[cobyh]

First off...thank you for the time you've all put into this discussion; it's greatly appreciated. It's a somewhat largish project.

Driver selection...definately one of the first things I'm agonizing over, and a decision that is complicated by the fact that I've not heard 99% of the drivers I'm contemplating buying. Complicated further by the fact there's no way I *could* hear the drivers, together, in the configuration I'll end up putting them in, and in my particular room. That being said, I'm going about it the best way I know how...reading reviews and opinions, sifting through them, looking at the compromises made, and relating it to my own experiences. That being said...

You asked what was the best sound I've heard. So far...a set of Final Sound electrostats, last year at CEDIA (it's in Denver so I took off four days and was there from the time they opened to the time they closed). They were simply gorgeous. Clear, sharp....stunning. And I like tight bass...fast, clean...sealed designs usually. However...this room is primarily home theater for more than just one person. I'm saving the 'real' clear setup for my audio room in the basement, which I'll begin planning the build on later this year. So, one of the big things I've been trying to keep in mind is dispersion, which is why I'm leaning more and more towards a 3way system.

I know I don't like horns. I have heard dome midranges before and didn't dislike them, though I've not heard the Morel midrange itself. The LDSG gave a thumbs up to that particular driver, and I like the specs...it's small (2 1/8, if I remember right), has excellent off axis response, would work well from 500 to 3500, and has high sensitivity as well as power handling. In fact, I'd like all three components to have above 91db sensitivity, if possible, and I think it's possible. Am I married to this midrange? No....if a cone will do, and go a little lower (say to 300) but still have good characteristics at 3500, I'd be happy...just haven't run across one yet that struck me. I also like having the mid and tweeter come with their own enclosure...the enclosure I'll build should be for the woofer only.

As far as as skimping on amps....come on. Most amps are expensive for several reasons...they have to drive a wide variety of impedences. They're an order of magnitude cleaner than is audible. They've got this or that fancy only useful in the marketing world function...blah. I have auditioned a few amps over the years...most of them are unnecessary given how they're used. Headroom; big power supply...definately worthwhile. THD improvement from .010 to .001....no. I don't hear that.
I'm not talking tube amps; I want more power than that. But really....how much energy is needed for ear bleeding crystal clear sound from 3khz on up? 5 watts? That much?
I've wondered about using one of the Panny class T amps as the 7 channel tweeter amplification....might not be a bad idea, and not too expensive. Don't know if they've got a direct path through to the amp though...need to research.

Good point on the volume for the digital out. I can't even begin to put the energy into the pre/pro until I at least have the drivers sorted out and the design begun. I'd like to settle on something and then pick up a DCX and the drivers in question, enough to make one speaker that I can listen to and play with. Should minimize risk a bit.


Why do you like tweeters that have to go down that low? (2k) What's the basis for the crossover point preference?

How is the DAYTON QT255-4 10" QUATRO SERIES SUBWOOFER 4 OHM...been looking at that for the lower end reinforcement. Crossover with something shallow around 300, run it sealed and eq it flat. Possible? Not adviseable?

What are your recommendations for true mids? (not mid woofers)

And what was that last post referencing? I got a bit confused...don't recall seeing the post you were quoting from?

BTW, I've been looking at some of the stiffer material for cones for exactly the reason you mentioned...I like the fact you can get a nice steep slope with the DCX without some of the negative traits that are introduced with passive crossovers. This makes the stiffer coned drivers more attractive as a solution, as well as the ones that require notch filters for nasty li'l spikes in their FR graph.