Can someone guide me as to what Single driver ??


I am interested in single driver speakers as I have owned 30 pairs of the major brands over the last 20 years, and have gone through upgrade fever over and over. I have been reading good things about SD with set amps which I own, I would only like to spend < 1500$ if posible ALso, can you add a top loading super tweeter to the binding posts to boost the highs?? recommedations? Seems to be a cult thing.
bbchem
Elvis: I've just been watching the audio detectives and learning from them, their discoveries and their mistakes.

Most everything that i've ever learned and / or shared here ( or in other audio forums ) is an accumulation of information that i learned from others that i've put together over the years. As such, i could have overlooked some mods as my detective skills are lacking. That is, i might have missed some other pertinent info that others have found to be both important and useful. I am not omnipotent and can't read / see / do / be everything everywhere at one time.

Obviously, I don't know anything that someone else hasn't already discovered ten times over. That's why i try to take the time to share what i do know, so that others can learn just as i did. While i might think that i've discovered something new, because it is "new" to my level of understanding, further research almost always confirms that many others have already been down that path many times over.

As such, i am proud of what i know. Having said that, i'll not take credit for something that i didn't do. NOTHING that i've ever shared here isn't already common knowledge to those that deeply care about such things.

Darkmoebius: I knew that the Hammer driver is a custom build , but i also knew that it was based on the stock Beta 12LTA. I didn't know the exact differences between the drivers though, so thanks for sharing that info. My brother was looking into these drivers for use with a low powered tube amp when i had to remind him that i've been using these for a couple of years now.

As far as the Zobel goes, i think that the resistor is a bit low in value, but i'm sure that it is better than nothing as far as "hi-fi" linearity goes. I'm using these for live sound reinforcement, where ANY form of increase in sensitivity is considered a good thing. Even if it is slightly less linear, there's always a rack full of effects and EQ to deal with problems like that : )

As you mentioned here, i'm also using a very sensitive horn tweeter. It is quite a bit hotter in output than the paralleled Beta's, but as mentioned, i'm crossing it quite high and there are always EQ's available. Having the higher output from the driver simply means less power draw from the amp. This not only reduces thermal strain on the amp, but also the driver itself. Sean
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As you mentioned here, i'm also using a very sensitive horn tweeter. It is quite a bit hotter in output than the paralleled Beta's, but as mentioned, i'm crossing it quite high and there are always EQ's available.

Yeah, we're padding the FT-17H down a little to better match with the Super-12's output. But, it is a much better match padded than the original Audax was with it's lower output. More seamless integration and extension. Surprising, because I am very sensitive to high frequencies and had always preferred soft doem tweeters.
Check out: commonsenseaudio.com -- you can learn a lot there about single driver speakers. They also sell them, but their site is pretty informative.
This Monacor SP-30PATC speaker may be of interest to some folks out there. Looks pretty similar to the aforementioned Eminence Beta 12LTA, but with higher sensitivity and slightly flatter response. Don't know how they work in the real world, but according to spec's, it doesn't look bad. Sean
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Thanks for all your responses, I have since purchased a pair of Omega Super 3R Alnico's on Audiogon, these are probably the best speakers I have ever owned, and I have owned about 30 in the last 20years from the major brands both Planar and Dynamic.

Thanks, Bill