Realistic 5" 40-1240D - Worth Playing With?

[cipriano]

Hello,
Found 2 full-range drivers at the thrift shop today for $3. Unused, still in original boxes. The specs given are:

Realistic 40-1240D (made in Taiwan)
5" Full Range for auto or home
5 watts power handling ( I think that's RMS with max being 10 watt)
8 ohms
2.8 oz. ceramic magnet

My thoughts are given the power handling and 2.8 oz magnet these wouldn't be worth building an enclosure for. I already have set of HiVi B3N's and if these Realistics couldn't at least match their performance, I'd donate them back to the shop to sell again. But who knows. Sometimes specs don't convey what a driver can really do. What do you all think?

[GM]

Not familiar with this one other than what's in an old catalog, but with a listed 150-10 kHz BW and weak motor it's either a replacement AM radio/old TV speaker as advertised or might work as an OB wide BW mids in an inexpensive three way.

Only one way to know for sure though.

GM

[cipriano]

Cool, thanks for looking in the old catalog GM. 150-10khz - hmmm. Probably not worth my time but I'm gonna mock up some enclosures using cardboard boxes and check. I'll run them using my new Muse M20 T-amp and see how they sound. Not interested in incorporating them into a multi-way so it's just for fun.

[exp jst]

Hi, cipriano!

I used cheap drivers from rat shack that sound a lot like these. Went the Lowther route (quarter-wave tubes) and got decent sound out of them. They weren't quite loud enough to rattle the china, but I had no problem getting a decent sound level out of them.

I'll check the number on them tonight and see if they are yours. If I get a chance, I'll mount my old backup disk to see if I have Thiele-Small parameters for them, too.

[cipriano]

That would be awesome, thanks. I've had them hooked up for a couple hours now. Breaking them in with some Peter Tosh "Legalize It". Not bad at all and their in pizza box open baffles. They sound a little on the thin side and have their limitations but they warrant a quick and cheap enclosure I think. After years of sitting in the boxes, I assume with more extensive breaking in they will sound pretty good.

[sreten]

Hi,

TBH if building something known specs / performance is paramount.

Its simply not worth the building effort otherwise.

2.8 oz. magnets suggests drop in cheapo replacements, Cars ?

I'm sure they'd work fine in something like the Metronome, but I'm also
equally sure far better drivers are suited to the building effort required.

Use them for purpose, not the other way round.

rgds, sreten.

[exp jst]

Sorry, the 5-inch full-range drivers I had played with were a different beast with a different number (40-1909c). The magnets in these seem about twice as heavy. I did have fun with these, however, because they were cheap, and that took quite a bit of pressure off. Hope you have fun, too!

__________________________________
∫f(x)exp(-sx)dx

[planet10]

pictures?

dave

[GM]

Dunno about the 'c' model, but the original 40-1909 was a pretty decent driver mated to a ~matching impedance amp.........

GM

[Richard Ellis]

I had the RS 5" drivers(Circa 1985)....I don't think it's this one, the magnet was about 16Oz with a short whizzer. The magnet assy was slightly less than the frame. How I wish I could find a pair of those now! We need pictures to confirm the model......as most of us know & remember a LONG time, how any one driver performed. However, myself & others don't recall the model numbers.

__________________________________________________ ________Rick.........