i think the sb17 drivers sounds rather poor in the midrange area, i have nrx and mfc and nac, and also satori mw16, best sound so far is mfc in a 30 liter closed box and midrange crossed to a mid dome, in my smallish listening room this sounds very good to my ears
This is not my experience. I have the 17MFC 8-ohm in a passive design and it sounds quite nice. Smooth, musical, and natural.
I have a 17CAC 4 ohm as the mid driver in an active 3way system. I think the SB17CAC35 is a fabulous bargain. The level of detail is excellent, and at the same time very smooth and non-fatiguing. Excellent dynamics.
I have a 17CAC 4 ohm as the mid driver in an active 3way system. I think the SB17CAC35 is a fabulous bargain. The level of detail is excellent, and at the same time very smooth and non-fatiguing. Excellent dynamics.
I think what A lot of people are running into with this driver is the rising distortion under 200Hz and a moderate X-max. This deep dive into the SB17CAC35's performance already linked in this thread shows that if you can cross it to a sub at 80Hz you will dodge all of those issues (3 way you are already good, personally went for the SB15 and 2xSB23s). SB Acoustics SB17CAC35-4 6 Inch Ceramic Midwoofer Review
If I needed a 6.5 to dig low I would choose another driver, but for anything crossed over 80Hz it really delivers on value.
If I needed a 6.5 to dig low I would choose another driver, but for anything crossed over 80Hz it really delivers on value.
For 2way that is not asked to deliver too much, with really good tweeter that can cross below 2k, the SB might be OK, especially with added sub. But none of them are really suitable for other than LR4 x-o, because of the peaky response above 3kHz and cone break ups. They're what they are, like every driver they have limits where they perform the best, not bad for a budget choice. For more satisfying spkrs, I would most likely go with a 3way with smaller 4-5"SB driver that has better controled upper freq response and can be crossed higher than 2kHz to keep the tweeters distortions low. To bad the 5"CAC mid is only available to Rival only, it would probably make some DIY people very happy.