled off first order, otherwise cancellation dips can occur between the two woofers.
Andrew
The lower woofer is usually rolled off first order, otherwise cancellation dips can occur between the two woofers.
Andrew
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