I was curious whether a full range speaker can sound as good or better than a 2 way. The wide array of speakers posted in the gallery thread are beautiful and impressive. Is it easier or more difficult to build a great sounding full range?
for ultimate simplicity and elegance, a full range speaker is hard to beat. Having only one speaker means a point source with no added distortion save that which is inherent in any electro acoustic system. I however do not think i could be satisfied with one driver. I could be sitting and listening to ella sing beneath her silver moon and the next track i might want to listen to would be a hip hop vinyl mix with lots of LF remnants. One delicate driver cannot handle this. I have chosen to build a two way crossed over at 500hz. This frequency was dictated by my compression driver, which was free, so I will live with it. I would have preferred to crossover an octave lower however then i would have trouble finding a driver which would reach to 16khz. With my setup I will get 20hz-16khz at better than theater volumes...
I have built multi way and full range driver systems. Some of them even sounded good. I think it is easier to design and build a full range system, the crossover design in a multi way system will make or break the project. Designing a good crossover takes real skill, or one needs to copy an existing design. The down sides of a full range driver are at the extreme bottom and top end where it might not be as good as a multi way, beaming can also be a concern if you want a wide sweet spot. But overall, I believe a full range system is easier to design, adjust, and build with a minimum amount of expertise.
Hi,
simply put the bass excursion capability of most full range drivers
is severely limited compared to bass mid units, so you are already
talking chalk and cheese.
The answer to your question depends on what criteria you employ.
🙂/sreten.
simply put the bass excursion capability of most full range drivers
is severely limited compared to bass mid units, so you are already
talking chalk and cheese.
The answer to your question depends on what criteria you employ.
🙂/sreten.
I would say yes, but as sreten says, it depends on criteria. I've used several multi-way systems and now run a fullrange. It goes from 35Hz to 20kHz (not that I hear that high) and is immensely satisfying. However, you need the right enclosure to do the job and depending on musical tastes and loudness, might not be for everybody. A fullrange, covering 100Hz up and using a bass system alongside, would be a good compromise for high power users.
Horses for courses.
The standard 2-way monitor speaker has become, well, standard, but not necessarily based on sound-quality but on issues of convenience.
The standard 2-way monitor speaker has become, well, standard, but not necessarily based on sound-quality but on issues of convenience.
Fullrange and multi-speaker systems are apples and oranges, IMO.
A fullrange can easily place you in the concert hall, but not the moshpit.
If you have a small room, go FR. If you need power into a larger area, go 2 or even 3-way.
A fullrange can easily place you in the concert hall, but not the moshpit.
If you have a small room, go FR. If you need power into a larger area, go 2 or even 3-way.
If you listen mostly at lower volume levels or in the near field try a full range speaker. You will be impressed.
If you like it loud and clear from a distance a 2 or 3 way speaker is the way to go.
If you like it loud and clear from a distance a 2 or 3 way speaker is the way to go.
>>> A fullrange can easily place you in the concert hall, but not the moshpit.
LOL! I agree!
I prefer the sound of my full range driver projets to my multi ways.
Adding a subwoofer and super tweeter round out the performance to what I feel is the best of all worlds. Horny's, Array Heads and Multi Ways will dissagree. But that's ok. As long as we all enjoy our systems and the music we love to listen to.
Peace,
Godzilla
LOL! I agree!
I prefer the sound of my full range driver projets to my multi ways.
Adding a subwoofer and super tweeter round out the performance to what I feel is the best of all worlds. Horny's, Array Heads and Multi Ways will dissagree. But that's ok. As long as we all enjoy our systems and the music we love to listen to.
Peace,
Godzilla
Godzilla said:
I completely agree, although I don't think that the B20s need much more bass in the cabinets that I built.
I don't think that full rangers need to be limited to lower volumes though. Perhaps specific drivers have to limited to lower volumes, but if a teenager like me (who likes loud volumes) thinks that they get plenty loud, they get very loud.
I have turned up the volume knob on my amp and my Pioneer B20s will blow me out of the room.
Josh
adding a supertweeter and subwoofer makes it no longer fullrange, since fullrange refers to a single driver. fullrange has either bad bass or bad treble IMHO.
If you want lower listening levels, then full ranges are really good and hard to beat when well designed. If you want more dynamics closer to real life levels, multi-ways are necessary.
The premise of the question predetermines the answer. !st of all, equal........in what way? In price? Yes. In size? Yes. In sound quality? That would depend on which 2 way and which full range. Neither would present a 20hz- 20khz aural window with any semblance of accuracy or realistic dynamics. The laws of physics preclude it. I've owned different, and heard, many kinds of both. I prefer the full range. I would not begrudge your preference for a 2 way.
There's nothing that says you can't have multiple pairs of speakers 😀. Once I'm done I'll probably have 3-4 sets of speakers for the types of music I like. Buy a speaker selector and go wild! 😉
Tom.
Tom.
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