2-way tuning

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Different, but fine to compare to in terms of SQ. They have a different sound due to the difference in technique used, but if both are very good it would be difficult to say one is better then the other.
When the sound levels go up the difference in quality gets very clear, especially with mids (voice, sax piano). But remember that you only hear accurate shortly as your hearing alters your perception after a while; your hearing is adjusted to the bad sound after a few minutes.

There are more factors here, not only off axis response and one which is very logical to me, but I have never read anything about this anywhere; that the big excursion of the bass drivers muddies it's ability to produce mids well at the same time (you won't find this in measurements with standard test signals), with great detail. A similar thing, is well accepted for (all most?) all kind of drivers; there is trade off between it's ability to produce lower and higher frequencies. Which can be compensated by money (better materials) a bit.

Having separate subwoofers (which should be called basswoofers) doing the heavy work, you can use very efficient smaller drivers which don't/can't produce any low bass.
Something like the new beyma LOUDSPEAKER 8MC500Nd 8 OH or Eminence delta 8 pro (98dB/W) or 2 if you like, in a much smaller (14/26L) box. Cheaper tweeters, smaller/ lighter top boxes, much better and more effective/efficient output of bass due to much better placement of sub/bass woofers. Better mid's due to drivers not having to do the heavy work. Better highs and cheaper tweeters because they don't need to do the heavier (mid) work as well.
 
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Last part is also a reason why 15"+ tweeter does work better on paper then in real life. Bi amp-ing/ active x-over seems mandatory.

Can anyone name a 15"+ tweet (or dual 15+tweeter that sounds as good as it's 12"+tweeter little brother
Yamaha DXR15.. very smooth and the off angle response is good until you move out of the horns pattern. Of course it is biamped and has some very good DSP processing.
 
Please download https://usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/7/1094377/DXR_series_datasheet.zip and have a look at the polar plots; DXR8 is almost perfect, DXR15 is pretty sad. @2Khz it has a 6DB dip @35 degrees off axis and indirect sound will suffer badly. The DXR8 puts outs out 3db more at that frequency.
Most important info; polar 1500Hz and x-over freq is missing, but according to this post they are all the same, which makes sense as they all use the same tweeter. I estimate it at around 1500-1800Hz.

We agree on 3 way if bass is needed, so DXR8 is best based on specs, 3/5th of the weight, half the size and Maybe 1 or 2dB less loud only on axis. You can take a sub-woofer with you in that space if you need it.

Thank you very much for the term Doppler distortion, that makes a lot of sense and gives me something to investigate.

// There is no fix for bad off axis response / directivity except possibly a physical modification to the cabinet in combination with an adjustment to the signal.
 
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No doubt the DXR8 performs better off axis... specs be damned, but if somebody wants a multi-function box that can be used for a bass guitar or keyboard monitor one day and part of a FOH system the next then the a 12" or 15" version is the better choice. For professional audio I think 12's are the sweet spot, enough lowend response for certain stand alone jobs while being significantly smaller and lighter than their 15" brothers. Some people manage to make do with 10's... everybody's expectations are different, but for me 8's just don't have enough output for half the things I do.
 
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