What's your pick for drivers in an ultimate 3-way (for music)?

[wigginjs]

So, lets say 40Hz - 20KHz. What would you pair together as the drivers for your dream 3way? I was thinking:


Tweeter: Scan-Speak 6600 (AirCirc)
Mid: Accuton C44-8
Woofer: Scan-Speak 18W/8531G

[Dave Bullet]

What XO points and acoustic slopes would you use with those drivers?

[5th element]

Originally posted by m0tion
So, lets say 40Hz - 20KHz. What would you pair together as the drivers for your dream 3way? I was thinking:


Tweeter: Scan-Speak 6600 (AirCirc)
Mid: Accuton C44-8
Woofer: Scan-Speak 18W/8531G

Originally posted by Dave Bullet
What XO points and acoustic slopes would you use with those drivers?

~4k Accuton to SS tweeter.
And it looks as if the mid could quite easily handle ~500hz from the mid to bass xover with steep slopes.

[wigginjs]

i was thinking 800Hz and 4KHz 24dB/oct. That accuton mid really caught my eye even though I really don't know that much about it. You could almost use it as a tweeter actually. Any info or measurements about it would be great if anyone out there has one.

What about the rest of you guys? Maybe I'm the only one who sits around and thinks about this kind of thing, but I doubt it!

[Dave Bullet]

Would the ultimate 3 way try and only have one driver producing the frequencies the human ear is most sensitive too? Or, are we assuming we can get perfectly phase aligned 2nd order acoustic LR slopes at both xo points and therefore it doesn't matter (as long as driver distortion, pistonic behaviour and beaming aren't an issue).

Cheers,
David.

[5th element]

Originally posted by Dave Bullet
Would the ultimate 3 way try and only have one driver producing the frequencies the human ear is most sensitive too? Or, are we assuming we can get perfectly phase aligned 2nd order acoustic LR slopes at both xo points and therefore it doesn't matter (as long as driver distortion, pistonic behaviour and beaming aren't an issue).

Cheers,
David.

I would assume so yes, what with the 'ease' one can now go active or use DSP nowadays. Although still using one driver to cover that area is a good idea if possible.

However if we reread the thread title, I would imagine this is a go for broke system, where we are not only picking the drivers, but also the amplification/xovers to be used. As the loudspeakers as a whole could represent a combination of all three, should negative feedback be used.

[EspenE]

Originally posted by Dave Bullet
Would the ultimate 3 way try and only have one driver producing the frequencies the human ear is most sensitive too?

IMO, the frequency area our perception is most sensitive too, is the area above 1 kHz. This should be handled with one driver.

If power compression, pattern control and low distortion are factored in, the most sensible choice IMO is a compression tweeter on a Geddes-type waveguide. Personally, I have used JBL units on various horns and waveguides - with round waveguides with 80-90 degrees giving the acoustically most pleasing results. Maybe the much recommended BMS 4552 an even better choice - perhaps on the DDS ENG-90 waveguide.

In my experience, given the right crossover/equalization, this combination will beat any dome tweeter hands down.

Only my 0.02 $

EspenE

[oceanic30]

Ok, this would be my setup:

Tweeter: RAAL 70-10
Mid: Jordan JXR6HD
Woofer: 2 x ScanSpeak 21W/8555-01 sealed
Crossover: 300 Hz & 6-7 kHz

[SunRa]

IMO, the frequency area our perception is most sensitive too, is the area above 1 kHz. This should be handled with one driver.

I agree with the statement above. I think it's important to understand that we actualy hear diferent above 1Khz in the time domain, not only in frequency. I remember Shinobiwan in the LHT thread said that he ain't gonna touch tweeter domes ever after hearing the raal ribon. And he worked with sanspeak air circle tweets before.

A compresion driver I think is harder to implementate. Great care needed in designing a good waveguide (HOM-free) . For this Mr. Geddes articles are a must. See the thread here at diyaudio too. However, you might feel the need for ultimate in dynamics and sound presure. In this case, cd-s are the way to go.

This doesn't mean that you have to neglect the 200-800Hz region.. the "power band" or the "music band" how is it called. I favour large midranges here, 12" from tad, jbl, 18sound, but also supravox, phy-hp, fertin. This has to do with distorsions and power compresion. I personaly wouldn't go lower than 8" for say 200-300Hz.

Of course this means that the crossover is very important in this area to (phase, etc). Below I'd go with two 15" woofers, in OB...

If i'd had to choose, I'd go for a KM30 phy-hp coaxial driver and couple it with two 15" woofers just when it starts to roll of. The km30 is a 12", 97dB, alnico driver with a concentric mounted piezo tweeter above 10Khz. No need for crossover here. Of course if i'd dare to get complicated probably i'd give a try to compresion drivers.

Also a must read thread, with loads of informations is Mr.'s Lynn Olson thread "Beyond the Ariel"

I hope this helps. These are more theoretical opinions I've made during reading a lot on this forum, opinions too little sustained by experience.

[tinitus]

I am building my own drivers

But seriously I would like some Supravox, 165GMF with their 15" Alnico woofer, fore tweeter the little TW2-20 would do, but I could also think of the big Raven ribbon(1800USD)

Boy, there are tons of possible dreamspeakers out there!