There are great sounding and not super expensive 2-way designs. Why go for 3-way, then?

[Brett]

My friend has been designing speakers, for HiFi, PA and MI LFSys. He is fastidious about the design of crossovers and does not use 3 way designs. He does use 10,12 and 15” woofers and compression driver/horns capable of going down below, the beaming region of the woofer. To get the correct response you must match/use the horn and comp driver, not necessarily from the same brand.

I use one of his designs, the Silverstone, an FRFR passive design that outclasses most HiFi speakers.

So he has a design philosophy, it doesn't mean he's correct. For a fullish range speaker, say 40Hz up, I can make very good argument for 3 or more way for hifi, bass guitar* or PA.

* My last large BG rig was 3 way, and was dismantled for my recent house move and is due to be rebuilt soon. It will also be 3 way and FRFR, but I've been using this sort of cab for over 20y. I pretty much only play 6s these days, B-C and E-F.
In honesty, I did a local party gig just before Christmas and used my old Peavey Mk IV/BW15 rig as it was to hand. It worked but was muddy. As the dance floor was full all night, I'm sure I'm the only one who noticed or cared.

 

[youknowyou]

So they're active.

First order? Nope.

Otherwise I basically agree.

youve carefully selected drivers that can work first order together, did a big 3 way, and disliked the result?

 

[AllenB]

carefully selected drivers

Is there the implication of using drivers into breakup "if carefully selected"? (Note, I'm assuming that any single axis peaks are fixable and not part of the issue in question...)

 

[youknowyou]

my speaker system and related discussion is just a few page back in Speaker system pictures thread

 

[Brett]

youve carefully selected drivers that can work first order together, did a big 3 way, and disliked the result?

Yes.

 

[vishal raju]

This is how i like it. + extra passive crossover for tweeters

 

[Juhazi]

https://www.audioholics.com/editorials/acoustic-research-ar9

The AR9 was a large floor-standing, vertical, 4-way, 4-ohm loudspeaker with two 12-inch acoustic-suspension woofers, an 8-inch acoustic-suspension lower-midrange speaker, a 1½-inch upper-midrange dome speaker and a ¾-inch dome tweeter.
The AR9 thus contributed to the science of sound reproduction and digital-measurement techniques, and this speaker design became a showcase for Teledyne Acoustic Research’s enormous investment in time and money during its development. The speaker was produced from 1978 to 1982 and sold well

 

[wchang]

May I confirm something, there aren't any off-the-shelf, inexpensive 2-ch active XO filter device other than automotive 12/24VDC or pro balanced/rack-mount?

 

[hifijim]

MiniDSP 2x4HD is the only one I know of. One device would handle a pair of 2 way speakers.

 

[diyiggy]

Whatever solution you choose, it is always better to avoid the ADC process with active filteringn

 

[youknowyou]

lol
if minidsp is considered hifi...

 

[wchang]

Well the "one" I know is a pair of sub plate-amps but limited to below ~200hz.

I didn't buy miniDSP because IMO the 2x4HD tried to do too much -- ADC and DAC couldn't be more than a few dollars in parts (quality). Even the (NLA) 2x10HD couldn't output 2-channel 2-way digital; would have at most served as EQ for main/fullrange driver digital (1-way, delay not supported) to external hifi DAC, using analogue outputs with delay for all other/lesser drivers.

 

[ASCTim]

I love the sound of a 4" midrange driver. That's a reason why I like some 3 or more way setups. The midrange needs to be crossed no lower than 200Hz and go up to maybe 3500 kHz max. Works a charm for me, especially with a 3/4" dome tweeter.

 

[Juhazi]

So you guys have an agenda - no ADC/DAC, because it's not hifi...

My 4-way speakers with ADC/DAC of Minidsp were voted best in show - in 2014. And I did tell they use Minidsp!

 

[diyiggy]

So the speaker is very good

But there are noticable differences and also at Minidsp between different digital sources.

Just the whole result matters indeed

 

[Juhazi]

Yes, you can notice the difference just by looking https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...urements-and-minidsp-2x4-hd-dsp-and-dac.2674/

 

[diyiggy]

In anyway usefull. The most terrible digital devices have good numbers since the beginnings.
If your ears are happy it suffices.