Cain v Hornseshoppe v Omega v Lowther

All the above is well-informed. Here is some less well-informed, but specific info.

The Hornshoppe Horns are had to believe considering their price-point. Imaging is their forte, and they do throw a holographic image that is pretty well only limited by your equipment. You can locate individual musicians and pretty much tell the exact size of the room in which recording was done. For more inof on them, Cain's, Omega's spend time at www.audiocircle.com on each forum. Cain's and Omega's have similar strengths. When you move into Lowther, you have jumped into a whole new field. They are great and they are costly. Omega's are a similar price point to Horns. I have not heard the Hemptones, but they are getting great reviews. Cain makes one of the prettiest single-driver non-horn speaker out there (in my opinion). The Cain's compete well with the horns. I think they are a bit more forgiving than the Horns. I have the Horns (and too much other stuff) - and I do not plan to part with the Horns ever. The new driver eliminates the ear-bleed breakin of the old Fostex.

thanks guys - very helpful - wish I had the wherewithal for the Oceilla or the 23s. hearing a lot about he PHYs - might just have to give the open baffle thing a try - happy holidays all

Yes The PHY-HP while expensive are at the top of the list for single driver speakers. Fostex that are in Cain & Cain are great speakers. Madisound is a good place to get drivers. I am building some speakers based on the Fostex F120A an amazing 5" speaker that has a flat feq response from 65hz to 20khs. Once I am done with them I am going to build some speakers based on the PHY drivers. - Have Fun

There are some good websites on Single Drivers like

http://fullrangedriver.com/
http://melhuish.org/audio/index.html
http://www.madisound.com/
http://www.diyaudio.com/

Mark

Excellent advise re the PHY. I would also look into Bastani's and the 'new' Altec 604's are supposed to be awesome.

Phy driver,like lowther but with bass,warm,inviting sound and no SHOUT.
Oceilla and Auditorium23 make speakers based on the driver.
Alot of guys just buy the driver and put it into an open baffle(a piece of plywood),at least to begin with.About 97db sensitive.
Alot of people with experience of the speakers and drivers you mention find it to be significantly better.My Ocellia speaker is much better than my Avantgarde Duos were to me,in virtually every way except for very large scale and very loud music.