There's more to it than that.Dr. Bogger wrote:Thanks for the links, but thats a lot to read through XD
Isnt a coaxial speaker a 2 way or 3 way speaker? like is it a speaker with a tweeter and/or a midrange speaker built in to it?
And isnt a component speaker a speaker without a tweeter, etc? like a 1 way speaker?
With both a coax and a component set, there's a midrange and a tweeter.
With the coax, the tweeter is simply suspended over the midrange so that both speakers share one axis - ie. are coaxial with reference to one another. The name refers to the speaker orientation.
(Note that there are some cheap cheesy speakers out there that have NO tweeters - they'll cost you about $10 at a parts store, and are definitely not hi-fi.
)The more important differences between coaxials and components are tougher to generalize about.
Generally, coaxial speakers are built using cheaper grade speakers... manufacturers simply assume that these customers aren't pursuing the same level of SQ, and therefore don't have the desire to budget extra money to accomplish the slight increase in detail that would result.
But this isn't a rule - for example, a Focal Polyglass coaxial is a very fine quality speaker... and would exceed the performance of probably any Audiobahn component set on the market.
Also, generally, coaxial speakers don't have the comprehensive crossover that component speakers come with - and this is really where a ton of the speaker's SQ really comes from. The high-pass filter on the tweet prevents it from overexcursion and distortion. The low-pass filter on the midrange prevents it from playing those ultra-fast frequencies that it will blur-out on. The crossover point (where the LP filter and HP filter are aligned) is carefully chosen, matched to the speakers. All that's missing is your selection of a high-pass frequency for the whole set (usually you use the built in filter in your amp or HU), so that the midrange doesn't bottom out on the low subwoofer range bass.
But this isn't a rule either - again, using my favorite coaxials as an example - the Focal Polyglass coaxials come with a crossover that's every bit as sophisticated as most component sets come with - essentially, it is a component set, the tweeter just happens to be mounted coaxially.
Note with most coax speakers, they just solder a little capacitor in line as a cheap HP filter on the tweeter (which is only 6dB/octave), and they don't even use a LP filter on the mid - instead using the voice coil's own inductance as a natural LP filter (again only 6dB/octave, and no precise selection of Xover point).
So, it's hard to generalize, but generally those are the differences.
