Mid Range driver which one the best?

[exurbia]

Nah,
Morel MDM 75/85 if you can find them........

[Charles Darwin]

Originally Posted by mclsound

yes,I have 4 non "S" and one "S"(for center channel).I beleive they no longer make DIY "S" versions?I got mine from Chris at Solen and he is great to deal with.The Volt is like $750 or so(CRAZY!!!) and I donnot think they have sold many?

I think Volt sells the vast majority of their drivers commercially to the likes of REL, PMC, Quested Audio and a number of p.a. manufacturers. The diy market seems to be very low on their horizon.

[Loren42]

I don't think there is a "best" midrange driver. It is essentially a meaningless question.

Put a high priced driver with the wrong woofer or tweeter and it will not perform well at all. You will conclude the midrange is junk!

In order to answer that question you must look at all of the intended drivers, woofer, mid, and tweeter, and get their polar plots. Then determine where the best crossover points are based on that polar data, frequency plot dead on, and their resonance points. There are other factors, too, like SPL levels, cone diameters, etc.,, but let's look at these first.

You want the crossover of the mid no lower than 1 to 2 octaves above the resonance point. Same goes for the tweeter. Then the selected crossover points' polar plots should compliment each other driver.

In other words, you need to consider the whole picture, which includes drivers and cabinet, proposed crossover points, among a host of lessor factors that are still important if you want to have a system worthy of the effort you are putting into it.

I suspect that you might be going about this the wrong way.

[planet10]

Originally Posted by Glowbug

"Absolute best" is very tough to define

Best is very dependent on context.

I would suggest that Mark Audio Alpair 7 and Alpair 12 should be on the short list. And probably the Alpair 10 when it comes out with the new multiformed cone.

dave

[Inductor]

Originally Posted by planet10

Best is very dependent on context.

Yes it is, but not impossible to compare between them (drivers, 2 or more, and giving to each factor a weight or score to measure total points for each driver. Is like designing a software to choose between various options in this case drivers). There are many mid drivers the best in their own class. Let's say, only as one example, you want (Natthawat) a 100W or max SPL, that you can not get with low SPL or with a 30W. Second example, if you don't like metallic cones or a lot of breakup you give more consideration to paper or polypropylene, being polyglass (Focal) in the middle. 3rd. Size, I see you are looking at 5/5.5" drivers.

DAVIS ACOUSTICS 13MRP
http://www.ritlab.jp/shop/product/sp...is/13mrpa.html

[exurbia]

Has anyone tried the David Chaffey drivers ? I have the 7" Ref and 9.5" Ref and they leave every other cone mid that I have tried way down the ladder of goodness. They aren't exactly cheap but they are superb, nicer than the Illuminator and about the same price. They don't have any glaring faults except for their looks, they are so pretty it is a crime to put them in a box. Luckily they work great on an OB, the 9.5 incher is the ducks nuts.

[Inductor]

Originally Posted by exurbia

Has anyone tried the David Chaffey drivers ? I have the 7" Ref and 9.5" Ref and they leave every other cone mid that I have tried way down the ladder of goodness. They aren't exactly cheap but they are superb, nicer than the Illuminator and about the same price. They don't have any glaring faults except for their looks, they are so pretty it is a crime to put them in a box. Luckily they work great on an OB, the 9.5 incher is the ducks nuts.

That should take us to the 5"s price of Suggested Retail: $ 396.09
DC Gold Audio : N5R [N5R] - $ 396.09
Anyway where is the (r&d or) T/S specs, impedance, output, phase curves and all for these. (Is that a service payed buy the consumer?)

[hihopes]

Don't overlook SS Revelators. Some opinions put them above Illuminators. I am building with18w4531's and they are shockingly good, though maybe bigger than you currently need. What about their smaller cousins?

[mclsound]

Originally Posted by Charles Darwin

I think Volt sells the vast majority of their drivers commercially to the likes of REL, PMC, Quested Audio and a number of p.a. manufacturers. The diy market seems to be very low on their horizon.

dont forget,PMC has 2 levels of mid-Volt and Vifa.I was told that if one was to look at 3" soft domes(some of the most natural sounding drivers produced) the Volt and Atc "S" are close.It has alot to do wit price range and for $$$ that Vifa is good and cheap,the ATC can be controversial,I use 2 so I can get greater SPL and with less stress on one driver.I believe you need to know what your after:
1-budget
2-your comfortable SPL range,eg. 80-100db(vifa is perfect)...100-110db(ATC non"S")...110+(ATC"S"/Volt)...this is for listening range and then once in a while you will crank them up for you and a friend/or Home Theater
3-speaker design(2-way,3 or 4 way)
4-purpose(2ch,SACD,Home Theater,all of these)
Through my trials of both DIY and consumer(PMC,Krell,Paradigm,Athena)..one thing to keep in mind...DIY is for you and consumer is just for trying out.
You will always regain your money back with consumer speakers,but with DIY you will have pride.