3 way speakers

[adamrobertshaw]

From childhood speakers seemed to me to be two way stand mounters.

Only in my later years when I've strived for better sound have I considered 3-way and thereby a move to floor standing speakers.

But I'm just wondering why 3-way speakers often end up with so many drivers?

Take the B&W CM9 ... two bass drivers. The CM10 upgrade moved the tweeter outside the box for sound improvement but for some reason B&W concluded this created space in the box for a third bass driver.

Why?

I so enjoy my PMC twenty 22 speakers that when the 3-way twenty 26 came out I thought it was wonderful to see that it was just the 3 drivers. Alas I can't justify the expense of them aka I'm skint.

 

[Frank Harvey]

More drivers improve efficiency and cuts distortion levels, as well as improve output levels. Because of the width limitation of slimmer floorstanders, the only way to get more powerful, deeper bass is to use a number of smaller drivers.

The Twenty.26 is a great speaker, and currently one of the best at its price point.

 

[Al ears]

From childhood speakers seemed to me to be two way stand mounters.

Only in my later years when I've strived for better sound have I considered 3-way and thereby a move to floor standing speakers.

But I'm just wondering why 3-way speakers often end up with so many drivers?

Take the B&W CM9 ... two bass drivers. The CM10 upgrade moved the tweeter outside the box for sound improvement but for some reason B&W concluded this created space in the box for a third bass driver.

Why?

I so enjoy my PMC twenty 22 speakers that when the 3-way twenty 26 came out I thought it was wonderful to see that it was just the 3 drivers. Alas I can't justify the expense of them aka I'm skint.

The number of transducers is increasing because of the design constraints, or apparent constraints, on modern floorstanders. These would now appear to simply have to be tall and slim towers. The only way to get sufficient oomph in the bass department is to, therefore, put 2 or more transducers in to the mix.

The PMC twenty 26 gets away with it because it is a transmission-line design that is wide enough to take a 7 inch driver. There are, of course, proper 3 way standmount speakers but these do not have the width constraints applied and so can accept a decent size (10 inches or more) bass cone.

 

[adamrobertshaw]

I fully agree regarding the transmission line design at PMC. As soon as I heard the PMC on a demo it was a winner. My preference to the brand / design is guaranteed.

I'm biased towards high and mid clarity. Bass to me can be intrusive (we all get older!!). So a reduced bass output in a 3 way would be a bonus.

If I listen to say Daughter and London Grammar, I automatically turn up the volume to soak up the highs and mids.

It is interesting comparing the size of the twenty 22 (in my audio system) to the size my MA RX2 (in my AV system), the PMC isn't that much smaller given the MA has an 8 inch driver. But whereas MA squeeze the driver into the box, PMC driver fits easily with loads of room for the transmission line. Simples.

 

[adamrobertshaw]

Maybe the twenty 26 is one of the best at the price point but given I have a mono bi-wire set up, I'll end up itching to get another X Power and PSX-R too as the speaker can be tri-wired.

I just heard Frank Harvey Hi Fi are having a half price PMC and Cyrus sale. Brilliant timing!!

 

[Al ears]

'mono biwire set-up' eh? Never mind.... prefer stereo myself.

 

[adamrobertshaw]

Simples.

It is mono but dual mono. So long as I run the left pre-out to one power amp and the right pre-out to the other power amp, I get stereo.

When I first tried it and got poor results, I moaned to Cyrus who then told me that I hadn't biwired the speakers properly.

It's positive from the left side positive terminals and negative from the right side positive terminals on both power amps; but repeated each side twice because I'm biwiring separately to the tweeter and mid/bass.

Oddly when the power amps are in mono mode, the left pre-out goes into the left input on the the left side power amp; but it is the right pre-out to the left input on the right side power amp i.e. in mono mode there is no left / right.

I've just double checked the Cyrus manual and looked round the back of my set up. I'd had the negative wires running from the negative amp terminals (need to be positive). Wired it up properly and just got myself about 7db stronger signal, improved soundstage and due to my correcting for my total incompetence, a free upgrade*yahoo*

Like I wrote at the beginning ... simples!!