Best driver in every category (if price is no object) then best efficiency (d1W/1m) ?

[simon5]

Hi, I was wondering what would be the opinion of the DIY community on this. I had in the past the audiophile community opinion which looked like that:

Supertweeter: Tannoy

Tweeter: Accuton's Diamond inverted dome tweeter, Dynaudio Esotar and Esotar 2, Scan Speak Revelator and the newer revision with the wave guide

Compression driver: JBL, TAD and GOTO

Midrange: Dynaudio's dome Esotar midrange,Focal's Audiom midranges, Accuton's 6" cone midranges

Woofer: Dynaudio 12" lineup, Eton 11" Hexacone line, Focal Audiom 10 and 12"

Subwoofer: Adire Audio Tumult, JL Audio's new woofer used in the Ghotam sub (We can probably now add the Ascendant Audio Avalanche 18" to that list)

And then, in each category, which brand got the best sensivity in dB/1W/1m ?

McCauley, JBL, TAD, Genelec, Klipsch, GOTO, Altec

I want to have your opinion on this please, thanks!

[5th element]

I dont know, it really depends on the application for the driver. But im sure the peerless XLS could be included for something. They give a lot of quality bang for the buck, yeah you can get better performance and larger drivers, but are they more expensive, most of the time yes.

I would also add the SEAS excel group of drivers to the list, which ever driver for the suitable catagory.

No mention of a ribbon anywhere in that tweeter line up, im sure some of the ribbons used round here could give those a run for their money.

And also what about scans new revelator bass units, they sure look impressive on paper, which with scan usually means impressive in practise. The only problem with these is they are very expensive and you can probably get 80% of the performance for lots less, which is why most people dont use them.

Id like to make a three way out of the 12M midrange, 22W bass and R2904/70 tweeter, kill three birds with one stone and see what all three new scans are like, but thats one heck of an expensive stone, £1300 ($2400) on drivers alone

Anyone else any ideas, this post doesnt seem to have had much response.

[simon5]

Thank you for your reply, I was thinking that this topic would be a heated and great discussion but I guess it's not.

I know the drivers listed are very expensive, but no limit on the price remember!

I wanted to know what's the best of the best, or in particular, what driver is the best of the best for each category according to every DIYer since as you said, nobody will have the same opinion. That's why it could be a great discussion.

Fanatics of linear phase
Fanatics of linear FR
Fanatics of perfect transient response
Fanatics of wide/narrow dispersion
etc...

[serengetiplains]

Tweeter: Raven 3 (latest), BEEngineering

Midrange/Full: Manger, TAD horn

Bass: Skaaning

[454Casull]

If we're just looking at commercially-available products:

Tweeter/supertweeter: Accuton D20/6 or D30/6
Upper midrange/low treble: JBL 435Be compression driver

I don't have any idea about lower midrange/bass drivers since none really stand out.

[simon5]

Originally posted by serengetiplains
Bass: Skaaning

Where can I read about Skaaning?

[sbolin]

Originally posted by simon5


Where can I read about Skaaning?

AudioTechnology

I also expected more discussion, but maybe people are tired of this type of topic (it seems to come up pretty often). I like these kinds of topics, since I always learn about new drivers I didn't know about previously. If I had the money I would go with the AudioTechnology and Accuton units. Since I don't, I go with Seas, Peerless, and Adire Maybe if I get a good bonus , I'll build a nice (albeit small) two way with the AT and Accutons...

[rick57]

A good dreamtime topic:

The newish Focal beryllium tweeters would be in the upper echelons ($ + sound quality).

And the even newer ribbon tweeters/ upper midrange sold by e-speakers.

Andre there tends to stock the new hot product

Amongst mids, PHL make some lively stuff

We've had a surpising number of horn driver nominations