Anyone familiar with the Manger driver?

"I have heard the Manger driver sounding GREAT depending upon how it is used within a particular speaker design."

YES!! I have also heard the Manger driver sounding mediocre depending upon how it is used within a particular speaker design.

Kal

It's a wide-range driver and, depending on the application, it can be used down to 300-200Hz. It has an unusual sound; in some respects it's reminiscent of a ribbon & in others of cones. DIspersion characteritics are also somewhat unusual compared to a conventional cone. People who have tried working with it (N Pass is one of these) have had difficulties in getting the speaker system dispersion pattern right (among other things). The side firing mangers seen in some systems are purportedly there to smooth response from ~2kHz downwards...

I forgot: it's also an expensive driver so, if you're thinking of a diy scheme, check out a discussion at diyaudio.com. E-speakers sells it in the US and has some specs at the site.

Israel Blume of Coincident did a design with a Manger a few years ago. As I understand it, it never really made it past the experimental stage, with only a few examples produced. A friend of mine has one, and I've heard it a few times. It has a number of shortcomings that would make it unacceptable for me, though he loves it. To me it lacks immediacy and dynamics, though how much of this is due to the Manger and how much is the fault of the rest of the implementation (or even the fact that he doersn't play them loud enough) is impossible to say.

If he doesn't respond, you might contact member Plato, who had a speaker using this driver in his home a few years ago.

I've heard them in two models of Overkill Audio speakers at CES and T.H.E. Show. Both implementations were quite expensive (One model is $70k, including digital crossover and amps). The Overkill speakers sounded incredibly fast, dynamic and exciting. They also sounded quite musical and not as hard and metallic as many other very fast and loud speakers can be. I really did not have a chance to audition it they way I would if I were considering a purchase.

The obvious downside of the Manger driver is a very limited dispersion of highs. Even moving one's head just a few inches makes a big difference. I suppose good dispersion of highs is asking too much considering that the Manger works down to an extremely low frequency and looks to be bigger than 6" in diameter.