About Two-way and Three-way Loudspeakers

rev 1/29/2012

The basic problem with building a wide-range, uncolored two-way loudspeaker is the difficulty in doing so. Some of the design tours-de-force in the history of speakers have been two-way. They are the products of very sophisticated designers.

Classic two-way designs include the Advent, the Altec Voice of the Theater systems, the JBL Hartsfield, the Tannoy dual concentrics, and others. The great two-way loudspeaker is rare and special.

The Acme three-way models are based on a woofer with outstanding bass characteristics. The woofer also has a very tame natural rolloff around 1 kHz- terrible for a 2-way system, but easy to work with in a 3-way context, and a perfect vehicle to provide a low-coloration loudspeaker with an extended low end from a compact enclosure.

It was never a goal to create a three-way loudspeaker. It was an effort to create a great loudspeaker. Two-way, three-way, whatever. The bass produced by the woofer is so good, that it became necessary to do whatever was necessary to take advantage of its low-end excellence. Which called for a three-way system.

The Two-Way 12" Systems.

The 12" Acme Woofers have a so-called "curvilinear" cone. This provides a more extended top-end, and allows the woofer to be used in a two-way system, using the very special tweeter we are using. The bass is as extended as in our 10" models, with great volume capabilities, and distortion nearly as low.

Is the two-way Acme Low B-112 Full Range system a great two-way system, in the classic sense? That's not for me to say, it's for you to say. But it's a very good loudspeaker, and undoubtedly the finest lightweight system for a five-string player currently available.