Help choosing midrange driver

[Kittle]

Im going to be rebuilding my mains.

Each box currently has 1 motorola peizo and 2 6.5" Acoustic Research woofers.

Ive settled on a Focal TC90B as the tweeter, and im going to keep the 2 woofers. But I need a midrange.

I picked the Focal tweeters after some listening tests both in home and in local home theater shops.

The mid is still a big unknown.

budget: $100-200 (or less!)

music:
I run my amp hooked up to my computer soundcard, so I play a large variety of stuff. Games, HT, Music (vocals, classical, rock, techno).

others:
- I dont need any more than 90-100watts of power handling
- Efficency of 89-91 would be ideal

To date I havent listened to any driver I can get my hands on -- unless someone knows where I can B&Ws midranges..

Your suggestions, comments & questions are much appreciated.

[454Casull]

Peerless 850439 should be a good choice.

[Kittle]

Stats from the manufacturer dont look to bad on that one.

why do you reccomend it?

[5th element]

He mentions that woofer because its one of the best "budget" meaning not the best of the best, drivers that you can buy. Its very cost effective, you get a very nice sound for not too much money.

When you say the budget is $100-200 do you mean for the pair or each?

I have used the peerless driver mentioned BUT the one with the phase plug, so I doubt there will be much difference in their sound.

I also use the seas excel W15CY001 magnesium cone as the midrange in my speakers. This driver is suprior in sound qualty producing a clearer sound.

If its a midrange driver then you could pick a midrange driver and not a midbass. I know the seas standard line mids are supposed to be very good, also the M15CH from seas is also liked lots by the people that use it.

You have a large number of drive units to choose from and cone materials. What are your goals with this speaker? what kind of sound do you want to achieve?

The vifa XT woofers will work well as will,
the vifa PL11, PL14 and PL18
the peerless HDS range
the seas standard alu cones 4.5"-6.5"
the seas paper range the CA15RLY, MCA15RLY and the CA18RLY
the seas excel range any from 4.5" to 6.5"
and any scanspeak drivers up to 6.5" although there are a couple id not bother with.
You also have eton whose drivers are also highly regarded and praised

[Kittle]

budget was per driver.

well I had a listening session a while back with a set of B&W Nautils 802, and LOVED them. Thats the type of sound im after.

Ive heard said that carbon fiber makes for great midrange due to low distortion levels -- so im slightly partial to that, but I also know its not the last word in cone materials.

I'll look into the drivers you mentioned and see what they look like.

and lastly... THANKS! for the suggestions.

[Cheap Shot]

Have you seen the audax HM 130 CO ? it has a nasty hump at
around 600 but if your crossing it higher or have good cross over skills it shant be a problem, PE 296-063 . I havn,t heard it in
person but I,m sure someone has,its flat to about 4000 and comes in just under your budjet
good luck !

[bzdang]

I will cautiously point out that while the midrange performance of some small midbass drivers is very good, they are all open-backed and will interact with the woofers and enclosure system unless placed in a separate enclosure. Or you could select a midrange driver with a closed back to use in the main enclosure.

[acenovelty]

http://solen.ca/

Peerless/midrange/ #122M26F08 12cm driver 180W 8 Ohm closed back. dB 2.8V 91 $44.71 each plus shipping. Very nice driver, used sucessfully a number of times in different type boxes.

Prosit

[Kittle]

Cheap shot -- yes ive seen the audax HM 130, it was one of those that caught my eye before posting here. The trick is getting my hands on some, and the 4k upper end makes xover much easier.

bzdang -- yep your right there. I have to take that into account when building my cabinets.

The peerless 821615 looks good, except its almost double the rated power im targeting, id be a little worried about underpowering it.

Others ive looked at:

Visaton AL 130M (wierd spl plot though)
The audax HM 130 (but now I cant find it on audax's website)
Scanspeak 15M/4531K00
Usher 8945A (but where to find one??)
Fostex FW167

And im still working through 5th element's list of suggestions

[Leeuwarden]

Did you notice this thread: Q:monacor sph-165kep