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Speakers with the most detailed midrange? (non-ESL/planar)

Anyone care to give their opinion on what dynamic speaker has the most detailed/revealing midrange? Not including electrostatics or planar speakers. Approximately between the frequencies of 400Hz to 3kHz. Also, just to clarify what I mean by detail: when there is a musical passage that entails many different layers of instruments, the speakers' ability to separate all the elements so all the instruments are heard clearly and nothing is obscured. Also the ability to retrieve every last bit of information on a recording, such as random sounds in the studio, distortion in recordings and reverb tails.

As far as price goes... 2 categories... below $12,000 USD (new) and any price range. Thanks.
woofer72

Showing 4 responses by dodgealum

dodgealum's avatar
dodgealum
1,406 posts
 
I have heard a number of dynamic speakers with extraordinary detail through the midrange but none that have sounded musically correct to my ear. They either have a very forward presentation and/or provide an unbalanced perspective and/or have incorrect tone. I'm not sure I could live with a speaker that emphasizes midrange detail at the expense of other sonic parameters. I'd much rather have slightly less information but a balanced presentation that gets the tone throughout the mids correct. Speaker design is all about tradeoffs....
dodgealum's avatar
dodgealum
1,406 posts
 
Woof--I would prefer not to name specific brands/models out of respect for the unique listening preferences of different folks who frequent this site. Everyone hears differently, has different room characteristics to work with, and different ideas about what constitutes great sound. My post was merely to point out that certain trade offs might come into play with designs that prioritize detail through the midrange. In my experience, a speaker that is balanced overall and gets the midrange "correct" will tend to satisfy over the long haul. One that emphasizes certain frequency bands in pursuit of "more detail" may impress initially ("WOW, I could hear the air pass between her teeth") but over time maybe not so much.
dodgealum's avatar
dodgealum
1,406 posts
 
Since Harbeth has been mentioned several times here I'll chime back in on the whole "midrange detail" thing....Harbeth, to my ear, is a good example of a speaker that is very balanced and gets the midrange correct. Though it is not the last word in midrange DETAIL, I could easily live with any Harbeth model for the rest of time and be quite happy. (I owned Compact 7's for many years and have heard every model in the lineup at various stages of development).
dodgealum's avatar
dodgealum
1,406 posts
 
Over the holidays I took delivery of a pair of Daedalus Apollo's. With the lion's share of the break in process complete, I can say with confidence that the midrange presentation hits that very elusive sweet spot where tonal fidelity, extraordinary detail and an overall balance meet. I'll be listening and writing more about these soon but as I shut the system down after a late night session the other day this thread came to mind and thought I would chime in once more.
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