2 or 3 way, bassreflex + horn

[Pengvim]

Hi.

I'm in the planning process for a 2-way (possibly 3-way) speaker system.
Each driver will have a separate monolithic amplifier, perhaps modules from Ampslab, and the signalsource/preamp will be a computer with a good soundcard. The soundcard will act as the X-over.

My thought is to use an Altec 416-8 woofer, with a round tractrix horn which can be used down to 350Hz. It's about 14" wide.
I plan to use a compression driver in the horn, although I'm not sure which one. I plan to use a higher freq xover though.

I've been looking at:
The BMS 4592 coaxial's. They're kind of expensive though.
B&C DE250, which I don't know very well. They're not that expensive, and there's a pair up for sale second hand locally.
Beyma CP750, there's a pair up for sale second hand at half retail price.
Selenium has got some interesting models, but I've got no knowlegde there.
And of course there's the older Altec's.
Is there any other drivers that really should be on this list?

Does anyone have some experience with using a very slim cabinet with the 416's?
I plan to make them as slim as possible, without having a wide baffle. They can be about 40-50 cm deep, and as high as they need to be. Although they should probably not be too high since the horn will be sitting on top.

[Pengvim]

I would like some suggestions for 12" woofers that can keep up with the Altec 416's, if possible. It would make the issue of space a lot easier.

[Brett]

I don't have time for a longer response at the moment (going out to lunch), but here are a couple of points from someone who has had custom trax's made and used some of the drivers mentioned.

Here are the measurements of a whole bunch of drivers in 12" made with Soundeasy.
Augerpro's measurement site

I had trax's made some years ago, about 400mm wide at the mouth and used them with the 4590 coaxials (and JBL 2446). The directivity narrows a lot on a trax, especially used over that sort of bandwidth and I didn't like them all that much in the end. I like the 4590 a lot, and have been told there are detail improvements in the later 4592, so they should be even better.

My general experience with horns is that trying to get too wide a BW out of a single unit leads to too many compromises, so now I don't do it, preferring to get controlled directivity from other methods. I am using an 18 for bass and a 10" to cross to a WG around 1400Hz to get a directivity match at xover.

The DE250 is an excellent driver as are many of the B&C's. I will be using 4 of them in the rears and surrounds of my HT and DE25 in my mains. The Beyma CP380M is an excellent driver too and I have used a pair for several years; the 385 is basically the same unit with a Neo magnet. No experience with the 750, but I admit I have a general aversion to Ti diaphragms.

Offered for interest: Here is a thread based upon a 12" + CD/WG in a two way that makes some interesting reading.
No Quarters

[Pengvim]

I didn't know that about the trax's.

Is it possible to get about the same sensitivity from a waveguide that I would get from a horn?

I'm wondering how an Altec 811 horn would compare to a trax..

[Pengvim]

I didn't know that about the trax's.
I've also been looking at the Altec Lansing 811 horn, how do you reckon that would behave compared to a trax?

I could consider using a supertweeter for the upper frequency's though. But I'm not sure what would match the others.