I knew from my initial goals that I would need a single tweeter to cover the high frequencies and a collection of smaller drivers for the bass and midrange regions. The tweeter requirements were fairly simple: good dispersion, small faceplate, and the ability to play fairly low- the Tang Band 25-1166S immediately came to mind. Next, I debated between three and four-inch drivers for some time, looking at the necessary quantities and the resulting cabinet size. In the end, I decided that I could achieve the needed levels while minimizing the height of the speaker by using six three-inch drivers.

With a large number of three-inch drivers to choose from, I focused my attention on excursion capabilities, which translates into higher maximum SPLs. On paper, there is a wide range of excursions on these small drivers, anywhere from .5 mm to 3 mm. However, I knew that the Tang Band neodymium drivers used an underhung design as opposed to the more usual overhung design found in the Hi-Vi. So, I decided to head to the lab for a mini driver bass shootout between the Tang Band W3-926S (XMAX = .75 mm) to the Hi-Vi B3S (XMAX = 3 mm). Surprisingly, the Tang Band had longer and cleaner excursion before massive distortion set in. The Hi-Vi driver simply does not have the mechanical excursion capabilities to live up to its 3 mm rated XMAX, and becomes heavily distorted with suspension noise rather early. So, the Tang Band W3-926S was my fi nal choice of 3" drivers for its good low-end capabilities and smooth overall frequency response.