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The midrange is the most important driver.

OK, I don't need you to believe the topic name. Just wanted to start a friendly discussion.

Among full-range, multi-way speakers there are usually at least 3 drivers:

  • Tweeter
  • Mid-range
  • Woofer
The most exorbitant prices are usually in the tweeter, followed by the woofer, then the mid. More or less. When I read discussions that are about tech-brands, it's almost always about the tweeter. Off the shelf prices in high-end speakers can vary from $40/ea. to $500/ea. with top of the line Be and AMT. Hard diamond tweeters are even more expensive. And yeah, I've paid a lot for tweets in my mains. Still, I think maybe all of us have been convinced that the tweeter is where we should spend our largest dollars.

Maybe it is the quality of the mid that determines everything else. It is where the vocals are, and how well it integrates and extends up and down the range determines everything else. From what tweeters you may use, to the dynamic range.

What do you think?

Best,


E
erik_squires
akg_ca's avatar
akg_ca
2,321 posts
 

Here is a sampler review in support of thie statement asserting the importance of a superior midrange performance:

http://stereotimes.com/speak121305.shtml

".... Immediate impressions are a clear and transparent portrayal with very high detail retrieval, fast and controlled transient response, and superb musical timing, both in articulating rhythms and tempi, and in placing instruments within the temporal flow and context of the performance. The RR125 is an outstanding mid/bass driver, sonically and musically right in line with the midrange performance of Rega’s amplifiers and phono cartridges. Get the midrange right and everything else will fall into place. Get it wrong, and all the king’s horses…"
rcprince
3,078 posts
 
All I can add is that of all the speakers I have heard, the best have always been the ones that get the midrange right, so I'd have to agree with your assertion.  That's where most of the music is.
shadorne's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
Totally agree.

For high fidelity the order for greatest importance in a speaker

1) Mid range (300 to 3KHz)
2) Bass (40 to 400)
3) Tweeter (2KHz to 20KHz)

For BS hype Speaker marketing it is ALWAYS the tweeter that is emphasized most. This is entirely because a tweeter is the simplest and cheapest part in a speaker and easily upgraded or replaced. So spending huge extra amounts on a tweeter costs the maunfacturer the least $ for the maximum in marketing hype!

Sadly customers fall for this marketing trick all the time.

Worse than sad. Many of the fanciest Berylium unobtainium diamond tweeters contain cheap ferrofluid so that it is really CHEAP to make the tweeter, as the tooling and engineering precision can be really sloppy because the cheap ferrofluid just band aids everything!!! So within as little as two years this fluid has dried out and your super duper tweeter sounds dull and it is time to upgrade again!
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
Given that by far most of the musical content is in the 300Hz-3KHz frequency range, one could surmise that the quality of driver which covers that range plays the most significant role in the ultimate sound quality that is heard, assuming all else being equal. In my experience with multi-way speakers, I think how the sound transitions from one driver to the other is equally if not more important than each driver by itself.This discussion poses an interesting question of how this all applies to planar or ESL designs.
hifiman5's avatar
hifiman5
1,832 posts
 
@kalali   Exactly!!  As a long time and current Vandersteen owner, you will scarcely hear a man as passionate about that very issue as Richard Vandersteen is.  All of his speakers have employed first order crossovers as he finds that strategy the best way to make speakers with a variety of drivers sound "of a piece".  That's what Vandersteen's catch phrase "Dimensional Purity" is all about.
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