I've used cone midranges both with and without horns, and I find them to be better sounding than compression units - by far - for the lower vocal range. But I would stay away from L-Pads on the woofer. Do not consider this to be an option, since it changes system tuning. You are actually modifying how the speaker motor interacts with the cabinet when you add an L-Pad to it. So find a way to bring the midrange and tweeter to match the woofer - Not the other way around.One of the best sounding speakers I ever built was the 1980's model Professional Series seven π Speaker, which used 2105's, a 2205 and a 2405. The JBL 2105 is a 5" cone midrange, and one was installed on the front baffle and one was installed on the back. Excellent sounding system!
Others systems I've made over the years had large format horn midrange units installed on top of the cabinets. This is particularly attractive for high output use. You can build a horn for your midrange, or use one like is used in the JBL Cinema Speakers from the tent sale - the ones that have the midrange horn and tweeter horn combined on an ABS form. That's is an excellent option and the "price is right."
So I think you'll find that there's more than one good way to "skin a cat."
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