Seeking full range single driver speaker recs


I'm interested in recommendations for my first purchase of a full range single driver speaker. $1500 or less. Don't have local dealers for auditions. Any suggestions.
Thanks in advance.

Associated equip.

Audiomat Solfege Reference integrated
Vecteur D2 transport
Audiomat Tango dac
VPI HW19 w/ Graham 2.2, Grado Reference
Rel Strata III
Room + 10wx15.5Lx7.5'H
128x128fsdaron

Showing 4 responses by sean

After reading some comments made by John Curl over at AA, i'd like to find out more info about the Manger drivers. I don't know what they cost, but they are probably far more linear and time coherent than any of the other stuff that you'll run across in this thread. Like most other full ranges though, they are probably bandwidth and spl limited to one extent or another. Sean
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Dekay: Even a single driver has time delays as frequency is altered. If one wanted to "get picky" about it, the Manger and other "bending wave" type drivers are supposedly "more" time coherent across the band than other FR's. Mounting height of these types of drivers must be paid attention to though if one is to achieve the best / most linear results though.

Having said that, mounting height and arrival times become even more critical with "full range" drivers of more conventional design. Not only does radiation pattern come into play, but due to the amount of beaming of high frequencies taking place, arrival times will also vary as one sits further off axis. As such, one pretty much has to sit on axis with such a design IF one is worried about the time domain. Having done that, i found the tonal balance to be quite lean and forward i.e. not to my liking. Obviously, one looses bass as they bring the driver closer to ear level and these type of drivers are already lacking low frequency output to begin with.

As to the Jordan, i've seen limited testing on it. From what i can recall based on that information, it did more things wrong than right. As such, i lost interest in it rather quickly. I'm sure that others may be able to tweak better results out of the driver than what i saw, but "individualized specialty items" will almost always be built to address specific points while compromizing other aspects of operation.

As it is, i just threw the Manger out there as it seems to take a completely different approach. Whether it sounds good and is reliable is another story. It tries to deal with the various matters of sound reproduction in a rather unorthodox matter and does so as even-handedly as possible. As such, it may be a series of compromises that does nothing well. I'd be interested to hear from those that have heard or own Mangers.

El: Thanks for the info. I'll check it out when i get a chance. Sean
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Twl: I've not really read a lot about the Manger's other than a few bits and pieces here. I tend to be drawn to "freak" products that are technically adventurous and the requirements for high power are not a problem for me.

Dekay: I have experimented with a few FR drivers, but not as much as i'd like to. My brother was running some 8" full ranges w/ whizzers in a modified transmission line, but he never really liked the results. I don't think that he built the line right but he insists that he did. I wanted to tinker with the drivers that he had, but he ended up selling them to a mutual friend.

As a general rule, unless i can get something dirt cheap and it is something that i already have a bit of interest in, i basically try to weed things out by looking at the technical merits that specific designs / products have to offer. I realize that i may miss a few "garage built gems" along the way using this routine, but i've already got so many different projects going on that i have to use some type of "filtering" to keep things reasonable. This place already looks like Sanford & Son's Audio / RF Wrecking House, so i'm trying to be a little more selective lately : ) Sean
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CDC: While Jim Griffin has done a lot of work and makes it easy to build a high quality line array with the information provided on his website, line arrays present a very different approach and sound than what one gets out of a single point source driver. None the less, i agree with what you have to say and recommend that anyone interested in building or learning what goes into building a good line array should check into his website. I learned a lot there myself and am incorporating much of that info into a design that i'm working on for a friend.

Line arrays have very specific radiation patterns which can be put to good use in specific situations. This is not to mention their increased power handling, improved dynamic range and potential for lower THD. The one i'm working on is not of the "full range" variety, but instead makes use of 36 tweeters, 18 mid-woofers and 8 woofers per cabinet. This guy plays REALLY loud and tends to blow things up, so i needed something that would shake the house and do it on a regular basis without fear of destruction. Between this and about 400 wpc, he should be good : ) Sean
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