The bottom line is: good high quality home speakers can sound exellent at a reasonable cost. Pro studio monitors aim at the same thing with a modest increase of sensitivity, which matters little at near field listening. The main power limitations are below 300Hz.

Professional sound systems often use horn tweeters with a sensitivity about 10dB more than the woofer. This has to be compensated by the crossover if passive or the amplifier volume if active.

The best sounding live amplified concert I have ever heard had a tall stack of 3 way speakers in a medium size concert hall. The midrange was the key to superior sound. 10" to 18" woofers have a hard time making accurate midrange sounds, especially close to the speakers.

These three way speakers required a significant distance from them to sound good. This is a very different situation from home use.

I believe the optimum speaker will be a 3 way speaker with a midrange to cover the range about 300Hz to 3000Hz. It is best (theoretically) to avoid a crossover outside this range.

I would prefer to use an active crossover betweem the woofer and midrange. The midrange should be the Vifa XG18, or similar (Scan Speak). The XG18 driver can sound superb if used with a subwoofer, or low frequency driver used below it.

Just so you know, I have Eminence woofers and Fostex FE127 midranges in my car. So you see, I appreciate the impact and dynamic range of higher sensitivity drivers when needed. But I still prefer the sound of direct radiating drivers over horns. I can almost always hear the sound of a horn compared to a direct driver from the other room by its sound. This indicates a distortion from the original sound.

My Fostex midrange (wide range) sounded harsh (or shouty) until I modified it with a coating of Elmers Glue. I love it now.


(Originally posted by: SteveF)