2 way or 3 way Speaker?

Not neccesarily. Three way speakers have a lot more potential problems due to the greater complexity of the crossover.

Most of the problems found in a speaker are due to design flaws or compromises in the crossover.

Then again, two-way speakers usually put the crossover in a sensitive part of the midrange, which is where the most audibly-damaging problems occur...

Two-way versus Three-way doesn't give anyone enough information to make a quality judgement. There are excellent designs from both camps, so a blanket judgement does not apply here...

If you're asking if there have been worthwhile advances in speaker design, parts, and technology since 1986, then I'd have to answer, emphatically, "YES". If you desire recommendations, you'll have to provide more information on your associated gear, your listening room, and your taste in music. You might want to reintroduce that question under another topic heading.

Actually, advances in technology are what have made decent 2-way systems practical. Small (7-inch) woofers have been developed that will respond OK up to the point where a tweeter takes over. Using two of these little woofers produces OK bass. In the bad old days, we used 12-inch (or 15-inch) woofers that were only good to about 1000 Hz, so a midrange driver was essential.

Even today, especially for high sound level, a specialized midrange driver is best. True, the design of a three-way passive crossover is a lot more complex than a two-way. You can't just put two two-way crossovers in series. But it can be done. One practical approach is to biamp the three-way so that only a two-way passive crossover is needed.

I use two way mini monitors with a Channel Islands passive preamp, a Marchand active crossover and stereo subwoofers ( fed by old Kenwood monoblock amps ). If you do something like this it's going to blow you away. You can always upgrade the monitors in the future. Don't settle for a single sub. Stereo subs make a *substantial* difference.

Eldart, those Kenwoods aren't grainy at all--they're good enough to drive the mini monitors w/out the subs! Too bad they have lamp cords. I'm going to use cryo'ed VenHaus Flavor 2 (hardwired).

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