The Best Midrange in the World Right Now

Pawlowski6132:

I like your system. Like mine, it's not crazy expensive but gives you 90% of what music lovers would accept as great sound. Pursuing the other 10% isn't worth the expense.

By the way, my main system includes:

Spendor Classic 2/3 speakers
Eastern Electric M520 tubed integrated amplifier
REL Strata III subwoofer
Regal Apollo (transport)
Bel Canto DAC 2 (with Stereovox digital interconnect)
Rega P-25 turntable
Sumiko Blackbird cartridge
Grahm Slee V ERA Gold phono stage
Kenwood KT-7500 tuner with Don Scott modifications
Acoustic Zen cables
JPS Labs power cords
Brickwall surge protectors

great thread topic.

my last 2 speakers have had considerable adjustability; which as caused me to really learn about exactly what causes a great mid-range.

the Von Schweikert VR9SE has three tweeters, each with an attenuator. it has a 15" digital amp powered sub which has gain, phase adjustment, and 50hz to 100hz crossover (to a pair of woofers that extend down to 50hz). when i measured to get the flatest mid-range i had the crossover 'all' the way down to 50hz. i messed with tweeter adjustments for 6 months but could never get the highs to completely settle down. the mids were very good but not exactly right. then a friend mentioned that 'flat' was not necessarily right and said he preferred a bit of a bump in the mid-bass for naturalness. i stepped the crossover up to about 70hz and 'BAM' the highs cleaned up and smoothed out and the mids became liquid and life-like.....amazing what 'balance' can do. once the highs were right the mids were right. i would never have guessed that a subwoofer adjustment would affect the high frequencies.

i just got the Evolution Accoustics MM3's.....an amazing speaker. from my time with the Kharma Exquistes i have always loved the Accuton ceramic mid-range driver. it has a certain 'clarity' and see-thru transparency that i have not heard in any other mid-range driver. OTOH it can have a bit of a 'ring' and also has limited dynamics compared to some others. the MM3 has 2 of these Accuton ceramic mid-range drivers. they have somehow tamed the ring; and with two of them they are much more dynamic plus more linear to boot. the MM3 also has '2' 15" digital powered subwoofers with even more bass adjustability than the VR9's.

combined with my acoustically designed dedicated room and the darTZeel amp and pre......the MM3 has the most open and transparent mid-range i have yet heard.....by a good margin. i have never heard the detail i hear.

my tastes are for neutrality and touch of sweetness; but i can easily add or subtract warmth as my (or my visitors) tastes require thru (sub)woofer (on the MM3, the 15" driver is actually a 'woofer'....not a subwoofer) and tweeter adjustment. as the MM3 is 93db efficient and a 6 ohm load i could use a 10 to 20 watt SET if i wanted (but i don't).

although the Kharma's were coherency champs back when i first bought them the VR9's were even better and the MM3's better yet in this area.....which is essential for that 'magic' mid-range.

i do also think that for an ideal mid-range full frequency range response is preferred. there is so much mid-range harmonics going on up and down the frequency range that having deep bass and extened highs just completes the picture. the VR9's extend to 15hz (-3db) and the MM3's extend to 10hz (-3db). both extend over 40khz in the treble.

the world's best mid-range right now?......i would say......"the best mid-range i have heard". i'll leave 'world's best' for magazine covers.

Delighted everyone seems to be enjoying this thread.

Shadorne, yes, I have heard great things about the ATC products before, but they dont seem to be widely distributed or very well known.

Could you please give more detail on your experiences with them? Which models? Passive or active?

Because we hear vocal sounds every day, our ears are highly in tune with them and what they sound like, ie...we aren't fooled very often.

I've found E-stats, planers, ribbons and "some" horn systems do a pretty good job of pulling off this sleight of ear.... slightly better than most cone types I've listened to over the years. I'm sure though, that this is not 100% the case as mentioned above.

The best (or at least close) to the best midrange I've heard was from the little Apogee Stage speakers setup in a fairly large room, driven by tube amps... deep bass was this speaker systems only weakness.

Dave

Shadorne, yes, I have heard great things about the ATC products before, but they dont seem to be widely distributed or very well known.

Could you please give more detail on your experiences with them? Which models? Passive or active?

ATC is a UK company that make their own drivers. They have gained fame from their 3" fabric dome mid range designed by Billy Woodman (ATC founder and an engineer). On SCM 20's the dome is grafted onto the woofer. On the SCM 50's they use a less powerful version of their classic mid range the SM75-150. On the SCM 100's and bigger they use the classic studio mid range (very powerful SM75-150S).

My experience is that the timbre is very similar among all models and all have a very wide dispersion with a very natural sound. Piano sounds just like a piano...this may seem like an odd statement but my experience is that most speakers fail this test miserably. Clarity in mid range is never a problem even with movie soundtracks that are loaded with background noises (something many people seem to complain about).

The passive models are not quite as detailed or precise.

The bigger models have more dynamics and are much more convincing (effortless) at live music levels. Generally I hear more detail from the separate mid range (as opposed to grafted on on the SCM 20) and on the larger SM75-150S... I believe this is because of the greater dynamics or crystal clear sound and probably a better bass from a larger dedicated woofer that allows for more lower mid detail to be audible due to less harmonic distortion from the bass. (Nuances and details in the recording become very apparent...some may not like this)

All models can play extremely loud. Relative to the popular consumer sweetspot of loud speaker sound ATC's will seem light in the bass and treble...polite, natural or neutral sounding. They do get overwhelming at high output levels and generally your ears will tire well before the speaker. At loud levels the lack of mid range compression means the mid range level will be what determines how loud you can stand it. (Most other speakers have way to much audible distortion before exceeding what my ears can stand, which means they lack the necessary headroom at normal volume levels.)

Is the SM75-150S the best mid range in the world right now? I have no idea, but ATC have been making this same model since the 70's. It was a big hit back then with UK/Europe/Australian studios for professional applications and still is today. If you check the ATC user list you will see that studios continue to install them.

I have never seen an ATC advertisement in a rag (unlike nearly all their competitors). ATC are unknown to consumers in North America. Word of mouth has recently made ATC popular in the highest end pro studios in the US too, perhaps partly due to British audio engineers that emigrated.

Best Word of Mouth Mid range in the World may be?