It depends what you mean by small driver. Without large amounts of EQ 3" or 4" drivers cannot produce deep bass (below 50Hz) without severe limitations in distortion or output level. But once you start getting into 6" to 9" drivers it becomes a different story. Multiple drivers of this size are fully capable of deep bass. If you compare similar quality drivers the math tells the story. In the example of the Venture speaker cited above, 4x 7" drivers has about the surface area of a single 14" driver. If you argue that the 14" driver is capable of quality deep bass, then the 4x 7" configuration should do just as well, again assuming we're talking about similar quality drivers.
Why use multiple smaller drivers when a single big one can do? Which ever way you go you end up with a large, heavy and presumably expensive speaker enclosure. I'm not really sure, but I speculate that it has something to do with better integration with other drivers, particularly in the cross over region. There are probably other, or even better reasons.
Why use multiple smaller drivers when a single big one can do? Which ever way you go you end up with a large, heavy and presumably expensive speaker enclosure. I'm not really sure, but I speculate that it has something to do with better integration with other drivers, particularly in the cross over region. There are probably other, or even better reasons.