First of all, the people who read this thread need to understand that I use the metaphor “idiots owners” purely in pedagogical sense. There is nothing idiotic to run neither single driver speakers, to have very bad speakers or not to have speakers at all. Still, I make an assumption that people who read this site are in quest to use own actions and intentions to inflict differences upon sound reproduction. So, the presumption that I have that the people who do read this site all are in pursue of some kind of added influence that come by means of sound reproduction techniques.

Playing with my 7 channels, all-active playback and formatting the sound in a way how I feel it need to be I observe an incredible compliance of each individual channel and I observe how the 1/2dB attenuation of one channel for instance shapes the entire sound in very different way. I clearly see that the performance of individual channels is very much depends from many, very-very many environmental circumstances, starting from plate current on the given channel amplifier and ending with a location of some acoustics-affecting object in the room.

So, my wondering what the tools the idiotic supporters of Single Driver Speakers have that allow them to shape sound in a way they need? I many times within my site and everywhere else demeaned the Single Driver Speakers notion, pointing many, very many very questionable aspects of Single Driver Speakers performance, starting with enormous intermodulations of Single Driver and ending up with Single Driver Speakers debility to handle anything besides very narrow midrange and only at very low volumes.  However, it never come to me that in addition to all typical Single Driver Speakers users the Single Driver Speakers user juts do not have any ways to inflict own sonic will to their own speakers.

Even if the absolute Single Driver Speaker is made with absolutely phenomenal performance (they uselessly show up in March of each year and in July people who tried them learn the it was juts shit) then this phenomenal performance is applicable ONLY for the fixed condition that practice shows me – never replicated. Let say the resourceful Japanese, French or Italians came up with a new super kinky Single Driver Speaker. The diaphragm was made with a placenta of Yangtze River Dolphin and suspended on the gravity of a miniature Black Hole. The Speaker sound spectacular but will it sound so in another room. Another room will have 1001 different sound-affective circumstances but no Single Driver Speaker has provisions to deal with them.

So, in my mind the Single Driver Speaker is a fine foe the people who has no specific and no personal demands to sound. They are the part of those people who are coming to the concerts and scream “Bravo” in response to a horrible play when even musicians themselves are so ashamed to raise eyes. The Single Driver Speaker are bad by themselves and they are not the playback that is able to embrace and deliver the wish of a system owner.

Think of a virtuoso trombonist who is sitting in orchestra and absolutely not in compliance with what conductor wish or what the rest of musicians do.  In case of the Single Driver Speaker this trombonist is not a virtuoso but a horrible player with attitude problems.

zanon wrote:

Romy: IF a person does have personal objectives to shape sound, then what additional options do they get with a 3-way off the shelf B&W that they do not have with full range driver?

zanon wrote:

Romy: I was not aware that manufacturers of multidriver system let you attenuate individual drivers. I guess if you multi-amp, then you have control at that level. I have never encountered such a system so I cannot say, but if it is an option, then yes, it is a big advantage of multi-way over single driver. In general though, people completely ignore room setup and it has a big impact on sound, up to lower midrange. You can do a lot to manipulate sound via placement, which is true of single and multi of course. It would be interesting to see how many people who have off the shelf multiway system have actually attenuated an individual driver.

Romy the Cat wrote:

And it is not that you can do it but it is a very common practice. Some manufacturers offer actuators of sometime tapping pads. I think even the largest Wilsons offer a set of series resistors for crossovers to attenuate HF. It is very common practice to cover the ports for ported design to get more proper response for given speaker for a given room. Some manufacturers even offer along with the speakers special inserts made for the ports. I have old and ugly Altec 19 home that has tweeter and MF attenuator – stupidly done but nevertheless… And of course any person who has ears and do not care too much about the shiny glossy surface of the speakers would do to them whatever s/he want in order to get from them the sound that s/he wants. The hole point is that with a single-driver speakers there is no options besides to boil them for 30 minutes in sulfuric acid.