Discussion on dome midrange

[gary f]

Hi

I am very interested in using 2" OR 3" dome midrange in my next project.

I would cross a low midrange driver like Vifa P13WH or something with a smooth roll off with a dome midrange at around 2000Hz using 1st order crossover.

Candidates are:

Morel MDM 55
LPG 50FA
Vifa 3" dome
Dayton (it seems a bit lower quality)

Sorry, no money for the ATC dome

I could use a Hiquphon OW2 tweeter also with 1st order at 5000-6000 hz. Oh, also, sensitivity around 90dB minimum

Have anybody used these units or other dome midrange?

Is this a good idea to use 1st order crossover?
F

[5th element]

Well for a start to me it seems a waste to use the dome when you can pratically cross over the tweeter at 2000hz anyway to the vifa P13, why add another driver if its not needed.

If you want to use the dome then yes cross high but have a lower point of 300-600hz and cross to a bass driver.

[gary f]

seems a waste to use the dome when you can pratically cross over the tweeter at

I agree, but I am not very satisfied with the sound of 1" tweeters at 2000Hz. Maybe it is because of bad implementation, but i am not sure.

It seems to me like a dome mid would make a better transition between a mid-woofer and a tweeter.

I could cross the dome mid at 1000 Hz and use a woofer like Vifa M18 and a 3/4" tweeter or ribbon above the mid. But I would need steeped slopes. Classic 3 way design.

F

[Bill F.]

You might think about using the dome mid as a filler driver with first-order slopes between your woof and tweet crossed at 2k 2nd-order in phase for a transient-perfect alignment.

[gary f]

That seems interesting Bill. I will examine that a bit later. Thanks for the link.

Anyone ever used 2" dome mids? Which one is recommended...

F

[SY]

I've used Dynaudio D54, D75, and D76 in some pretty good speakers, though that was in the days when you could buy Dynaudio. These were great choices given what was available then.

These days, I think you can do better with a small cone driver. I do like your thinking about getting the crossover point to the 1" dome up higher, and a small midrange driver is a nice way to do it while avoiding the classic canyon-horn deficiencies in the horizontal dispersion pattern.

[gary f]

I also don't like the idea of having a 7 inch woofer with 15-20g of moving mass crossing to a tweeter with 0.25g of moving mass. To me, using a mid dome with 2 or 3 g Mm seems like a better transition.

Also, I may be tempted to use a Ribbon tweeter. These types have ultra low Mm and I read somewhere that they are hard to integrate with a standard cone mid/woofer... It might be better with a mid dome...

F

Thanks for any input.

[morbo]

Hmmm.. Hi-Vi also makes midrange domes, not sure how good they are though. You may want to have a look at this:

http://www.hiviresearch.com/product/en/view.php?id=1097

Seems almost tailor made for your application.