What is a "3-Way" Speaker System

[SF_VR6]

I know this is such a newbie question, but I thought 3-way simply meant tweeter, mids and subs in one enclosure? Some speakers have all 3 but are only 2 1/2 Way?

[joetama]

3-Way means that the tweeter carries a different frequency band, than the mid-range, than the woofers.

Meaning, 0Hz-300Hz would be band 1. 300Hz-4kHz would be band 2. 4kHz-20kHz would be band 3. 1, 2, 3 way.

A 2 1/2 way is a little more complicated. It has a tweeter and two mid-range/woofers. It is pretty much the same as a 2 way but one midrange is just midrange and one is midrange and woofer bands...

[SF_VR6]

ah I see. thank you.

I'm really new to this HT hobby and I'm starting to learn.

[Kal Rubinson]

3-Way means that the tweeter carries a different frequency band, than the mid-range, than the woofers.

Meaning, 0Hz-300Hz would be band 1. 300Hz-4kHz would be band 2. 4kHz-20kHz would be band 3. 1, 2, 3 way.

A 2 1/2 way is a little more complicated. It has a tweeter and two mid-range/woofers. It is pretty much the same as a 2 way but one midrange is just midrange and one is midrange and woofer bands...

Close. It has a tweeter and two other drivers but one is a woofer-only and the other is a mid/woofer. The point is to have minimum radiation surface for the midrange and maximum for the lows.

Kal

[Briz vegas]

So why is it that a 804 is not a 3 1/2 way - it has two woofers

803D would then be a 3 3/4 way - it has three woofers

:rofl: :rofl: ..........................actually, I think I may have a point there :roll: 8O

[Kal Rubinson]

So why is it that a 804 is not a 3 1/2 way - it has two woofers

803D would then be a 3 3/4 way - it has three woofers

:rofl: :rofl: ..........................actually, I think I may have a point there :roll: 8O

Too many smilies. I can't see through 'em.

Kal

[joetama]

Close. It has a tweeter and two other drivers but one is a woofer-only and the other is a mid/woofer. The point is to have minimum radiation surface for the midrange and maximum for the lows.

Kal

After reading what I wrote I did write it backwards... My bad.. Thanks for the correction...

[joetama]

So why is it that a 804 is not a 3 1/2 way - it has two woofers

803D would then be a 3 3/4 way - it has three woofers

:rofl: :rofl: ..........................actually, I think I may have a point there :roll: 8O

They are still just 3-way.

Because one set of drivers carry one band and there is not any cross banding on a set of drivers...

[Briz vegas]

Yeah, sort of!

I was being silly with my descriptions (this hobbie is meant to be fun isn't it).

B&W describe their Nautilus as a "4-way tube-loaded loudspeaker system"
In my head this means the signal is divided into 4 discrete frequency bands by the crossovers. In the case of the nautilus there is one driver for each of the frequency bands. On a B&W 703 or 804 the signal is divided into three bands and the bottom frequency band has two identical bass drivers while the mids and highs have one each.

The 704s crossovers only divide the signal into two frequency bands and then feeds the lower frequencies to a bass only driver and a mid bass driver.

2 1/2 way is a confusing description and for my brain Kal's decription works a little better. I would prefer if they just called it a two way speaker with two different drivers for the lower frequency band.

Thats my version of the #-way story

[WI Rotel]

I'm surprised in the less than perfect answers! The number of "ways" correlates to into how many segments the crossover divides the audio spectrum. A three way divides them in three, a two way in two and so on. Some speakers use multiple radiators usually for the lower octaves but they still receive the same sound frequencies, thus those multiple radiators are still considered one. Some speakers are even "one way" such as the Bose 901 even though they have nine cones!

[wgriel]

I'm surprised in the less than perfect answers! The number of "ways" correlates to into how many segments the crossover divides the audio spectrum. A three way divides them in three, a two way in two and so on. Some speakers use multiple radiators usually for the lower octaves but they still receive the same sound frequencies, thus those multiple radiators are still considered one. Some speakers are even "one way" such as the Bose 901 even though they have nine cones!

Certainly, the number of drivers doesn't dictate the design (well, except for single driver "full range" designs). The confusion is probably more due to the designation of the "2.5" way design, which is a bit more difficult to explain using your terminology. Is the audio spectrum split in 2? Is it 3? Is it split 2.5 ways? Is that even possible?

For me, Kal's description of this design is a nice way to explain it. Otherwise, for 1, 2, 3 or 4 way designs what you say is a simple and accurate explanation.

Bill

[hifiguymi]

A 2 1/2 way speaker has more in common with a 2 way speaker than a 3 way.

For example a 704 is a 2 1/2 way. The tweeter and the upper kevlar woofer are basically the same as the speakers in the 705. The tweeter plays high frequencies, the woofer plays both midrange and bass. With the 704 you have the added lower woofer that plays just bass. Since both woofers play bass you have a large amount of surface area for bass without having a large driver and a wide cabinet. If the lower woofer played midrange there would be all sorts of phasing problems because of its distance from the tweeter. The crossover frequency between the tweeter and midrange dictate the distance alowed between those drivers.

In a 3 way like the 703, the tweeter plays the high frequencies, the FST plays only midrange and the two woofers only play bass. It's a more complicated crossover than a 2 1/2 way like the 704, but done right, with the right drivers (as is the case here) the performance is much better.

Eric

[Briz vegas]

Bose 901 - me thinks I would need 9 cones before I would buy one of those.

Typically Bose are known as "no way" speakers in audiophile circles.

Ah, where would we be without Bose to poke fun at :-)

[KEF]

Ah, where would we be without Bose to poke fun at :-)

Be careful, in a lot of circles, we're the ones they poke fun at...

Cheers,
KEF

[Briz vegas]

Be careful, in a lot of circles, we're the ones they poke fun at...

Cheers,
KEF

Yup, that would be the bose forum. I own Naim and B&W gear to that must make me double the target.

I don't think it pays to be too fanatical about any company/brand. John Bowers might have been a pretty cool guy sitting in his shed coming up with speaker ideas, and maybe the engineers are keen to experiment and push the boundaries of design, but then there is the marketing department,bean counters and CEO who may start to waiver from the original vision.

Is there a snail-pod around the corner (3 cheers to the first person who can photoshop what they would look like). If B&W starts advertising on TV and building car stereos will that mean competing directly with Sony and the like? Personally I would prefer it if B&W went about promoting high end audio to (ie sound quality first - 600s are high end to most people) )expand that market rather than create the snail-pod and join the rest of the mass market (they will probably do both).

Then again if B&W produces an excellent product that suits our taste should we care what other gear they produce and what the critics might say?