Speakers with the most detailed midrange? (non-ESL/planar)

@shadorne 

I'm not sure which tweeters were in my SCM100 either. They were a late 90s edition (home version), that the previous owner upgraded to SL spec. I don't believe he ever upgraded the tweeters. Thanks for the info on the tweeters. I knew about the Vifa tweeters, but did not know about the Excel tweeters. I'm guessing mine had the Vifa. I'd really like to hear the ATC tweeters. They surely do not release anything until it is as close to perfect as possible. 

I forgot to respond to your comment regarding the SL woofers. I agree that they are amazing and they contribute to a clearer midrange. When A/B comparing the bottom end on the ATC to Dynaudio, I found that I could hear the actual tone of a kick drum in addition to the punch. The Dyns would only reproduce the fundament punch, without the tone. I felt like I was sitting behind a drum kit and was able to hear the decay of the resonant side drum head. Truly amazing. 


"@woofer72

Not sure what you had in your old SCM 100 - there have been several tweeters over the years. The old Excel millennium tweeter was excellent - one of the best. The older vifa tweeter was sibilant but my quite old pair of SCM 100 may have lost ferrofluid (it dries out after a few years hard use with any tweeter). Not sure about the even older Audax...

The newest tweeter just integrates perfectly. It has no ferrofluid. I no longer think about a tweeter in a separate way like you would do with other two ways or three way speakers. It just sounds like sound even if your eyes know there are three drivers there ...the sound is just completely integrated.

I guess the tweeter was the last thing they eventually had to build in house to get the kind of quality they require. I find it surprising they could do better than Excel Millennium. I think it took ATC about 10 years to develop so it just shows you how very good Excel/SEAS products are!"

@gosta,

What kind of amps are you using with the Lipinski? I have read of people using them as mid-field speakers with appropriate amplification. I agree, crossing over at high at 70hz (or even 80hz) seems like a good idea in order to avoid bass frequencies distorting mid frequencies. If I recall the surface area of the two 7" woofers equals approximately that of a single 10" woofer. 

I've never heard the ATC subs but I imagine they are really nice, and yes, expensive! I currently use the Rhythmik E15HP which is fantastic. 

Regarding your yellow glass fiber cone drivers on the L-707, not sure if you knew, but you can upgrade them to the newer black cone woofers. The upgrade is available through Lipinski dealers. I forgot what material the black cone woofers are made out of.

I'm really looking forward to your A/B test! Thank you for being willing to do that!

Also, thank you for introducing me to the XTZ speakers. They look very intriguing. I see that they are ported but it seems it may be possible to block the ports. I wonder if these speakers are voiced "flat" in a more pro audio sense or if they are voiced for home hi fi use? They are priced very reasonably. 

Have you ever heard beryllium driver based speakers?

Some still swear by the Infinity Kappa 9. I've never heard them. There is a pair being sold used on another website. Enjoy! :-)



"@woofer72
I actully use two ATC c1 subs to the Lipinski's. Functions very well, but again they are near-field and not sure designed for very high SPL's like the ATC. ATC subs are very musical and plays the bass lines very clean. No distortion to hear. Using them with the Lip's makes a very fine full-range system. The Lip's works best I think as a closed monitor crossovered around 60-70 Hz. The C6 Sub is on my list but expensive also used and not sure I need it. You sell me yours Shadorne :-)

I have the older yellow one's. Actually I got three (one read).

Will hurry up the A/B test :-)

Have a look at the new XTZ Divine Delta speakers. Using Accuton and Mundorf. Nice price. Think I will try these. I bought their new Edge amp recently and am very satisfied with it. Cheap fine power. Sorry, no SALKs around here.

Shouldn't say this....... but will probably invest in some Infinity Kappa 9 soon. I mean they are legends. Also heard them in a store some time ago and thought the mids and tops were beautiful and very life-like and also worth a lot - you could stand up to them."

I just chanced on a pair of Usher BE-20 dmd dancers and like old time missions they have a very high xover, around 3.5 khz that covers most if not all of the vocal range so 1 driver with no xover in the critical mid range makes for a very good mid range. The ease of placement of these speakers makes me think there's something fundamentally right about them. worth a listen. Revel salon 2 with a completely different approach can be found used at your price and have amazing mids also. I don't care for speakers that exaggerate the sound at one fq and go for clean balanced response.   

I'm a fan of the Classic Audio Loudspeakers (+$12K).
They employ a beryllium diaphragm that has a Kapton surround- and thus the midrange driver has no breakups until 35Khz. It runs from 500Hz in my speakers to 12KHz. The driver is also field-coil powered so it has speed like an ESL, and for the same reason- when current is applied to the voice coil, the magnetic field does not respond in kind by getting weaker as in permanent magnets. So its faster and more revealing, while at the same time very smooth since there are no breakups.
The larger Classic Audio Loudspeaker (T1) has the midrange horn going down to 250Hz. This is possible due to the Kapton surround.

I bought Thiel CS2.4SEs about a year ago because I wanted greater transparency and resolution in the midrange. Wasn’t disappointed other than a subtle glassy quality on vocals. Replacing the resistors with Mills MRA-12s fixed that issue. More recently, I rebuilt the boards with Clarity CSA caps and upgraded the coils. 

Now, the resolution and transparency are stunning. There is superb intelligibility on lyrics and much more. Gotta be close to SOTA from the mid bass up but I suppose I need to relisten to stuff like TAD Ref Ones and Vivid Giya to say with full confidence. Regardless, these are my last speakers!