10" and 12" are still made. Cerwin Vega, KLH, and JBL produce quite a few - mainly for music. They are not as popular now as they were in the 80's and early 90's thanks to the new HT receivers and bass management. These processors cut out much of the low frequencies which can be set to off; 40; 60; 80; and 120Hz depending on the unit. Tower speakers and bookshelves have taken over for front mains. The largest you'll find now are dual and triple 8" woofers - extremely expensive and not necessary with a good sub. I have dual 7", and many feature single and double 6.5" drivers. They don't make up for the 12" and 15", but rely on the subwoofers for help. I think the midbass has much improved though. With the older 3 ways, you had a large woofer, a midrange and tweeter. Not much in the line of bidbass. There are some positives here. Since the amps don't rely on pushing power for woofers any longer (where all the power is needed), they use their current more efficiently to drive the mids and highs. Cleaner mids and highs are the result. That leaves one to really invest in a superb sub with ample power and exact room placement. Without the sub, these towers just can't compete with the older shoe box type three and four ways. Two channel music can sound good with these new systems, but it takes 10x longer to tweak the system. I listen to smooth jazz in DTS Neo 6.1 Music, as well as Pure Direct. I've played with the parametric eq, sub, and speaker placements for weeks, and finally have it set to where I like it. The surround is fantastic. Finally, you ask about a 7.1 speaker system. Start browsing the Paradigm and PSB sites for bookshelves and a center. You can't beat their drivers and looks. There's hundreds of other choices. Those are more mid to high end like your McIntosh. What is your budget range?
