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Best midrange ever? Worst?!

The best I can recall hearing were:

Apogee (ribbon)- Sounded like Rosemary Clooney had walked into the room.
Infinity IRS V (EMIM) - Music was just there, almost palpable.
Altec 19 - Still amazed at the soundstage they threw out into the room.

For individual drivers, I loved the old Focal 4K111; within its operating range it was dead clean, but worked best as a dipole as any enclosure gives it a "cupped hands" effect. The old Peerless KO40 (used in Gale 401s and others) is another fine sounding driver.
 
The KEF B110 from my Reference 105 Series I are still some of the best midrange drivers I have heard.
 
hatrack71 said:
Damnit Auto! I remember the last thread and that was why I was trying to be careful. I would love to hear your AMT3s!
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:thmbsp:
Maybe when the kids get bigger, we will do the West vacation, Black Hills, Wall Drug, Little Big Horn-then to Lodge Grass (my grandfather owned/ran a general store there 20-50's) and stop by Helena and let you have a good listen to them while we head out West.
By the time I'm done they are going to weigh about 25+ lbs more then stock-so my gas mileage is going to be horrible!!:D
Seriously-there is a huge difference between the 2 way's vs 3 way's, and when these things finally get "Superized" in full-well the early results are just plain fantastic. Why the "new" ESS didn't go this route I will never really understand.
It's been alot of work-but it's finally all coming together nicely!:thmbsp:
 
The best mid-range driver I've heard to date was the Celestion MD-500 dome Mid-range driver, which went down to 500 Hz.
Most any similar dome mid-range driver will provide similar result.
 
My vote for Best Midrange:

Harbeth RADIAL drivers in Monitor 30, Monitor 40 and SHL5
TAD-4001 with LeClea'ch horns
TAD-2001 with LeClea'ch horns
 
As far as mid's from generally highly regarded speakers go IMO the JBL LE-2, LE-5 are easily the most unnatural sounding mid range drivers I have ever heard. It makes a potentially great pair of speakers (have owned JBL L36, L100, 4311, etc) sound like they were purchased at K-Mart. For years I tried to like them and occasionally their clarity and range tricked me into thinking they were okay. But unfortunately after 100's and 100's of listening hours the verdict was clear: the tone and timber are wrong and the frequency spikes can be just plain annoying.
 
taineasy said:
As far as mid's from generally highly regarded speakers go IMO the JBL LE-2, LE-5 are easily the most unnatural sounding mid range drivers I have ever heard. It makes a potentially great pair of speakers (have owned JBL L36, L100, 4311, etc) sound like they were purchased at K-Mart. For years I tried to like them and occasionally their clarity and range tricked me into thinking they were okay. But unfortunately after 100's and 100's of listening hours the verdict was clear: the tone and timber are wrong and the frequency spikes can be just plain annoying.
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There's veracity to this, relative to my ears and taste. JBL's "classic" offerings tend towards the thin and aggressively harsh to my ears, with a particular shrillness in the MR that, in its own way, is as unpleasant to me as the Heritage Klipsch "squawkers" (their term, not mine!).

This being said, I have sort of come around and drunk the JBL kool-aide. It takes going a little off the beaten path -- but only a little.

JBL 2441 2" exit driver
EMILAR EH500-2 horn

Yeah, these get the midrange respectably right, with 2die4 dynamics.

I admit it. :/

DSC_7248 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr


PS before the JBL-heads bite my head off -- yeah, yeah, the wiring to the 2441 in the photo above is reversed in polarity from what it should have been. This has been corrected; the drivers' polarity has been made correct, top to bottom, with a Galaxy Cricket.
 
Proac Tablette 50 Signatures. World class midrange. Whenever I bring them into rotation, I don't know why I use anything else. Far superior in tonality and more natural sounding than my Harbeth SHL5's, Proac 2.5's, any maybe even my B&W 800 Matrix. They give me the most long term listening enjoyment of any speaker I own or have owned.

But..........next on my list is a pair of Quad 57's.

I think I also have some of the worst mids in my JBL 4311's and L-26's.
 
Susurus said:
"Midrange is where the Music is". True or false?

Favorite midrange? DIY?

Worst midrange in a system-- non-tower AMTs?

I've kinda given up on 2-ways.

Integration problems in the critical listening band-- midrange -- where the ear is most sensitive -- seems best handled by a driver specifically for this. (unless you go planar...Maggies)

What I've got with incredible dedicated midrage: DQ-10, 12, 20, DQM-9, 9c, Bozak Symphonies.

Will be testing another 4-way tonight for midrange worthyness: HPM-series.

After some experimenting I'm convinced that a truly great midrange must have as a foundation a smooth, lifelike, well-integrated midbass.

For DQ-10s, his means close conformity to the original T-S parameters of the original (Advent-based woofer with improved VC).

However, I have not seen these specs. If I had the equipment I'd calculate them.

The tension between trying to achieve IT ALL:

full-range-ness,
best-integration-between-drivers,
and dynamics

...theoretically should be easier today than the vintage era. Better materials, tests, and QC?

- Susurus
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B&W is knows for great Mids...

Good stuff!
 
taineasy said:
As far as mid's from generally highly regarded speakers go IMO the JBL LE-2, LE-5 are easily the most unnatural sounding mid range drivers I have ever heard. It makes a potentially great pair of speakers (have owned JBL L36, L100, 4311, etc) sound like they were purchased at K-Mart. For years I tried to like them and occasionally their clarity and range tricked me into thinking they were okay. But unfortunately after 100's and 100's of listening hours the verdict was clear: the tone and timber are wrong and the frequency spikes can be just plain annoying.
Click to expand...


Sax just doesn't sound right on my L112s. Harsh and brittle.

Its a whole world different on the modified L200/300s where it sounds like a sax.
 
taineasy said:
As far as mid's from generally highly regarded speakers go IMO the JBL LE-2, LE-5 are easily the most unnatural sounding mid range drivers I have ever heard. It makes a potentially great pair of speakers (have owned JBL L36, L100, 4311, etc) sound like they were purchased at K-Mart. For years I tried to like them and occasionally their clarity and range tricked me into thinking they were okay. But unfortunately after 100's and 100's of listening hours the verdict was clear: the tone and timber are wrong and the frequency spikes can be just plain annoying.
Click to expand...

It's mostly the crossover (or lack thereof, in essence) that causes this, IME. There's no low pass on the mid, on any of the models mentioned.

OTOH- the L96, L112, and L150A- with the LE5- are quite different. With the midrange properly contoured with a 12dB/oct.lowpass, the breakup modes of the LE5 are attenuated enough to not be an issue...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
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