Driver recommendation for midrange in 3 way active. 5 1/4 or 6 1/2 inch?

[rhythmdiy]

Dear friends,
I am building a active 3 way system with 1 inch silk dome neodymium tweeters

woofer is 10 inch VIFA PL26W....

But Ive heard alot Midrange problem with various 3 way speakers as neither 4.5 inch or 5 1/4 mid range drivers suffer at the lower mid frequencies... like at 400Hz... even thought the Fs is 70Hz for the midrange...

One practical example is http://www.gattiweb.com/delta_design.html
by David....

But what I found is that using a fast 6 1/4 inch driver as midrange with cuttoff frequency would be arround 400Hz in a sealed enclosure would give very good and tight response.... at the same time it will blend perfectly with the 10 inch drivers.... like what David Gatti says....

I would like to get few suggestions while using this... does it work....

thanks,
Ken

[rhythmdiy]

even this links says that even topline scanspeak 13m kevlar midrange doesnt sound good in 400Hz or so... so he has chosen higher cuttoff..
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/8543.htm

I am building this monitor for real studio monitoring....

I need good lower mids...

please give me suggestions....

thanks,
ken

[rhythmdiy]

in simple words 6 1/4 is the best size of midrange if the driver if fast enough as well as in sealed enclosure while the crossover freq is 400-3kz...

what do u say?

[tinitus]

The driver you describe will also have very short Xmax, like 1mm

http://professional.celestion.com/pr...etail.asp?ID=1

No picture of this 6" neo yet

http://professional.celestion.com/pr...tail.asp?ID=10

AudioTechnology could probably make you a dedicated 6" midrange with short Xmax and underhung voicecoil I believe The C-Quenze are the better ones ... the FlexUnits might have bigger cone area fore the same "size", if nothing has changed
Or you may be able to order a 5" Flexunit with a 6" C-Quenze cone

[rhythmdiy]

well if that is the case where audio technology could make me up a 6 1/4 inch midbass driver which can be used for a dedicated midrange then you say it will be good enough to use it for midrange?

[tinitus]

I dont know ... you are the designer I wouldnt use a 6" that high when ultimate precision is requested ... well, maybe a widerange with small fragile voicecoil, and only if higher sensitivity was the main goal

But basically with any quality driver it is your task to make it work, designing setup, xo ...
If you study skilled people that reveal their secrets, like TroelsGravesen, Zaph and others ... you will see that the job isnt easier even when expencive quality drivers are used

[rhythmdiy]

but in reality theres some problem with the small drivers for midrange applications right?

but 5 1/2 would be ok?

[tinitus]

With a 10" woofer any good 5" would be perfekt

Actually, even this small 4" TB might be good

http://www.tb-speaker.com/detail/1230_04/w4-1337sa.htm

[rhythmdiy]

but tell me is it possible for the driver with the following specs for 6 1/4....

Nominal size


6¼


[inch.]

Nominal impedance


4


[ohm]

Recommended upper frequency limit


3


[kHz]

Recommended cabinet volume (ported design)


15 - 20


[lit.]

Sensitivity, 2.83V/1m, (average 200-2,000Hz)


91.5


[dB]

Voice coil diameter


32.5


[mm]

Voice coil height


11


[mm]

Air gap height


4.0


[mm]

Voice coil resistance, RDC


3.2


[ohm]

Voice coil inductance


0.16


[mH]

Magnet weight (dual neodymium)


102


[g]

Effective radiating area, Sd


139


[sq.cm]

Power handling, continuous, IEC 268-5


60


[W]

Resonance freq., Fs


50


[Hz]

Moving mass, incl. air


12.5


[g]

Force factor, Bxl


5.2


[Tm]

Mechanical Q, Qm


11


-

Electrical Q, Qe


0.48


-

Total Q, Qt


0.46


-

Suspension compliance, Cms


0.85


[mm/N]

Equiv.. air volume, Vas


22.5


[lit.]

Total unit net weight


0.7


[kg]

[Greggo]

Rhythmdiy,

I don't think I would dismiss anything based on the links/reasons you gave. More important critieria would be this:

1) Budget - I assum that since you have a Vifa 10 (a very fine driver) and don't mention your tweeter by name, you aren't wanting to invest in any gold standards here, just looking to get good bang for the buck. Is this correct?

2) Crossover type... how well the driver in the middle holds up regarding SPL/distortion will have a lot to do with not just what crossover point you choose but what crossover slope you choose as well

3) Are you looking for a good general purpose monitor speaker that you can use to do a little home recording and a lot of general music listening or do you have more heavy duty professional requirements?

In general, I would encourage you to take a look here:

http://www.zaphaudio.com/6.5test/

The Vifa XG18 in the test group above just might have your name written all over it...

I think the Vifa 10 might be happy running up 700 or 800 Hz, if so, I would seriously look into a Morel MDM-55 midrange dome, then you could have a standard rectangular box sized and stuffed for your 10" woofer, lay it on its side and then to the inside edge of each mount a sealed dome mid and your tweeter above it so they are on the same vertical axis as they face you. Now you don't need any real interior volume for the mid and tweet, so you can use it all for the woofer and get the most out of it while still keeping the overall box size reasonable. Just my two cents. Also, Morel makes a good 4 inch mid-bass that would be great as a mid in your situation, along with a 5 inch driver with a 3 inch voice coil that I think would work great in a studio situation, and then Vifa makes some classic 6 and 7 inch or so drivers that are very easy to cross on both ends. I would give those serious consideration if you really want to run a 6.5 inch cone driver up to 3kHz or more...

Best of luck.