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not having read the other replies because I'm rushed this morning, I'll just toss in my two cents.

a coaxial usually has a midrange with a pole extending through the center, where the dust cap usually sits on most speakers. the pole has the tweeter mounted to it over the midrange cone, comprising a full range speaker in a single package.
a few high end coaxials actually mount the tweeter "over" the midrage separately, making the speaker more like a component set, in one package.
pros- easier to mount and install, cheaper
cons- not as flexible, lower power handling generally, more difficult to get ideal imaging.

triaxials are just a midrange with two tweeters mounted on that center pole.. they giev a brighter high end.. anything beyond a three-way "triaxial" is a waste of time. usually a good coaxial two-way speaker will do everything you need.. more isn't always better in this case.

components offer the midrange, tweeter, and crossover as separate "components" or units.
this gives better power handling, more mounting flexibility, and usually a better result for a front stage.. but they tend to cost more, they are more difficult to install, and require more power and wiring to put in and make them sound good.

ok thank you

in a coaxial speaker the mid/woofer and the tweeter are mounted together with the tweeter located in the center of the mid/woofer. this may or may not, usually not, come with an external crossover. while this design has the upside of being a typically stealthy install and is generally a good upgrade over stock speakers or can be used where you dont want to mount a seperate tweeter or be required to use an amp, (most setups with an external crossover perform best with an amp but your typical coax can work well off the head units internal power) this design also has the drawback of not having the flexability to mount the tweeter in a location to enhance your imaging because the tweeter is mounted centrally to the mid/woofer some speakers use point source imaging where the tweeter is actually located in the center of the woofer theoreticaly in this case all sound generates from a single point and is therefore most natural sounding this doesnt work as well in a car as it does on paper however at the acoustics of each car are different from each other and definitely much different than that of a sound lab. the often overlooked disadvantage of coax speakers is a little something know as intermodulation distortion, this is distortion caused by the low frequencies of the woofer causing the tweeter and its mounting hardware to vibrate therefore adding noise that is not musical nor a cause of any sound being reproduced. all in all components are the better choice to make as far as sound reproduction and flexability of installatioin go but are sometimes not the right personal choice to make...

Coax's have the woofer and tweeter built into one speaker, usually w/o a crossover.

Component sets have a dedicated woofer and tweeter (separate) with a crossover to filter out frequencies to each speaker. You can mount them separate to get good imaging.

Components sound better!

tedd

So i have all my stuff orderd My kx 600.1 and knukonceptz amp kit arrived today and my subs are on there way. But i was wondering what the diffrence between coaxials type speakers and components were. I know the diffrent axials are high and low but what makes a component what it is.