PMC 24 and Canalis Cambria two way floorstanders; What is the advantage to this design?:

I had two way floorstanders, then moved to a 4 way full range floorstanders. Typically if well designed, 2 ways are easier to integrate and can be very coherent, but certainly they won't cover a very wide bandwidth. I have found no weaknesses in my 4 way with regards to coherence, and it goes a lot deeper. It's also a lot more revealing but that' more to do with the quality of the drivers and the overall design and so forth.

Basically I would say there's no distinct advantage to a well designed 2 way compared to a well designed 3 way (or higher)...but of course, a very high quality 2 way, compared to a modest quality 3 way probably will favor the 2 way. 

@sunnyjim - It makes for a much simpler crossover design - hence eliminating the issues that come with a more complex crossover.

As nitewulf posted - it also aids coherance

In a "good" 2-way design, the design of the drivers is where the "money" is spent. They usually have a more comprehensive frequency response than what a 3-way speaker might employ.

However there are 2-way designs that use a more standard driver - they tend to have "dips" in frequency response around the crossover frequency.

Pro-Ac and Kudos are a couple I have heard that seems to have dealt with this effectively and present a very uniform frequency response over the audible range

RE:

However, the retail prices of the above don’t seemed to represent "good value".

For me - "Value" has little to do with the number of drivers and more to do with the sound quality of a speaker - i.e. I let my ears decide for me

e.g. My speakers are Gershman Acoustics Sonogram and the woofer used in them is nothing fancy to look at, but it is an excellent sounding speaker. It is obvious that they focused on sound quality - and not looks.

Cheers - Steve

IME, there is less to the driver count of a speaker than the designer's skill.  I have heard multi-way systems that are great, and some that stink.  Ditto for two-way towers.  But a designer that knows what he is doing can get excellent, extended sound out of a two-way tower.  And, IMO, that's what you are paying for, not just the cabinetry and components, but also the artistry of the designer.  Let's put it this way:  Which would you rather have, a two-way tower for $6K that is the best speaker you've ever heard, or a 3-way (or 4- or 5-way) tower for $4K that sounds just okay?

I would focus more on the audible results rather than how many drivers are crammed into a box.  The only time these become a practical consideration is in relation to the size of the room, the amp driving them, and your preferred volume levels.

Having owned the 2-way Proac Response 2.5 for many years, I set out a few years ago to look for new speakers, and I was definitely biased towards 3-way or 4-way designs.  After listening to a lot of speakers (the quest is chronicled in one of my older threads), I ended up with... yes... PMC Twenty.24's.  They just sounded better.  And the transmission line design deals with what you might perceive as any possible theoretical bass deficiencies.