[mresseguie]

I’m curious to know which midrange drivers you folks consider to be the best available.

Michael

Edit: I know. This is deliberately vague. You’re welcome to mention OB, planar, dome, cone, or whatever else  midrange drivers. Limit yourselves to current production drivers. Don’t confuse midrange with midwoofers. I seek your thoughts on drivers that cover a range from <roughly> 150Hz to 4000Hz. ‘Roughly’ the drivers can reproduce music somewhere within that range. Assume I’m interested in commissioning a three-way pair of speakers. I can research drivers till my vision becomes blurred, but reading others’ thoughts on their ideas of ‘best’ midrange drivers helps me, too. 

Second edit (1/26/2021): I'm not looking for recommendations on two-way speakers. Please do not tell me how great this or that TWO-way speaker is - especially if the drivers are only available in the US. I'm researching three-way speaker possibilities. If nothing satisfies my quest, I'll simply add a subwoofer to the two-way monitors that I already have.

[roscoe65]

Of all time or currently available?

[SoCalWJS]

Any preference on type? Cost limitations? Rough frequency response? (I'd guess from above 100-180Hz to somewhere below a couple of thousand k would be my definition)

You are going to get a very wide range of opinions. I've heard some of the best drivers poorly implemented, or mis-matched with equipment, or in lousy rooms that sounded pretty bad. I'm partial to ones that can be OB and are pretty "fast" and "transparent" - Planar or similar.

This could get interesting. 

[JakeJ]

This one is used in many home and studio applications.





I have a pair of ATC speakers that feature this driver and I like them a lot.

[Folsom]

The best? Hmm... depends a lot on integration. I like a lot of larger 10-15" stuff like JBL etc (maybe even as a horn).

[richidoo]

There's never a best in this sport, it always depends on the goal and the means to reach it. But these are some good ones in the traditional dynamic cone driver category. Then you have ribbons, AMT, planar magnetic, electrostatic, compression, plasma, etc.

https://accuton.com/en-home/produkte/lautsprecher/hall-fame/Keramik-C173-6-090

https://www.scan-speak.dk/product/12mu-8731t00/

https://sbacoustics.com/product/6-5-satori-mw16tx-8-textreme/

[roscoe65]

Some of my favorite speakers are those that capture the entire vocal range with on bass/midrange or midrange driver.



Ideally the range of 100hz to 4khz would be covered by the midrange driver.  I’ve found the Altec 414A to be difficult to beat in this range.

[rbbert]

Some of my favorite speakers are those that capture the entire vocal range with on bass/midrange or midrange driver.



Ideally the range of 100hz to 4khz would be covered by the midrange driver.  I’ve found the Altec 414A to be difficult to beat in this range.

This range is also covered by a variety of electrostatic panels and ribbons, although the good ones are invariably proprietary

[Letitroll98]

This range is also covered by a variety of electrostatic panels and ribbons, although the good ones are invariably proprietary

I was about to say the magnaplanar mid-range/bass driver, but I don't think that's what Michael was looking for.  Next would be the long discontinued Allison mid-range cone, again, not what he's asking.  So I'd go with the ScanSpeak mid-range linked to in a previous post.

[mresseguie]

Thanks for throwing out some ideas, guys. I appreciate being allowed to peer inside your heads - peering inside of my head gets tiring. 

[What you're about to read isn't the best organized explanation, but it ought to help understand what's going on in my head.]

I began this thread because I've been spending a lot of time thinking about speakers for the past 2 months. I recently thought that I had decided I was going to put a new kit together - The Helios. They're big two-way monitors. I thought they would answer my needs in a particular room. It turns out that my wife has finally decided that this room needs a bit of a remodel  which throws a couple monkey wrenches at the Helios. At 11.5" wide, they will crowd into the left and right edges of the <not yet purchased> TV. Without a remodel, they would fit just fine.

If I changed the two-way Helios into a three-way floorstanding pair of speakers, the woofers could be placed in a separate cabinet below the level of the TV. The top cabinet could be much narrower, so it wouldn't crowd into the TV. This is one possible solution. It requires a nice midrange (or even a midwoofer).

[I'm not married to using the big Satori 9.5" driver, but it is attractive.] An astute reader might point out that Jim Salk sells just such a speaker (and he/she would be correct). However, I'm trying to save money by doing this as a kit. These speakers will end up in Taiwan. Shipping a pair of very nice Salk speakers would be VERY expensive, and having to pay an additional 21% import duty would really suck. It's going to be a kit, okay? And, yes, I've tried every possible logic and illogic to con myself into believing that my Daedalus Apollos could fit in this room, but they're way too big and too expensive to ship. 

I'm rambling...I was reading a thread on hificompass.com discussing the new Satori MD60N-6 dome midrange. This got me thinking about it and other midranges. One of the mentioned midranges was the Scan Speak Illuminator 12MU/8731T00 which is one of the drivers that Richidoo mentioned. Well, it just so happens that the speakers that currently occupy this room are my Fritz Loudspeakers LS/5-R monitors. The midwoofers are SS Illuminator 15WU/4741T-00. They're quite amazing little woofers, but they kind of bottom out at an F3 of 43Hz.

I've seriously considered adding one or two subwoofers to the Fritz speakers. [I may still do this instead of getting a kit.] These little speakers are excellent sounding within their range, but I want deeper bass.

Back to midranges and three-way speakers. Before I commit to the subwoofer idea, I want to research three-way speakers. I have found three shops in Taiwan that can build speaker cabinets for me. One shop prefers to build with Baltic Birch and no veneer. [This guy quoted me ~$325 for two Helios cabinets. Try finding a shop in the US for that price!] The other two shops are open to other materials and better quality finishes, but they're quite a bit more expensive.

That's enough for now. It's late enough now that I'm more interested in getting some sleep than writing more.

[Tyson]

The GR Research Studio Monitor kit is one of the best speakers I’ve ever heard and would be a good fit here,  but it needs a sub or 2.

[S Clark]

Tyson mentioned the GR monitor with the Neo 10, chosen for its ability to play low enough to hand off to OB subs.  But BG Neo 8 is as good (or better?) if you are handing off to a more traditional woofer. 
And the already mentioned the old Altec drivers are also amazing.  I don't understand why, but the Altec 416A can produce great vocals... it makes no sense in a 15" driver. 

[Letitroll98]

My 2 cents, which is worth about that much, is that you already have great speakers that fit well into that room and that you're happy with.  If bass is the problem, why are we talking mid-range drivers?  Build a couple of subwoofers as you mentioned, better and deeper bass than you can get in any three way.

[Carl V]

Have you considered The Integrity KIT by Rick Craig...thru Meniscus(?)
It hits many of your needs & wants

[Endo2112]

Hello Michael, hope all is well;

I can tell you that if you go the hificompass route, you will love the Bliesma's that he uses, Jay and I have a set of 34B's currently and they're quite special, and you can cross them as low as 1300 which makes a killer 2 way really possible. i'll never believe that beryllium tweeters are bright again. The price is the challenging part!!

Cheers,

Don

[Endo2112]

Sorry, to expand on that thought, having a great low distortion tweeter that can play lower opens up a much larger world of mid range drivers, I would look for one that produces low distortion as I like the tone of the music as compared to the tone of the driver or the distortion that it creates.

Don

[Tyson]

Tyson mentioned the GR monitor with the Neo 10, chosen for its ability to play low enough to hand off to OB subs.  But BG Neo 8 is as good (or better?) if you are handing off to a more traditional woofer. 
And the already mentioned the old Altec drivers are also amazing.  I don't understand why, but the Altec 416A can produce great vocals... it makes no sense in a 15" driver. 

Hi Scott, I'm not referring to the Super Mini (which as the planar midrange and planar tweeter).  I'm referring to the Studio Monitor, with the hotrodded cone midrange (better than any Scan Speak or Dynaudio driver that I've heard) and the open baffle planar tweeter up top.  Here's a pic:



Here's another shot for size perspective:



And I'll re-iterate what I've said before.  This is the best sounding bookshelf kit I've ever heard.  And in fact if we expand the comparison to ALL bookshelf speakers I've ever heard, it's tied for the top spot with the TAD Compact Reference 1 bookshelf.  And the Studio Monitor is a lot smaller and a LOT cheaper than the TAD Compact Reference 1.

[richidoo]

My 2 cents, which is worth about that much, is that you already have great speakers that fit well into that room and that you're happy with.  If bass is the problem, why are we talking mid-range drivers?  Build a couple of subwoofers as you mentioned, better and deeper bass than you can get in any three way.

^ I agree!  Stick with the LS/5s that you and your wife already like. Put them closer to the wall (15-30cm from rear panel) to boost the bass and to reduce SBIR smearing in the mid bass. If still not enough bass then add a sub.

Just know that a sub must be time aligned with the main speakers to get clear bass. That means the sub is the same or closer distance to you than the main speakers; the main speaker ports are sealed; and the sub freq, delay and volume are adjusted to match the main speaker. If you listen to classical or 60s jazz with bass panned to the side then stereo subs are worth it. A pair of REL 8" would go nicely with the LS/5s!

Well integrated, sealed subs should sound better than passive ported 3ways.

[Carl V]

What are these LS 5’s?

[richidoo]

What are these LS 5’s?

http://www.fritzspeakers.com/DreamWeaverFritzLS5RcompactSpecPage.asp

It's a hotrod clone of the Rogers LS5/9, right Michael?