Is the Accuton driver that good?

JohnK,
I`ve been very interested in a speaker than uses the PHY-HP 12", do you agree with Fiddler`s opinion that the Accuton is the superior driver(more honest and neutral). My highest priority is natural tone and timbre of acoustic instruments.I`d appreciate your perspective as a speaker builder.
Best Regards,

Charles1dad, I did offer PHY loudspeakers but I do find there to be other transducers that are better sounding for less outlay. That being said PHY km30sag and other PHY transducers are great for acoustic music but to me a bit colored and the baskets causes issues with difraction that other full ranges or coaxils do not have trouble with. I also design with accutons these transducers do require more work with crossovers to get the best out of them but this is common with many modern transducers so not just accuton and to give accuton credit there newer transducers are a bit easier to design with. One can design a good sounding loudspeaker with either. Myself I use massive horns or full-ranges with super tweeters or 2 way ribbon hybrid designs. I tend to be drawn towards lower power amplifiers so this also steers me into loudspeakers that work well with such. If your more into SS or high power tube etc. Then a Accuton equipped loudspeaker might be the better choice. If low power amplifiers and simplicity of design appeals to you then PHY might be a good option for you.

I have two systems, an Accuton based system and a Phy km30-based system. The Accutons are driven by 300 watts tube-hybrid in a large room. The Phy are driven by 10 Watt 300B in a smaller room. The speakers are by Marten Design and Musical Affairs respectively. I listen mainly to jazz and rock.

The Martens excel with all music types, but especially complex music and amplified music (ie. rock, electronica). They are crystal clear, and provide the necessary quickness and slam. I find them neutral in character.

The Musical Affairs are lovely with vocals and acoustic ensembles (small group jazz, chamber music), and some older classic rock recordings. They provide warm full tones and timbres, and surprisingly deep and tuneful bass. However they do not do well with modern (ie. loud/compressed) recordings of rock and electronica. With these musics the rendering is often flat and lifeless. Also they do not compete at the high frequencies with the full-range designs.

This is a classic matchup of medium sensensitivity multidriver versus high sensitivity full-range driver. They are both excellent designs, but quite different in my experience. In the future I hope to compare my Musical Affairs to Horning's Eufrodite.

Johnk and Psag,
Thanks for your personal impressions, In theory I`m drawn to simple(but well executed audio components). I love SET and other high quality low power amps(purity and natural sound). The PHY-HP with a super tweeter and minimal crossover really appeals to me. However my current Coincident speakers may ultimately be the better choice. Despite their multi driver design they``re very easy to drive and sound brilliant with my SET 300b amplifier, Although a slightly more complex speaker than a PHY based two way, it may be the better overall solution(less compromised? they play "all" music genre well) At this point I don`t want to return to larger and high power amps(been there and done that). The well built-low power pathway seems to master natural musicality and realism(generalizing I admit).)
Thanks Very Much,

JohnK,
What wideband/fullrange drivers do you find equal to or better than PHY?