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Coaxial Ribbon Midrange/tweeter - Can a small midrange ribbon actually do midrange well?

Fellow Members: my apologies if you may have caught a similar discussion under Piega 511 Coax Loudspeakers. That title may not reflect the general interest I am hoping for.  

I am wondering, from a technical standpoint, how the Piega 511/711 Coax loudspeakers use a relatively small coaxial ribbon mid/ tweeter array driver to cover the entire midrange.  I always thought of smaller ribbons as excellent tweeters only.  If it does cover the entire midrange, can it move enough air to make
an impactful presentation for large orchestra or rock music, for example. Reviews praise the speaker’s agility, resolution and accuracy. It sounds like a most worthy competitor in its price range but I want a loudspeaker that can do most genres well.....not just vocals, chamber music and jazz.  Thank you in advance for your input. 
audiobrian

Showing 4 responses by erik_squires

erik_squires
5,268 posts
 
Should add, this is not the first time a planar midrange has been envisioned.  The most famous are the Infinity and Genesis towers.
erik_squires
5,268 posts
 
Interesting. I'd say there's a lot to consider.

This is a rather large ribbon. The larger the surface area, the less it must move to achieve a given sound pressure.

I will say that the masurements from the C8 LTS are encouraging. The impulse and waterfall displays show an uncommonly good time domain pattern.
The off center isn't great, and hte impedance plot is VERY interesting.

I would not say it is impossible. I am using a pair of AMT's down to about 1.8kHz and the dynamic range and power handling is amazing.
erik_squires
5,268 posts
 
Erik, I assume you meant to say "ribbon" midrange. As you know, there are many planar midrange drivers---the other Eric (with the inferior spelling ;-)
.
@bdp24

Not at all. I meant "planar" in the generic sense, including ribbon, planar magnetic or even ESLs, in that the radiating surface describes a plane instead of a cone. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a true ribbon midrange though.


erik_squires
5,268 posts
 
How many times must I answer the same question?

Not at all. I meant "planar" in the generic sense, including ribbon, planar magnetic or even ESLs, in that the radiating surface describes a plane instead of a cone.

So, that was what I meant originally, when I used the term "planar" as in "describes a plane" and when I wrote this:

I did so because the "this" in the sentence I took to be referring to the speaker the OP is asking about, a loudspeaker with specifically a ribbon midrange, not a generic planar one.


Except the speaker the OP is referring to does not appear to be a true ribbon.


I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a true ribbon midrange though.

I was thinking about a true ribbon midrange, characterized by extremely low impedance, and a conductor alone forming the moving element.  Often transformer coupled.

Yes, I completely forgot about the Apogee Acoustics models.



Best,
E
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