Many of them also have issues with crossovers in general -read up on the single-driver fullrange fad.
-and then if you can stomach that then move on to the open-baffle concept.
Eventually that would lead you to the few who are convinced that a mono, full-range speaker mounted in a board with no enclosure and powered by output transformerless single-ended tube amp of less than a watt output is the ultimate audio panacea. (after spending more than we would spend on a whole new PA and the truck to haul it in!)
Some notes:
- Full-range drivers do have advantages: no crossover in the midrange (ie, nice flat phase response) and point-source behaviour being the main ones. There are, of course, disadvantages, and those should be balanced when designing a speaker.
- Open baffle systems provide a figure-of-8 radiation pattern, which can be very useful in some situations. Side wall reflections can be eliminated, in exchange for some longer room reflections (from the rearward radiation pattern) which can be beneficial if you look into the psychoacoustics operating in the background.
- I don't think anyone would claim the system you've described is the most accurate system in the world. However, if someone's found they particularly like the sound of their music in mono through a vintage 12" unit, then more power to 'em. It's not for me, and apparently not for you, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't enjoy their system.
Luke, it's certainly non-trivial to make a room anechoic into the low-frequency range.
Chris
