What's the best mid-range driver available?

you can get fantastic stuff for that amount, true. but not superior to the atc. it's expensive, but still a good value. the speakers ar very heavy because the amps are affixed to the back of the speaker. there are six power amps, but it isn't at all complex because they're all built into the speaker. you only ever see them as a small protrusion from the back of the speaker. just hook up your preamp using balanced interconnects to them and that's it. saves space on your rack, too.

I don't think you follow me. Why should i invest in a superior amp and then have the output channeled into a speaker amp??? You are sending the music through too many pathways... superior amp + superior digital + superior drivers + superior xover = ? (lets keep the money factor within reason..15 is way more than necessary)

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.