Single Driver High-End Speakers! Only 1% Know Why They Rule for Home Audio

Only 1% know why they rule? They don’t rule because every single speaker/driver has a compromise - perfect doesn’t exist. 70% is equipment and 30% is personal preferences and taste.

Thanks for the upload.
For some reason you mentioned i have active coax speakers.
It beats all other passive speakers i have heared in shops. These are the only speakers i heared that doesnt sound sharp or thin. And details are not disapearing in the cabinet.
I can do surround and stereo, and its so homogenic.

I always had the impression that single driver speakers were for classical type of music. Not really for popular stuff the masses listen too.

I’ve tried the eclipse td’s……not for me. Too compromised. They excelled at nothing much really…..

I have speakers that go from 20 Hz to 20 kHz with no crossover, no box, and no magnets so it is possible.

Sounds a bit dry and woody

Hey Jay how much are they

Jay love your content but single driver unit is a joke! I'm audiofile who listens to heavy metal. This speaker would blow up and die first time you crank up anything with bass. And I know with a sub it would survive. Since the 70's I've said the same if you need a sub with your speakers you need better speakers!

You need to listen to the Pearl speakers. I feel like you might be pleasantly surprised. Also, purity could mean true to the "source" meaning whatever is upstream, not necessarily the artist's intentions, because we don't know that. But you get it.

Might be your recording, but they sound a little thin when playing by themselves.

There is better but you don't know...!!!

I just sold my ALL of my shirts and ready to pull the trigger to find it's SOLD OUT!!! 😪😪😪 i am now in a limbo. Shi*tless and hopeless of that imaginary music defind by a single driver without the expensive crossover.

Sound stage, imaging, micro details, are all off the charts good. Image is as great as my modded Maggie mg 12s. Like Maggie’s they need subs for better dynamics. They are very efficient so you don’t need a huge amplifier. I run a 40 watt amp with mine . I,m using 12 inch single driver speakers

Built my own a few years ago. They are transparent as in highest resolution. No loss of signal and they have a coherence that multi driver speakers cannot match.

No frequency response?

Hi Jay, I have question: how does the Starkrimson Ultra compare to an amp you had sold before, the PS Audio M700 monoblocks ICE modules class D ? Not sure that my PS Audio gear is that good with any speaker. Thanks much!!

Totem Acoustics does the single driver amazingly well. The first time I heard Totem, I swore there was a subwoofer playing because the bass was very powerful and fast

Why not do a comparison of 3-4 full range speakers? Get the Pearl from Harley.

My Klipsch are transparent ! K-horns rule. The better the source playing the better it sounds. The pair of Klipsch Belles playing with them adds to its transparency ! It rocks being pushed by Old Marantz 2325 . For over thirty years, I have been rocking them. I’ve heard all kinds of speakers ect. I’ve never heard anything worth the money to change. It still will make the hair on your arms stand up and thump your Heart with Bass ! It fills my 28x26’ music room ! Celebrate Life ! Live entertainment levels at quarter volume.

Is the Closer Acoustics OGY good at low level listening ?

guess I'm on the 1%. Great review Jay?☮️🇦🇺

hi Jay I am a big fan of yours. Your journey into testing Hifi is great for all of us. Its interesting this review of this speaker, but have you ever listened to any omni driver speakers like Ohm Acustics out of Brooklyn New York? They have been producing omnis sense the late 60's they are very resonably priced and produce a huge sound and sound stage you should contact them and get a pair to review.

Love my Cube Audio F10 drivers. I built full Voigt pipe cabinets, similar to Tech Ingredients’ “The World Second Greatest Speakers”. My subs are gathering dust, unplugged. I haven’t tweaked them yet—mainly upper stuffing and panel damping changes—but at present they do need some eq., through iMac/Audirvana in my case. They produce a huge, wrap-around sound field in my treated room.

My favorite streamer is Apple Music

Of course the main disadvantage of a single driver speaker - is that it is compromised at the frequency extremes; in the treble in particular. The mass of the single driver is much higher than a tweeter - so it can't have the same extension. And the single driver is going to lose dispersion angle as soon as the wavelength of the frequency is smaller than the working diameter of the driver.
And any compromises made to the driver to help it in the treble, then limit its ability to get bass extension.
The cabinet is built with Baltic birch (on the inside) and covered with oak. They say no internal damping. Is is ported? Is it a transmission line? Or is it sealed? [Edit: it has fairly thin looking Baltic birch baffles, that seem to be forming chambers?] Is the claimed 40Hz extension an F3, or F6, or F10?

Did you try it with Tonemeister and Brunoco ?

i love fullrange drivers, but Jay i see on the shelf behind sabaj a30a i there be a review maybe?!

The concept of purity often revolves around how effectively a cleaner sound can be conveyed. In other words, it's about preserving the original quality of sound while minimizing distortions or interference.

You succeededin baffling me…..pure in pure and pure.!

Have you listened to the Pear Acoustics speakers yet? Wondering how they sound to you ? Thanks

BTW Jay, good content. Thanks.
Just a thought: Maybe a bit of backlight on your equipment/speakers set would look terrific.

Am I the only one who thinks speaker designers have a lack of color/design creativity? These small companies have the freedom to go wild with their color and pattern designs, and yet they always look pretty dull.

Please, Jay, don't fall into the trap of talking down to your loyal fans!

Hi Jay, you've fallen foul of one of the oldest speaker tricks! If bass & treble are rolled off equally (dB), the speaker will sound balanced. It's only when the speaker is compared to a full range design that you'll notice the difference! These designs & the Sibelius have square cabinet edges, havn't the designers heard about edge diffraction? Please submit these speakers to Amir or Erin for measurement to get the full story!!

have owned this design before and all i can say is the price is out of line. the Sibelius is much cheaper than this and i assume at least as good but these prices relegate this to a niche market. one could spend that much on an incredible pair of multi diver spkrs and get better sound and more flexibility. just my opinion of course. how they addressed step baffle loss w/o a x-over baffles me .

Not to be a pedantic nerd but multi-driver systems are superior for time alignment because the frequencies move at different speeds. Multiple drivers can be at different distances from the listener. A single-driver setup can never be time aligned at correct the listening field of a typical floor stander (5-15 ft) BECAUSE it’s coming from a. Single point. It’s why Wilsons look so goofy.

Single driver problem is the directivity issue and a better solution is coaxial where you get cone deformation in high excursion causes disturbance in tweeter waveguide...

So they aint ideal speaker as pure in sound. They need full axis support to get best sound

GM ☕️
Add a sub …and you’re done ✅

99.9% of audiophiles who have SET tube amplifiers know about single driver speakers. Not a secret-.

now review other speakers from Poland, this time 4 way Zeta zero orbitals. 16Hz to 50khz, can take 2500 watts per channel, 11 cm xmax woofer, were playing with Opera Only Pivetta 1Mil euro+ amp. Tour de force , with veery little competition, maybe Gobel...

How they compare with Bastanis? Down firing bass horns?

Thank you for the lucid descriptions and including the fact that the listener is always a variable to consider when trying to describe speaker "sound quality". I also noticed a big difference in using different amps with Klipsch speakers and I assume this is because they are very sensitive like the single drivers you reviewed.

Widerange speaker have indeed many disadvantages. Beside one advantage that the whole range will be produce by one single "point" everything else is a disadvantage. Intermodulation is a huge issue with those speaker. Precise and effortless bass is nearly impossible. There are some other issues. And looking at the real important range for sound imaging we speak about a range starting from 50-300hz up to 3-5 kHz. So there is no need to except so much compromises with just a single chassis.

Listening on single driver speakers right now; Singularlies (a DIY 8" TL tower design) and the description of these sounds pretty familiar. Great soundstage, and depth, and really good at highlighting differences in electronics for sure.

For those who commented that the advantage of a full range driver is that it covers the full range of vocal and makes it sounds "pure". Try doing a 2 way with Purifi 5.25" woofer and crossover at 4kHz (that covers the full vocal range) to a SB Textreme tweeter, and I guarantee it will sound much better than this.

Famous full range drivers MARK AUDIO are used in the Sibaliace speaker and in many DIY projects.

Old News if you’re living in Europe.. Jean Hiraga le petit speaker.. easily to build your self…wonderful sound…..

Haha - thanks Jay, I’ve finally made it as a 1%er !! I’ve happily been using various pairs of Omega single driver speakers for years ~ both with SET a,ps and even one of Kiho’s fine little Brunoco 6L6 Terra amps. Keep up the great work.