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 2 responses by kosst_amojan

I'm not sure what kijanki is talking about. How do you hear opposite sides of a driver that is mounted in a box?
@kijanki 
Sounds to me like you've got a big thing for D' Apolito areays. I'd hardly say those lack their own technical challenges. They're even more directionality challenged since the wave fronts decouple based on the distances of the centers of the drivers instead of the driver diameter itself. A 2.5 way design can be realized with 6.5 inch mid-bass and woofers and not suffer the problems you claim through appropriate alignment, crossover slopes, and polarity.