Having the chance to buy a pair of 4590 locally, I am looking at how to use them. BMS boasts a recommended 300 Hz lower crossover, which looks great on paper. However, even with the famous 90 x 6 BMS horn that was discontinued about the time the 4590 was launched, frequency response starts dropping at 700 Hz. In extrapolation, this looks like it will hit -18 dB at 350 Hz (!). So unless one uses a custom built very long horn, the 300 Hz recommended crossover will only work with a massive active boost.
I have been reading that most people use the 4590 only down to 800 or 1000 Hz. The treble unit of the 4590 seems to be a poor compromise with plenty of distortion and poor integration into wide horns. Apparently, the Limmer 033 works well with this driver but will only be good down to 1 kHz.
On the other hand, people have been using the lowly BMS 4550 down to 800 Hz in home settings, and a larger driver like the 18sound ND2080 (it's the 1480 without the adapter) should be good to at least 500 Hz while offering reasonable treble (and then there is the NSD with even better treble). I'm guessing here that a 3 in dome will have more oompf down there than a 2 in annular membran...
So if the aim is to have a horn/driver combo that covers most of the midrange, starting at 300 - 500 Hz all the way up to 20 kHz, is the 4590 really worth the trouble?
I have been reading that most people use the 4590 only down to 800 or 1000 Hz. The treble unit of the 4590 seems to be a poor compromise with plenty of distortion and poor integration into wide horns. Apparently, the Limmer 033 works well with this driver but will only be good down to 1 kHz.
On the other hand, people have been using the lowly BMS 4550 down to 800 Hz in home settings, and a larger driver like the 18sound ND2080 (it's the 1480 without the adapter) should be good to at least 500 Hz while offering reasonable treble (and then there is the NSD with even better treble). I'm guessing here that a 3 in dome will have more oompf down there than a 2 in annular membran...
So if the aim is to have a horn/driver combo that covers most of the midrange, starting at 300 - 500 Hz all the way up to 20 kHz, is the 4590 really worth the trouble?
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No.
As can be seen in the BMS specs, even on the unavailable horn, response is dropping at 12dB per octave below 650Hz.
The 4590 probably has a bit less displacement than a 3" dome diaphragm, which are available in 1.4", which allows for wider dispersion with less throat diffraction than a 2" entrance.
If you want to get down to ~300 Hz, something like the 80x 60 degree B&C ME464 is required, 575x505x460 mm (22.64x19.88x18.11 in).
Here is some previous discussion on the 4590 and horns:
https://forums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/topic,165934.0.html
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