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Full range loudspeakers i.e. Single driver...any love?

Moppit

Moppit

pfm Member
Only recently clocked the benefits of these, I don't mean full range as in 20hz 20khz but single driver units like Lowther, Fugal etc. Usually horn loaded.

Any users out there? What are your experiences?
 
I've heard a few at shows, but to be honest I've never been too impressed, the ones I've heard have been compromised at the top end.
 
The biggest benefit is cohesion through the lower mids up to the top end. They are very 'direct' (literally, as there is no crossover), and on things like close mic'ed acoustic or female vocals can be downright spooky.

The compromises are phase shifts in the low end due to having to use horns to compensate for the small driver size, beaming at higher frequencies, recessed fine treble detail, and driver colouration.
 
Loads of love! Some great frugalhorn threads on here, and lots of very positive comments re Mark Audio drivers. Check out content from @orangeart and some of his products.

I use frugalhorn XLs, with either Mark Audio alpair 10 MAOP or Alpair 10p drivers, the latter with ENAbl mods. I’ve also just bought a pair of standmount Mark Audio Cesti MBs. Both fantastic speakers, I doubt I’ll go back to multi driver design despite having owned some very nice Audio Note, Living Voice and odeon units in the past.
 
Stunsworth said:
I've heard a few at shows, but to be honest I've never been too impressed, the ones I've heard have been compromised at the top end.
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Have a listen to some Mark Audio drivers if you can. They’re far less compromised than lowthers et al in terms of top end extension.
 
If you search on here for frugalhorn you will seen loads , love them a lot and their sense of presence
 
Moppit said:
Only recently clocked the benefits of these, I don't mean full range as in 20hz 20khz but single driver units like Lowther, Fugal etc. Usually horn loaded.

Any users out there? What are your experiences?
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The only benefit is point-source. The list of downsides is very long.

An audio myth in my opinion, one of the several I fell prey to...
 
Moppit said:
Any users out there? What are your experiences?
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I have them in the TV and portable radio but not the hi-fi. I have stood next to someone enthusing over a horn loaded single driver speaker and been quite unable to hear anything to enthuse about. It isn't conventional high fidelity but some people genuinely seem to like the sound. They are relatively cheap and simple but If having a go entails any sort of financial or time risk for you I would recommend having a listen first at an audio show or similar to see whether or not you "get them" and can hear a "coherent" sound.
 
I would ignore the mega priced above, they are taking the piss like some cable comics.

There's a market for audiophools, they listen with their wallet.
 
I've heard Beauhorn Virtuoso and thought they were fairly good but could nowhere near live with the compromises at the frequency extremes. Also heard Rehdekos and they were one of the most astonishing things I've ever heard. The dynamics and immediacy were far far better than anything else I've ever come across. Not even close. Still couldn't live with the curtailed frequency extremes though.
 
tuga said:
The only benefit is point-source. The list of downsides is very long.
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I have never heard any, and have no real idea what 'point source' means, nor do I have any idea what the downsides are, but think I read that they tend to give a very narrow 'hot spot' for sitting in. I assume point source means the sound should all hit my ears at the same time, thus sounding potentially better..?
Can anyone enlighten me a little, and while I have replied quoting @tuga I'm not asking just him, nor am I having a dig.
It's a genuine question from an unenlightened soul.
 
I recently purchased some Voxativ full range drivers. It was an itch I fancied scratching. They didn't come with cabinets so I took a look at Voxativ's site and decided the easiest cabinet to try and make was their top of the range Ampeggio Due! I'm no woodworking expert and I don't even possess a shed or most of the tools required, but I did find an image of an acrylic version they make which revealed the internal layout. I've blown the image up to full size and now starting to have a bash at making some in my livingroom!
I have put the drivers into a plywood panel 1.2m wide by 1.05 high each and had a listen. They aren't as crisp as my usual speakers and lack the bass as to be expected without cabinet help, but they are a lot of fun and produce an impressively wide soundstage. I was listening to a Delerium track - Censual Worlds and had a very strange sensation when some of the bass rhythm seemed to be coming directly from my left side. I've enjoyed them so much that I packed away my usual speakers for the time being.
 
Rick_F said:
I recently purchased some Voxativ full range drivers. It was an itch I fancied scratching. They didn't come with cabinets so I took a look at Voxativ's site and decided the easiest cabinet to try and make was their top of the range Ampeggio Due! I'm no woodworking expert and I don't even possess a shed or most of the tools required, but I did find an image of an acrylic version they make which revealed the internal layout. I've blown the image up to full size and now starting to have a bash at making some in my livingroom!
I have put the drivers into a plywood panel 1.2m wide by 1.05 high each and had a listen. They aren't as crisp as my usual speakers and lack the bass as to be expected without cabinet help, but they are a lot of fun and produce an impressively wide soundstage. I was listening to a Delerium track - Censual Worlds and had a very strange sensation when some of the bass rhythm seemed to be coming directly from my left side. I've enjoyed them so much that I packed away my usual speakers for the time being.
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Bloody hell Rick what did they cost you?
 
steveinspain said:
I have never heard any, and have no real idea what 'point source' means, nor do I have any idea what the downsides are, but think I read that they tend to give a very narrow 'hot spot' for sitting in. I assume point source means the sound should all hit my ears at the same time, thus sounding potentially better..?
Can anyone enlighten me a little, and while I have replied quoting @tuga I'm not asking just him, nor am I having a dig.
It's a genuine question from an unenlightened soul.
Click to expand...

Point source means that all sound is generated from the same spot of the speaker. If favours imaging and produces identical dispersion to the sides or above and below the speaker's axis.

Kef, Tannoy and a few others put the tweeter inside the mid-woofer making what is called a coaxial driver.
This topology has significant advantages over a single wide-band driver.
 
I have speakers based on Jordan Eikona. Yes, sound is a bit different from traditional speakers, and, yes, not universal, and I do not think that anybody have single driver speakers as their only speakers. Give them 30 sec and you forget all about differences, they are enjoyable on their own.
 
I have a pair of Baker Majors here... 1970s, 12" paper drivers with a whizzer cone in the middle (mounted directly atop the voice coil former), in 9x15x23" heavy chipboard boxes. They can do a super job of punching 1970s rock into your ears realistically. There is an immediacy about them, no shortage of low end (full output from 40Hz), almost nothing above 15KHz - but there isn't likely to be much worth hearing up there from 1970s dynamic microphones recording onto 1970s tape anyway... No need for horn loading, labyrinth, transmission line, or anything else. Just a big driver in a sealed box.
 
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