Dome midrange drivers: Do they work?

[CycleCoach]

Does anyone have any practical subjective experience of dome style midrange drivers? I have been looking through a few options as I contemplate a future speaker build, and the numbers (and the graphs) look promising for a driver of this type, but I can't say I've ever heard one personally.
Do they work?
Do they sound good?
All contributions welcome.

[Geoff.R.G]

Does anyone have any practical subjective experience of dome style midrange drivers? I have been looking through a few options as I contemplate a future speaker build, and the numbers (and the graphs) look promising for a driver of this type, but I can't say I've ever heard one personally.
Do they work?
Do they sound good?
All contributions welcome.

I am not sure that I would trust numbers or graphs, there are too many variables applied by the manufacturer that you know nothing about. Additionally I am unsure that I would be able to make use of the data to design an enclosure for a speaker but obviously you may be more adept at that. Best idea would be to give it a try, if you can get the drivers at a price you are prepared to pay.

[karatestu]

On Diyaudio.com most say they prefer a cone speaker for a mid but then you can't believe everything you read. The one ATC use is regarded as being very good by some people. I have never used one but have thought about it.

They can not be crossed over as low as a 4 or 5" cone and you won't be able to run it full range i.e it will need a high pass filter and low pass for the xover with the tweeter. That is a world of pain if you are trying to design a xover from scratch with not much experience. A mine field in fact which will probably end in dissatisfaction.

You may get lucky though with a first order filter at both ends of it. The bass driver you use will have to be low passed also. Designing speakers without an electrical crossover is so much easier.

I suppose the big plus of a mid range dome is you don't usually need extra box volume for it is they are closed back. A two to three inch dome usually has quite a big face plate though, meaning not much space is saved on the baffle compared to a cone mid range.

[CycleCoach]

On Diyaudio.com most say they prefer a cone speaker for a mid but then you can't believe everything you read. The one ATC use is regarded as being very good by some people. I have never used one but have thought about it.

They can not be crossed over as low as a 4 or 5" cone and you won't be able to run it full range i.e it will need a high pass filter and low pass for the xover with the tweeter. That is a world of pain if you are trying to design a xover from scratch with not much experience. A mine field in fact which will probably end in dissatisfaction.

You may get lucky though with a first order filter at both ends of it. The bass driver you use will have to be low passed also. Designing speakers without an electrical crossover is so much easier.

I suppose the big plus of a mid range dome is you don't usually need extra box volume for it is they are closed back. A two to three inch dome usually has quite a big face plate though, meaning not much space is saved on the baffle compared to a cone mid range.

You've sussed exactly where I'm coming from Stu! I was brainstorming a "speaker without a box" and the ready made chambers these things have would make an interesting starting point. I've already acquired some old Linaeum tweeters (an almost omni figure-of-eight ribbon jobbie) and I was thinking about how small I could make a speaker that would still be omni, or semi-omni (multi angled mid drivers and an interesting woofer arrangement 3-way, probably.) It's early days of course but maybe I'll start a thread eventually.

[CycleCoach]

Does anyone have any practical subjective experience of dome style midrange drivers? I have been looking through a few options as I contemplate a future speaker build, and the numbers (and the graphs) look promising for a driver of this type, but I can't say I've ever heard one personally.
Do they work?
Do they sound good?
All contributions welcome.

I am not sure that I would trust numbers or graphs, there are too many variables applied by the manufacturer that you know nothing about. Additionally I am unsure that I would be able to make use of the data to design an enclosure for a speaker but obviously you may be more adept at that. Best idea would be to give it a try, if you can get the drivers at a price you are prepared to pay.

You can take it as read that I don't trust graphs Geoff: hence asking a "subjective" question!

[Daniel Quinn]

My 3 way as a doped 12 inch bass unit with no crossover , an audax polypropylene 5 inch with 1 inducator and 1 cap on the midrange.

I would be interested in your findings , so far my research as got as far as scan speak at 215 quid each.

[Docfoster]

On Diyaudio.com most say they prefer a cone speaker for a mid but then you can't believe everything you read. The one ATC use is regarded as being very good by some people. I have never used one but have thought about it.

They can not be crossed over as low as a 4 or 5" cone and you won't be able to run it full range i.e it will need a high pass filter and low pass for the xover with the tweeter. That is a world of pain if you are trying to design a xover from scratch with not much experience. A mine field in fact which will probably end in dissatisfaction.

You may get lucky though with a first order filter at both ends of it. The bass driver you use will have to be low passed also. Designing speakers without an electrical crossover is so much easier.

I suppose the big plus of a mid range dome is you don't usually need extra box volume for it is they are closed back. A two to three inch dome usually has quite a big face plate though, meaning not much space is saved on the baffle compared to a cone mid range.

You've sussed exactly where I'm coming from Stu! I was brainstorming a "speaker without a box" and the ready made chambers these things have would make an interesting starting point. I've already acquired some old Linaeum tweeters (an almost omni figure-of-eight ribbon jobbie) and I was thinking about how small I could make a speaker that would still be omni, or semi-omni (multi angled mid drivers and an interesting woofer arrangement 3-way, probably.) It's early days of course but maybe I'll start a thread eventually.

I went through a similar thought process when building a 3 way a few years ago. I too wanted to avoid the need for a separate enclose for the midrange unit.
In the end I decided to go for a closed basket 5.25 inch cone midrange. I think because of cost, and some of the other reasons mentioned above.
First one I tried was a Pyle PDMR5. Very cheap but ok. (Claimed to be a “bass” driver. Patently ridiculous, but it managed 800-4500Hz no problem.) Then I found a Monacor version (SPP-125) that was slightly more expensive (£20 each...?) but vastly better.
If you do go for a done midrange, I’d be interested on your thoughts, as it’s something I’d like to explore at some point.
All the best with your project.

[CycleCoach]

HFS favourite Visaton do a 2" dome. G50ffl at about £90 a pop. Don't know if it's any good but it has ferrofluid which I would try to avoid if possible (which is hard to do as just domes seem to have it).

[CycleCoach]

I was looking at a Dayton Audio unit, which comes in around £50. It seems (from the data sheet (yes I know you can't necessarily believe those) ) that it is very similar up to 45° off axis as it is on, which would be useful for how I want to use it. Still expensive if I want to use two (or maybe even three!) per side. I might just get one pair to experiment with to start with.

[Docfoster]

I was looking at a Dayton Audio unit, which comes in around £50. It seems (from the data sheet (yes I know you can't necessarily believe those) ) that it is very similar up to 45° off axis as it is on, which would be useful for how I want to use it. Still expensive if I want to use two (or maybe even three!) per side. I might just get one pair to experiment with to start with.

Dayton Audio... for what it’s worth I’ve just built a bass cab / sub based around a Dayton Audio driver. The Dayton Audio driver has turned out to be a decent piece of kit.