best 4.5" midrange drivers under $1K


Hi folks,

was wondering if any could give suggestion for best midrange. prefer it can make clean audible output down to 100-150Hz, flat up to 5KHz, and has non-paper cone. currently using seas excel wcyex001 in a 3-way setup (alumunium ribbon en fiberglass midbass).

Cheers.
audioism
but try excel whenever wanna opt to metal without ringing with still gives you involving and sweet sound

yeah it's 4in afterall..i cant go bigger cause dont wanna to rework much on enclosure and my listening space is limited if not small
yeah it's 4in afterall..i cant go bigger cause dont wanna to rework much on enclosure and my listening space is limited if not small

The cone may be 4" but have you looked at the specifications for the voice coil. It probably uses a 26 MM diameter overhung voice coil - a diameter no bigger than most dome tweeters. These tend to get hot as the small surface area and long coil in a short gap and which means that heat dissipation can be a challenge. The metal phase plug is intended to help cool the pole piece but it is the voice coil that will get the hottest.
Tangband seems interesting, especially the price

anyone has any experience using it? How does it sound aside from its spec?
Cdc,

It all depends at what level the test is conducted and even the units are different. Shinobiwan's test was equivalent to 96 db spl at 1 meter without an infinite baffle (so the low end distortion rises as you go below 600 Hz as the driver loses the baffle assistance or half space 6db boost to the lower frequencies).

Tangband test appears to be done at what looks like 96dB at 1/2 meter or equivalent to 90 db spl at 1 Meter with an infinte baffle.

If you only need modest SPL's then the Tangband is great option but I doubt it can go much above the level at which it was tested. (Of course you could use two in Appolito config to gain some SPL!)

SPL level requirement is the key parameter that governs whether a cheap driver will be good enough or not.