What's the best mid-range driver available?

i think you mmight be misunderstanding the path. you don't need to invest in ANY amp. it's part of the speaker. source --> preamp --> speaker.

you don't need an external amp. period. active speakers can't use external amplification.

15 being way more than is necessary is strictly a matter of opinion. you won't change my mind, i won't change yours.

in absolute terms, if something sounds just a little bit better than another product, but costs 100,000 dollars more, the fact remains that it sounds better.

Your point is valid. The local audio club heard a $70K system and most walked away dissapointed at the sound, speakers especially. I agree there are speakers out there at $15 to $50K that are worth all those Washingtons. Now as for your amp driven drivers???, i prefer to have my tube amp supplying the power. The circuits in the speaker amps i doubt can out perform the circuits in my tube amps. Oh by the way i'm not looking for BIG sound. Just enough to fill my room with a superior quality. I would love to compare your Atc speakers, with a 3 way Skaaning 10 + Skaaning 4 + Philips RSQ8P/11.

i always like hearing different set-ups. i don't care about big sound, either. i care about accuracy above all else. part of the reason i love music is because i have a fascination with the human voice, so i'm picky about midrange.

but, please; if you're ever in san antonio, you're more than welcome to come by and have a listen.

and if you prefer tubes, the speakers are available (considerably cheaper, i might add) in passive versions to be driven by whatever amp you'd like.

I've heard that San Antonio is a beautiful town. I've always wanted to go there. BTW i've got word that the Seas W12CY midrange will outperform the legendary Skaaning's. This is from a reliable source. As well you may want to know that the super tech ribbon from Philips RSQ8P/11 will be avaliable at the end of May. $840/pr from Koch in Germany. Now i'm open to consider the Atc's in a passive setup. Can you get me a price. If you get a chance take a close look at the Seas Excel woofers. Another driver that you may want to research is the Raven 3 ( $1600/each) Now give me some description of your speakers. The ATC web page gives absolutely no info...strange?? BTW they are British, i tend not to like "british" sound.

the best way to describe them is 'accurate.' i don't know what you mean by sounding 'british.' i've heard lots of english speakers and i don't really think they sound very similar. (linn, rega, naim, tannoy, atc)

i'm not sure what kinda info you want, but here's a list of plaves that *only* use atc equiment. just to skim over (taken from their website)

"Sony Music Studios, New York; Kate Bush; Warner Bros, Burbank, CA; Dairy Studios; Polygram Wiseloord Studios, Holland; Sain Records; Lenny Kravitz; Whitfield Street Studios Skin; (Skunk Anansie)Mute Records (Depeche Mode, Erasure); K & A Productions (Naxos); Todd AO, USA; Pioneer Optical Disc (Barcelona); Nick Whitaker (Internationally Renowned Acoustician); Telarc; VTR TV Production Company;
Ground Control, LA; Paramount Pictures, Hollywood; Angell Sound, London (5 Studios); BBC - UK; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Lightning Seeds (Ian Broudie); Sydney Opera House; Pink Floyd's Studio & Dave Gilmour's Home; Royal College of Music; Jarvis Recording Studios, NY; Birmingham University; Dep International; Essex University; Nimbus Records; Bristol University; John Kurlander; University of Surrey (Francis Rumsey);Ian Anderson; Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club; Manor Mobiles; Lou Reed; Beacon Studio (Dublin); SBS Television, Australia; Hans Zimmer; Lansdowne Recording Studio; Karl Wallinger World Party; Greg Walsh (Producer Paul McCartney, Tina Turner, Elkie Brookes); Albert's Music; Angel Studio, Islington; Peter Walsh (Producer Stevie Wonder, Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds, Pulp); Oorong Studio, N.Y.; London Post; James Guthrie (Pink Floyd, Toto, Chicago); Enya; The Tate Gallery; Thierry Allard, Bruxelles; Bob Ludwig Masterdisk; Boogie Park Hamburg; Bruce Leek; Bruce Dunlop Assoc., London; Vogler Audio Media; Prince Sufri, Brunei; Tony Wass; Monster Music, Madrid; John Richards; Crazy Sound, Guadeloupe; Beethoven Street; Fluke, London; Moles Studio; Spectral Harmony, Bombay; ARC Studio; Haman Studio, Tel Aviv; Kash Productions, Madrid; Zaza Studio, Tel Aviv; Polygram, Hong Kong (Mastering & Studio 1); Loco Studio, Wales; Matrix; London College of Music; Swedish Radio; Polish Broadcast;
Carlton Television (Nottingham & London); Lakeside, Switzerland; York Street Studios; Tape to Tape, London (Heathman's Mastering); Albert's Studio; Telegael, Eire (6 Studios); John G Deacon Founder Conifer Records; Allaire Studios, New York"

also check out:

http://www.audiomusings.com/atc.htm

three reviews of the speakers, just fyi. i tend to agree most with the last reviewer.

and as for pricing, the passive 50's run about 10k, the passive 20's about 5k.

the bad thing about passively amplifying them is that they're no longer active, so you don't have an amp per every driver, which is part of what makes them so dynamic. the good thing is that you are able to choose which amp you would like to use.