The best midrange driver (cost no option) for 3-way

[Helmuth]

AL130M

AL 130 M - 8 Ohm

In the loudspeaker is the normal al130 so it is not the AL130m

 

[eriksquires]

Hi guys,

I'm just a little curious why Accuton gets so little love as a "best of" driver, including midranges. I was always intrigued by the pure ceramic cone idea. I think I read somewhere they tend to have higher distortion than expected, but I have not really heard them.

Best,

Erik

 

[wolf_teeth]

Hi guys,

I'm just a little curious why Accuton gets so little love as a "best of" driver, including midranges. I was always intrigued by the pure ceramic cone idea. I think I read somewhere they tend to have higher distortion than expected, but I have not really heard them.

Best,

Erik

A lot of times their cost just pushes them out for cheaper offerings of similar performance. IMO, I've heard a few Accutons, and there is something to them. They are just not fatiguing if done right, and have the realism and microdetail people rave over. I've not heard them as woofers, but as mids thus far I really cannot complain. And while the 3-4" get used a lot for mids, I find the larger ones have a lot more body to the sound. They don't sound as thin.

Later,
Wolf

 

[Face]

An audiophile is an individual willing to pay more for the bits
of the hi-fi system that, according to his belief, will bring the
sound quality to a greater level.

There is no guarantee that he will be fortunate. He mostly
relies on the testimony of a manufacturer, a reviewer or
a satisfied customer that a piece of a hi-fi system will perform
as promised without or with very little relevant evidence. The
industry favors it.

This isn't taken from wikipedia and you can quote me on that.

My moto is:" Ask not what your speaker can do for you, ask what
you can do for your speaker."

Whether I am an audiophile or not, is irrelevant. The question is,
am I of good use to the people conversing on diyAudio? Those
who were engaged can probably give the answer.

I love when people make up their own definitions.

 

[eriksquires]

A lot of times their cost just pushes them out for cheaper offerings of similar performance. IMO, I've heard a few Accutons, and there is something to them. They are just not fatiguing if done right, and have the realism and microdetail people rave over. I've not heard them as woofers, but as mids thus far I really cannot complain. And while the 3-4" get used a lot for mids, I find the larger ones have a lot more body to the sound. They don't sound as thin.

Later,
Wolf

Ahhh, well the title of the thread says (cost no option) so I thought it meant cost is no object. In that sense, the Accutons seem perfectly affordable to me. I wonder if you could use the new $1,000 woofer which is a pure piston, or somethhing like that, as a mid?

Best,

Erik

 

[Silent Screamer]

Cost is no option for a select few (a category I fall in from time to time) Where paying $1000+ per driver is not a problem, however for the larger DIY community cost is a problem so not that many people own the mega expensive drivers to give a first hand account of their performance.

 

[eriksquires]

Cost is no option for a select few (a category I fall in from time to time) Where paying $1000+ per driver is not a problem, however for the larger DIY community cost is a problem so not that many people own the mega expensive drivers to give a first hand account of their performance.

Oh, I couldn't afford these either. I was just asking about them since it seems that was the intention of this thread.

Best,

Erik

 

[xrk971]

It's not very expensive but the Aurum Cantus AC130F1 sounds excellent as a mid. Very smooth and breakup free in the 300Hz to 4kHz range. More people should use it as a mid rather than as a woofer.

http://www.parts-express.com/pedocs/specs/296-400-aurum-cantus-ac-130f1-specifications-45624.pdf

 

[Silent Screamer]

Oh, I couldn't afford these either. I was just asking about them since it seems that was the intention of this thread.

Best,

Erik

I thought about buying some but I have about $8,000 worth of unused drivers sitting under my bed now, I really don't need to add to the pile until I use a few up first.

And then there is the spare room drivers I need to use up.

 

[Silent Screamer]

It's not very expensive but the Aurum Cantus AC130F1 sounds excellent as a mid. Very smooth and breakup free in the 300Hz to 4kHz range. More people should use it as a mid rather than as a woofer.

http://www.parts-express.com/pedocs/specs/296-400-aurum-cantus-ac-130f1-specifications-45624.pdf

Nice looking driver for the price. Sometimes the lure of paying more expecting better results can lead us astray...

 

[xrk971]

I thought about buying some but I have about $8,000 worth of unused drivers sitting under my bed now, I really don't need to add to the pile until I use a few up first.

And then there is the spare room drivers I need to use up.

He he he

A driver hoarder!

 

[Silent Screamer]

Guilty as charged

 

[Fkeller]

hmmm

 

[5th element]

Well being a driver hoarder comes with the territory I reckon. We usually have more drivers we want to 'try' than we actually have final pairs of loudspeakers we actually need!

Accuton drivers do tend to be vastly over priced for what you actually get though and even then what you get tends not to be that impressive. Some of their drivers are very good, but lots are mediocre to the point of not even being considered a lot of the time, at least from my point of view. If I'm paying premium for drivers I want the performance (objective measured) to be there in spades.

 

[Silent Screamer]

Thanks for the balanced view 5th element. I guess one of the things that has stopped me pulling the trigger on some is exactly what you mention. Up near a $1000 a driver for the dearer ones and the response curve is mediocre at best.

 

[5th element]

I think for me with most of the larger Accuton Bass units is the competition. I mean you've got top of the range stiff metal cones from both Scanspeak and SEAS that have exemplary measured performance and cost significantly less. As well as the bass drivers from the RS series from Dayton (RS225 for example) that have a performance level only a little behind that of the SEAS/SS offerings that costs almost nothing compared to the others!

It kind of makes it hard to justify, for any reason, the $1000 Accuton.

 

[xrk971]

5th element - what is your impression of the smaller RS180 as a mid bass or as a mid? There is the paper cone version as well that seems to have less of a breakup issue.

 

[5th element]

In general the whole RS line punch far above their price point. The RS180 has very nice bass performance.

 

[Fkeller]

Yeh, dayton audio has good drivers for the money. I really like the Ref line.

 

[dandee]

Audax PR170M0 6.5" Midrange - 100dB
Audax PR170MO is a Professional Quality Reference Standard 17 cm (6.5")...
$99.80 its sold through Madisound... and they have a larger one...
this is a great midrange driver.... I used it for years... although mine was made by polydax at the time.... which is now Audax.... its is 100 DB 1 w mid... ...

Some of you may snub your nose at it.. but its more then you can use in a med size room.. and it puts out quality sound and can handle anything you can run through it...
ok..i'm gone just my thoughts..........