estreeter
Super Member
Guys, I'm *not* looking for a specific recommendation here - just your thoughts re the effectiveness of a design that seems to be relatively rare in terms of commercial offerings. My curiosity was piqued by a recommendation for an Omega speaker in another thread, and Google threw up this AK thread among more formal reviews:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=439153
I noticed that several of DiY speaker kits are single-driver designs, but most 'name' manufacturers seems to opt for 2 or more drivers per cabinet. I found the 'pros and cons' neatly encapsulated in one review of an Omega design:
There are many fans of full-range, crossover-less designed speakers due to their often heightened efficiency and the resulting purity and coherence of their sonic performance. These designs have at least two limitations that can get in the way of being able to use them on many different types of music. First, single driver designs often cannot reach very high pressure sound levels without distortion. Secondly, they normally cannot reproduce low level bass without using large enclosures that are loaded with a transmission line that allow the back wave of the driver to reinforce the last octaves in the bass region.
Given that I'm not a basshound and I dont have a large room, neither of the downsides sounds like a showstopper for low-level listening, but there are some interesting claims out there re the Omega's poor synergy with certain amp designs. As with anything in audio, swings and roundabouts - happy to hear about your own experiences with a single-driver design.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=439153
I noticed that several of DiY speaker kits are single-driver designs, but most 'name' manufacturers seems to opt for 2 or more drivers per cabinet. I found the 'pros and cons' neatly encapsulated in one review of an Omega design:
There are many fans of full-range, crossover-less designed speakers due to their often heightened efficiency and the resulting purity and coherence of their sonic performance. These designs have at least two limitations that can get in the way of being able to use them on many different types of music. First, single driver designs often cannot reach very high pressure sound levels without distortion. Secondly, they normally cannot reproduce low level bass without using large enclosures that are loaded with a transmission line that allow the back wave of the driver to reinforce the last octaves in the bass region.
Given that I'm not a basshound and I dont have a large room, neither of the downsides sounds like a showstopper for low-level listening, but there are some interesting claims out there re the Omega's poor synergy with certain amp designs. As with anything in audio, swings and roundabouts - happy to hear about your own experiences with a single-driver design.