When a speaker designer is focusing on aesthetics as much as the acoustic performance of a speaker, the driver selection must be done hand-in-hand with the physical design. Before knowing the specifics of the enclosure design, I did know that I wanted the speakers to be somewhat tall and slender. For what I consider a slender speaker, I knew the woofer size would be limited to 7" or less. To create a greater sense of height, I knew I wanted to do a tweeter-midrange-dual-woofer (TMWW) design. Not only would this help visually, but the three-way design would also give me more flexibility in cabinet shape and placement of the drivers.

I don't think it is any secret that I am a fan of the Dayton Reference Series drivers. The new RS52 dome midrange is one of the few of that series that I have not used, so I figured this would be an excellent chance to give it a try. Since the RS52 uses a neodymium motor structure, it inherently acts as a shielded driver, so flanking it with a pair of RS180S-8's and an RS28S seemed a natural choice. The result would be stout TMWW that would be very robust and great for home theater use.