There are some good inexpensive drivers...I had mylar B&C one inchers that were really nice. I think they were $70 new.
But Cogito has ALTEC 802s, which are hard to beat.
The problem is horns. There must be some decent 500 hz horns out there.
Most of the modern stuff is constant directivity design, requiring EQ, but basic CD compensation is the same 6dB rise from 6k as suggested for the Altecs above.
Note that it is Roscoe saying the 511s suck, not Cogito, who actually seems to like them.
I had this very same discussion yesterday with a guy from Audio Karma who wrote me for Altec advice. he has Valencias and likes the 811s but he is looking for 32s. Sent me a link to the JE Labs blog. [
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I told him he is lucky that he likes the horns and ignore the naysayers, but if I were looking to improve on the stock config, that is where I would look.