Co-axials vs Separate Drivers and Horns

[mah]

Two different streams. How do they compare for domestic use, assuming suitable enclosure sizes?

Marshall.

[GM]

Depends on how far away you sit and what driver/horn combo you compare it to. IOW, if you sit far enough away and its polar response is proportionally narrower to the increased distance the latter will sound as coherent as the coax.

So for a typical HIFI/HT, a coax with a horn large enough to match its woofer's pistonic polar response througth the XO BW and possibly with a helper woofer is preferred. Of the coaxes, I can only recall ATM the original 601, 604B, 616-8A and probably the 212-8A qualifying with the M14/9842, M19 basic concepts being their driver/horn combo ~equivalents.

As you move into acoustically smaller or larger rooms and/or nearfield or farfield listening distances than these work well enough in, then speaker design selection becomes primarily dominated by polar response to keep first reflections from occurring in front of the listening position.

GM

[Panomaniac]

Well... as much as I like the coax rigs - and they certainly have their charm - I like the separate horns even better. Done right, nothing sounds better to me.

I listen at 3-4 meters distance, where the coax is usually preferred. But there is no accounting for taste (mine). :P

[analog addict]

Heh, make life simple. Have both....:2thumbsup: