What's the best mid-range driver available?

Hi Sean,

I'm using Innersound Eros in my bedroom system and there is definitely something to be said for electrostatics and midrange quality, especially for guitar, harpsichord, and other plucked instruments. But to hear a trumpet well-reproduced, I have to either crank up my N801's or listen to Magnetar's NE TAD/Altec-based system.

The ALE drivers are featured in the latest version of the big French mansion system at the aca.gr website, having displaced all the JBL pro drivers. That ALE compression driver with the 200 lb. Alnico magnet is a monster.

ATC makes the best midrange driver in the world. No competition. Too bad they will not sell just their MidRange driver, you have to buy the entire speaker.

Agree with most here. ATC dome, also Skaaning (Verity Audio), Eton 5" is damn good, Accuton (Partner/Thiel) concave ceramic dome (in Avalon and LumenWhite) as well, Focal 'W' sandwich drivers are nice and fast, and finally, the ScanSpeaks (new[er] 5" revelator and believe it or not, their [older] 5" paper cone with rubber surround mid is very nice. Relatively cheap too.

Regards,
JBVO - Ha!

oops - forgot one or two.. dynaudio esotar mid dome.., and the seas magnesium cone 4-5".

application is the key... duh

JBVO - out

Atc may make the "best" mid/driver..but can't buy it separately and way too expensive speakers. So now they are ruled out our 2 contenders are Skaaning 4 or 5 inch( 80hz-2500hz) and the Seas W12CY or W15CY (80hz-3500hz). And i wonder just HOW much better the Atc's are than the Skaan's and Seas's????? Heck the Raven 3 offers a 1.5Khz up(best xover at 2K) range and so is a much better driver than the Atc as far as presenting a seamless mid/tweet..and we also need to consider the Philips RSQ8P/11 and ESg3 both deliver a upper midrange of 1.5Khz up(best xover at 2K)