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Which SPEAKER for the 21ST century?

Cones vs Electrostats vs Ribbons Can we all somewhat agree that the speaker is the most important component in our system? We are all familiar with the cone driver. Has the old tech cone(mid/high) driver reached its potential zenith? Does the electrostats have the potential to become more efficient? Size less overwhelming? As well will the prices ever become reasonable? And last will the new tech(mid/high) ribbons become the choice drivers for high fidelity music reproduction for the new century? All comments are well appreciated.Thanks
tweekerman
tweekerman OP
473 posts
 
MANGER seems to be a possible alternative to the SL's.. this to me is a big step on the way to the 21ST century speaker..the ONLY thing holding this speaker back as taking top place as THE 21ST century speaker is its price tag..but like i say there is another option.. FOCAL 8W5411 or FOCAL 10 + single MANGER
twl
3,251 posts
 
I think the Manger design looks great, in theory. Haven't heard it, but would love to. From what I see on the website, the best bet would be a Manger driver about 2 inches larger in diameter, so it would get down into a reasonable bass range(40Hz). Since it extends to 35kHz on the top end, this would be just about a do-it-all single driver system. As long as we're dreaming, let's go for the 20Hz-35kHz version, and get it all. It would be nice if they made the driver available separately, so we could experiment with our own low end tunings. I know it would be ungodly expensive, but still cheaper than their cheapest monitor at $5600. I would love to T-line a pair of these things, just to see what I could get out of them, running single. The response curve looks pretty flat all the way down to 60Hz, so there may be possibilities. Can't afford them though.
karls
332 posts
 
They do sell the driver separately, it is around $800 each as I recall. It is an interesting concept, and excellent in the sense of having a nearly-full-range single driver, but it is still plagued by the same problem that nearly all diaphragms have-- resonant breakup modes in the diaphragm, which are impossible to eliminate and difficult to control. So it is not a panacea, but is a high-quality driver nonetheless.
tweekerman OP
473 posts
 
TWL to purchase the separate MANGER driver or kit go to g-brash@pacbell.net, GARY BRASHEAR is the USA dealer for MANGER or e-speakers.com..this is truly a very unique driver...no its not THE ultimate speaker but damn near comes close..and in my opinion MANGER is a good match for the SL's...
unsound
7,329 posts
 
I wonder if more extended versions of the drivers (Walsh,DDD) used in the OHM and German Physics speakers would be more promising? If it weren't for the space needed for driver intergration perhaps digital cross overs with the inherent steep slopes but with out the time and phase anomalies that usually follows steep slopes might help these new drivers.
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