2-way speaker with best bass


I know all the arguments about how crossovers can screw up loudspeakers, and hence the many inherent advantages of 2-ways over multi-driver designs. But there comes a point where the laws of physics can only be bent so far...

So... what IYO is the 2-way speaker that most successfully plumbs the depths, that provides the best full, but "tight and tuneful", bass, with good pitch definition, without completely messing up the higher registers?

For the moment, let's not worry about how this achievement might affect impedance and sensitivity.
twoleftears
I've not heard the Shearwater, but I did own the Hot Rod Kestrels and they were very good indeed. I wonder what the designer is up to now; it seems he had a real good way with speaker design.
The Altec Model 19 has very good bass, but it's a tad larger than some of the other two-ways mentioned in this thread.

Duke
Yeah, Altec model 19. someone else besides me putting forth 2 ways with big cabs and drivers. Why settle for 6" drivers trying to reach the depths, when the right size ones will do it with ease.
This article may be relevant(I actually posted it on a subwoofer thread too) - it is all about trade-offs and what do you call "better" - is "better" more accuracy (good transients) or is it just copious bass (wow that thing makes lots of bass at LF).

"There thus evolved two camps of woofer design: those with strong magnets, having better transient accuracy but worse LF response, and those with weaker magnets having good LF response but poor transient response. However, the poor transient response of a sealed box with a woofer having a weak magnet pales into insignificance alongside the
wholesale demolition of the waveform that takes place
in reflex, bandpass and transmission line speakers."