I understand Axioms (M22's, M3's) crossover around 3.7khz while many competitors crossover at a much lower, (ie Paradigm xover at 1500hz).

My question is, characteristics would I typically 'hear' when that 1500-3700hz range is produced with a cone midbass driver (ala Axiom) vs a dome tweeter (ala Para)? I'd be interested in any and all comments
Thanks,
Peter C

The actual sound produced at each frequency from a cone or a dome is the same. The reason for trying to get the tweeter crossover frequency down low is because smaller diaphragms tend to have better off axis performance. This only holds true to a point mind you where the wavelengths of the frequencies start to get long enough that the larger diaphragms will also give you perfect off axis dispersion. The above being said, it would seem on the surface that lower tweeter crossover points are desirable but there are actually some serious drawbacks to doing this. The smaller cone will start to have a very difficult time reproducing the lower frequencies you are asking of it without distortion as you increase the output. This will make the speaker very irritating at higher volume. We always try to get the best possible off axis response from the mid bass drivers as opposed to lowering the crossover frequency to the tweeter to achieve the desired off axis performance.

I remember reading about the Human hearing range in a medical journal. The crux of the discussion centered around the frquency range of a typical human. The test data indicated that the range can be as wide as 20hz to 20khz, with wide variances downwards. But that human hearing is most sensitive in the 200hz to 2khz range.

If this is in fact true, then it would make absolute sense to keep a crossover point out of this range. While there are several well employed crossover designs, all add problems into the equation.