What if the Wavecor Ardent and Natalie P had a "love child"?

[Scareurpasenger]

Now I see there may be another option for a midrange and that the low cost Ardent may be more aligned with the 3 way design. The sb15cac is more expensive but so is the time involved in building such a 3 way.

Is this conversation best served in that thread?

[JonMarsh]

It might be. But, as I messaged Steve toady, I think the SB15CAC30 is also well suited to a Wavecor Ardent build, subbing for the C79 or the Scanspeak 12mu. the distortion results certainly put it in that class, and it's hard to argue with how smooth the response is. But yes, more expensive. But nothing like some of the other alternatives!

So, perhaps tongue slightly in cheek, I should ascribe the Peerless as being the best $200 midrange you can get for $15, and the SB15CAC30 as possibly the best $400 midrange you can get for $100?

The FSL-0531 has lower even order distortion than odd, but it has a rising HD3 with frequency that points to inductivity modulation- though at a low level only notable in comparison to the HD2. The absolute level at 1kHz is still a bit more than -50 dB, which is good in general, and quite amazing at this price point. OTOH, the SB15CAC30 is at about -70 dB, which is as good as I've ever seen, regardless of price. It edges out the PuriFi 4" driver, by 10+ dB.

So, in the concept of DIYW (Do It Your Way), there are opportunities for rewards at various price points, choosing with care.

But that also, given its characteristics, the possibility of a nice option for an MTM- which I will follow up on. I'm even pondering "weird" stuff for that one, like my MOD300 version of the PT2522c. That's going to go up in price, probably substantially, due to tariffs, but the excellent off axis power response possible for most of the audible range makes it interesting to ponder beyond the Saint-Saens.

Imagine tuning for a linear down tilt at 50 degrees off axis, with on axis being basically flat. This might have a very nice subjective in room power response.