MINe 109 wrote:
In article ,
Walt wrote:


MINe 109 wrote:


In article ,
Walt wrote:

BTW, the original question (which was never answered) was about 2 1/2
way speakers and whence they came, if anyone wants to pick up that ball.


Do you mean a d'Appolito Configuration or Array? Mine came from Scotland.

No, I don't think so. I'm not sure what a d'Appolito Configuration is.

A 2 1/2 way speaker is where you have a tweeter and two woofers, one
of which is rolled off above 400 hz or so. Usually the woofers are
the same size. This design is quite common, I've auditioned a bunch,
and liked none. Curious about the backstory...


The d'Appolito has the woofers flanking the tweeter, commonly referred
to as "MTM" ("mids" instead of "woofers"). The benefits include
increased sensitivity compared to two-way, and a relatively uniform
frequency response on-axis as well as avoiding the dreaded "Allison
Effect." I like my Linn Kabers, which are sealed-box MTM.


Are both of the woofers (or mids) reproducing the same frequency
range (i.e. ~20 hz to 2 khz)? If so, it's just a two way system with
two woofers. To be a 2 1/2 way, you need a driver that handles 20 to
400 hz, another driver that handles 20 to 2 khz, and a tweeter that
handes 2k and above. ( crossover points are illustrative, obviously
you can move them around without changing the N-wayness of the system)

Not that there's anything wrong with 2 way - in fact I find that 2 way
usually sounds better than 2 1/2.

I'd imagine cheap TMM arrays might not be so hot, like the typical
big-box store product (Polk, etc). Some that may be okay: PSB, Quad,
Paradigm.


I auditioned some Polks and was unimpressed. Not sure of the model.
The Paradigm "Studio" line was pretty good, the "Monitor" line was
merely OK. IIRC, the Paradigms with two woofers had them configured
TMM, not MTM to use your notation. In every line I listened to, from
every manufacturer, the 2 way sounded better than th 2 1/2 way - more
natural, less "flabby" in the low mids.


--
// Walt