Best Mids Thread

[islandphile]

So I thought what the heck since we are talking about the characteristics of the best tweets and everyone has pretty much said their piece...How about the BEST MIDS??? And why do you like 'em?

Maybe we can discuss the merits of 4 vs. 5 vs. 6 inch mids (Hey even 2 and 3 inch dome mids are welcome)and as they pertain to your personal likes and so on....But mainly about which is your favorite mid (pure mid) and why..

Personally I have a very nice 4 inch Focal driver from the Ligne Mistral Competition three way set from a few years back that is just deadly...I'm looking forward to see what it can do, about to apply some judicious listening Here is pic of the mid: http://www.focal.tm.fr/gb/car/archiv...tral/165ex.htm

[JohnVroom]

We usually have 6 threads on best SQ woofer per year
3 or so on the best tweeter
5 or so on the best amp/ wire/ capacitor
.5 on midranges

go figure

[defro13]

the older focal 5k013x is one of my favorite 5.25" midranges ever as is the soundstream 5.25" from the ss51s set(vifa product), the only issue is that back i the day they all used to dissassemble. best 4", although i have used many 4" over the years none really blew me away but i attribute that to the difficulty of 3 way systems and how they can be finicky, but great 4" mids top shelf is the avi ulitimate mx or lx, as for 6" there is a huge list of great ones that ive used, most notabley being the alpine f#1, the avi bsm160, and the old soundstream 6.5" from the ss611 comppnenets set
(vifa manufactured) there are many great ones but these ones stick out n my mind. as for dome mids my experience is somewhat limited but ones i used that i liked, the dynaudio 3" dome mid was stellar as was the avi 3" but they blew up lots

[fatty matty]

I have installed Memphis 5.25" msq, the diamond audio M5 line (replaced with the D6 line) and the Diamond audio Hex line, plus the JL Audio TR in my vehicles in the past.

So far, the only mid that I truly enjoy is the Diamond Audio Hex - all the others came off too harsh on the ears. The Hex is smooth and has a warm, rich sound quality that let's you turn it up without bleeding ears.

I have heard other nice sounding mids on boards at the car audio shops but I won't comment as it is not the same as listening in the car over time.

[SUX 2BU]

Now that I think of it, all of my systems have used a 3-way front stage: 6.5, 4 and tweet. I think a 4" mid can be a very versatile driver, small enough to extend up high for a higher tweeter crossover point (which is good for locating the tweeter in somethign like the a-pillars) but a decent enough size cone to extend low enough for a manageable crossover point to the midbass (which is nice to keep male voices from becoming overly 'chesty'). That all being said, I've used the same Rockford Power-series 4" mid for almost 10 years now. I upgraded them from the Punch-series and was pleased to find that my reason for doing so (holding up better at higher volume levels) was acheived. Less break-up when the volume is high and they handle a hefty amount of power for such a small driver.

I've never tried a 5.25" driver but I am curious to do that. Not sure about in a 2-way setup as I'm a little hesistant to think that a 5.25" could deliver the amount of midbass I'd want it to but it could seem a natural progression to use in a 3-way system with an 8, 5.25 and tweeter.

I've only used 6.5s in my 3-way setups as midbass with a xover point of 400Hz or lower. Those that I've tried that I've been happy with their response in that region has been the Rockford Audiophile-series 6.5" and my present B&W 600-series 7". The B&W's are designed to be used in a 2-way system so it would be interesting to try them without the dedicted 4" mid I've always used. Right now I have them in my kick panel playing free air into the fender cavity and for SQ-purposes, I can run them without a sub and still get adequate bass response for competition. I think though they really need a properly sized ported box to make them really shine. Tonally the B&Ws and RF's I have no complaints about. A little more excursion though would always be appreciated for a lower xover point at higher volume levels.

[SweetnLow91SC]

Well..... Here are a few great sounding mids that I have used and tested:

For the 4". there use to be a Seas 11FGX that was quite impressive, extremely dynamic and very good tonally. then the Focal Utopia 4" from the 165-W3 is also very good, It a very wide bandwidth driver... well up to 12K.

For the 5"........ Dynaudio has excellent lower mid to midbass and warm upper mid or the Scanspeak Revelator is very accurate tonally.

For 6"....... The Seas Excel Magnessium one is very good tonally, other then the ring up at about 5K. its also very dynamic.

There are other great drivers that I have used and tested, but the ones above are the outstanding ones... and not at the crazy price level.

[SUX 2BU]

Joe, which is the midbass you have in your car now? I thought it did a great job when I listened to it.

[TomK]

2.5" DLS mid dome........ ok. Nice when space becomes an issue.

3" vifas........... sucked. Only 3" mids that I've seriously messed with personally.

I have a set of 4" audax somethings that are really really nice tonally and accuracy wise. No longer made from what I understand........... and have now seen better days, which is a shame. Now a paper weight on my shelf

Somewhere in my stash is a set of Focal 5.25" that many years ago blew me away. I can't remember which ones, but thumbs up to Focal from whatever those were. Shhhhhweeeeet.

6.5" ........on a price point ......... and from a personal point of view.......... best bang for the buck mid that I heard was the DLS Nobelium 6.5" at CES 2006. Not the BEST mid I have ever heard, but the best value for the money hands down. Also demo'd Scott Buwaldas new drivers ...... which I think was a 6.5" and tweet combo. 6.5" was real nice tonally. Like REAL nice. Didn't like the tweet though.

[Dukk]

^ Is it just me or can I not find all of Scott's new drivers in the HiVi Research catalog?

Now, as for best mids.. I really liked the Canton 5.25" and 4". Very nice sound. I have to say that I am really liking the MTX ThunderAxe 4" mid too. Stays very composed even under a lot of power.

IMO a 6.5 is, or should be, a midbass. I've never been much into 2way fronts.

[sawnicxs]

Back in the mid 90's, Infinity made a great 4" called the Reference Standard Design Series. This was an injected molded graphite coned 4" that came with the Emit-N ribbon tweeter. This was truly a great sounding midrange. Avi also has some great 4" mids too (mx and lx). I really want a chance to hear the JL Audio ZR 5". From what I understand, this is supposed to be a nice one too. Anyone had a chance to hear them?