Morrow Audio Full Range & Single Driver Speaker Theory...
Some Myths About Full Range Drivers:
There are a lot of myths surrounding full-range drivers. Let's take a minute to address some of these:
1. "Full-range drivers only work well with low powered tube amps."
Actually, it's the reverse that's true. Low powered tube amps only work well with full range drivers......
This is because other types of speakers require more power than these amps are capable of producing. Also, full-range drivers use no crossover. Because of this, they present a very easy load for the amplifier to drive. Low powered amps will produce full, rich sound--at normal listening levels--ONLY with highly efficient full-range speakers like these.
Quality full-range drivers work equally well with tube or solid state, low power or high power. The power rating of an amplifier is irrelevant, as long as it doesn't run out of power and 'clip'. In fact, highly efficient drivers like the ones used in our Morrow Audio speakers actually make high powered solid state amps better. How? Most of these amps run pure Class A for the first two or three watts--normal listening levels for this type of drivers.
2. "Because of their design, full-range drivers only work well in 'bass horn' enclosures."
Morrow Audio drivers have an excursion of plus or minus 1.0 mm. This excursion works well in our bass reflex cabinets.
3. "No full-range driver can really go to 19,000 cycles--that's why they invented tweeters."
It's not true. Ten seconds of listening and you'll wonder why anyone builds tweeters. The sound is smooth, reaches high and very detailed.
4. "Full-range drivers don't have great bass."
On the contrary, these drivers have strong, articulate, accurate, realistic, and tightly controlled bass. They also produce surprisingly high sound pressure levels. Even recently designed 8 inch drivers used in our Presence and Reference 1 models can produce bass that rivals older style 12 inch woofers in sheer output. The bass they produce is balanced and totally satisfying with well recorded material.
5. "Full-range point-source drivers can be overly bright."
Nonsense. Unfortunately, the vast majority of speakers available today are totally lacking in detail. They are 'dubbed down' to the lowest common denominator. That is, they are designed to soften even the worst sounding CD's. People use to these speakers initially mistake 'detail' for 'brightness'. But they quickly overcome this when they listen to a good quality recording played through these speakers. We refer to these modern speakers as 'dead, dull, dark, and distant sounding' (the four 'D's). The drivers we use, especially after our special cone treatment, are accurate and detailed, not 'bright.'
6. "Full-range drivers are fragile."
Absolutely untrue. They are far more robust than systems with delicate tweeters.
What Makes Morrow Audio Full Range Speakers So Good?
1. The drivers we use are full-range.
No separate woofer, midrange, tweeter, or crossover is necessary. Without trying to blend different sizes and types of drivers together, there is a purity of sound that just can't be achieved in multi-driver systems. Also, all of the distortion and phase shifts produced in 'normal' speakers--when a crossover changes from one driver to another--are eliminated. Best of all, the music doesn't pass through any inductors (coils), resistors, or capacitors. A crossover is a necessary evil in all other speaker systems. With a full-range driver, there is no crossover to deal with.
2. Only one driver is used on the front baffle.
This gives perfect point source imaging. Common sense tells you that when someone sings, sound doesn't come from their mouth, their chest, and their knee (like it does in so-called 'normal' speakers). In addition, there are no time alignment problems (one driver being farther from the listener than another), because the sound comes from a single driver. You have never really experienced stereo imaging until you listen to a single, full-range driver. Where the artist was previously 'in the middle', now that artist 'holographically' appears as a real human being. At night, with the lights dimmed, you will find it hard to believe that there isn't a real person in your room.
3. Our full-range drivers have incredibly strong magnets.
This gives extremely precise control of the movement of the cone. The result is a very clear, crisp, clean, and accurate musical presentation.
4. Our full-range drivers use very stiff and light paper cones.
This allows the cone to respond to changes in the music instantaneously and without distortion. We also do a special 3 step cone treatment process, which is absorbed by the paper, eliminating the harshness that can be associated with paper, single cone drivers.
5. Our drivers are highly efficient.
They will produce high sound pressure levels and excellent dynamics with amplifiers that have as little as 2 watts.
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