I utilize Western Electric 713b drivers and a Western Electric 12025 horn in my speaker system. The 713b's are probably from the early 1940's. To me, they are among the finest compression drivers ever made.
I like a number of modern wide range drivers, like the AER BD series, the Cube Audio Nenuphar driver, and various Voxativ drivers, Songer field coil driver, etc. But, I would not dismiss some very much older wide range drivers. The Jensen/ERP M10 field coil driver is a terrific sounding driver that competes with any of the modern drivers I've heard and it comes from the 1940's.