I've gotta disagree with you, brucegel, a speaker not capable of getting down to at least the 30hz region always souds hollow, empty and lifeless to me. It is that visceral bass that makes for much of the emotional connection to the music, the quality bass that is more felt then heard that is critical, at least for the wide breadth of music I listen to.
FWIW, my current "3-way" speakers are very wide at the bass cabinet but use a minimum baffle design for midrange and tweeter, and this design sounds better then the 2-way floorstander I owned that was half a wide overall, yet the big 3-way images better, much better, and even surpasses the majority of monitor speakers compared them to. I've found the really good full range speakers to be more coherent, dynamic, transparent, involving, and more believable then constricted 2-ways, which always sound like speakers to me.
I tend to believe the heart of the speaker is the unseen and less glamourous electronics chosen by the gifted designer, not the drivers themselves, be it their number or quality, or even the box or frame they sit in that are the most important element of a great sounding speaker.
FWIW, my current "3-way" speakers are very wide at the bass cabinet but use a minimum baffle design for midrange and tweeter, and this design sounds better then the 2-way floorstander I owned that was half a wide overall, yet the big 3-way images better, much better, and even surpasses the majority of monitor speakers compared them to. I've found the really good full range speakers to be more coherent, dynamic, transparent, involving, and more believable then constricted 2-ways, which always sound like speakers to me.
I tend to believe the heart of the speaker is the unseen and less glamourous electronics chosen by the gifted designer, not the drivers themselves, be it their number or quality, or even the box or frame they sit in that are the most important element of a great sounding speaker.