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Is the 2.5 way speaker the ideal home speaker?

Time for what I hope is another fun thread. 

One type of speaker which is actually pretty common but which gets little press / attention here on audiogon is the 2.5 way. 

A 2.5 way speaker is almost a 3-way, but it isn't. It is a speaker with 3 drivers, but instead of a tweeter, midrange and woofer (TMW) it lacks a true midrange. The "midrange" is really a mid-woofer, that shares bass duties with the woofer. Often these two drivers are identical, though in the Focal Profile 918 the midwoofer and woofer were actually different drivers with the same nominal diameter (6"). 

The Monitor Audio 200 is a current example of the concept, but I am sure there are many others. It's also quite popular in kit form. One of the most high-end kits I know of is the Ophelia based on a ScanSpeak Be tweeter and 6" Revelator mid-woofers. I haven't heard them, but I am in eternal love with those mid-woofers. I believe the original plans come from the German speaker building magazine Klan Ton. 

However many other kits are also available

But regardless of kit, or store purchased, are you a 2.5 way fan? Why or why not? 

Best,


Erik 
erik_squires

Showing 6 responses by helomech

helomech
766 posts
 
Hmm...seems no one pointed out the real advantages of 2.5-ways (at least well designed examples). It's the same advantage of 2-ways: the high crossover point and resulting coherency. In a well designed 2-way, it's often difficult to make out the separation of drivers, whereas I rarely encounter a 3-way that achieves the same feat. I can usually hear that there's 3 or more drivers doing the work.

A midwoofer and tweeter crossed over at say, 3.8kHz, benefit from coherency and lack of crossover distortions where the meat of the music lies: in the midrange. This is largely why speakers like Harbeths and Spendors can produce vocals that rival some electrostats. 

Of course there can be disadvantages to a high crossover point, but I find they are insignificant or inaudible in most high quality 2/2.5-ways.
helomech
766 posts
 
@grannyring 

I made that point early on and it is one of the best advantages. That is why I also like a simple two way design.  Nice post.  
My apologies, I overlooked it.
helomech
766 posts
 
@erik_squires 

I'm not sure I follow, @helomech -

Usually higher tweeter points are achieved with 3-way systems which use a "true" midrange.

That's why I stated, "well designed examples."

I know of quite a few 3-ways that are still crossed over to the tweeter rather low, often in the 2kHz range. Some 2-ways are crossed this low, but it often doesn't work so well IMO. There's no hard rules in any of this, but I rarely come across 3-ways that have the coherency of well designed 2-ways.
helomech
766 posts
 
^ Eric,

Revel F206 : 2.1kHz

Monitor Audio Silver 8: 2.7 kHz

Paradigm Monitor 11 v7: 2.2 kHz

Paradigm Persona 3: 2.4 kHz


The first 3 I auditioned extensively. I owned the Silver 8s for a year They all lacked some coherency IMO. 
helomech
766 posts
 
Eric,

The only 3-ways I currently own are Klipsch Heresy IIIs. I just looked up their crossover point, it's a rather high 5kHz. These speakers still lack coherency unless listening from a distance of 11' or more. I would guess that is most likely due to horn beaming, though the others I mentioned also benefit from such distance. I sit about 9' from the speakers in my main rig. Of all the 3-ways I've tried, none work for me in such proximity. I imagine a design like the Elac Adantes might work.
helomech
766 posts
 
@kijanki

I think the bottom line is that if a driver is crossed over close to 4kHz, it’s covering most of a human’s vocal capability that falls within the most sensitive range of our hearing ability. It keeps the crossover away from the meat of the music. Even if harmonics do extend as far as 17kHz, many folks have trouble hearing freqs beyond 8kHz.





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