NEW ScanSpeak Illuminator Woofer

[nicoch58]

news

http://www.tymphany.com/categories/illuminator

[badman]

Originally posted by nicoch46
news

http://www.tymphany.com/categories/illuminator

Sexy, but how much of that translates into performance...

I tend to like underhung and neo motors, so that's a good start.

[valleyman]

Hehe, gotta love the way some people hate speakers they've never heard.

I haven't heard that many speakers, but I own a pair of 15w revelators and imo they are really excellent. To my ears they sound as good as any other midbass drivers I have heard and produce a surprising amount of bass for their size.

The illuminators clearly don't represent value, but theyre not supposed to. Putting speculation aside, I'd love to hear a pair, and if I actually prefer the sound to revelators then they will surely be a candidate when I next come to build a pair of cost no object speakers.

Some may say ss drivers are boring or dont do anything special. I disagree. I'm a student and have to move my speakers every 8 weeks or so. floorstanders are out of the question, as are huge (or heavy) subs. The revelators allow me to use a fairly compact 2 way with decent bass extension, enough xmax to add some EQ (small room so never dump loads of power into them) and excellent distortion.
The usefulness of a driver depends mostly on your design goals and everyones are different. The man who is blind to the needs of others even when the are pushed in his face will rarely get far in this world.

[SimontY]

I think you've eloquently summed up some key benefits of these types of drivers there. Land and space is veeery expensive in the UK!

Simon

[internationalmanofmystery]

Has anyone heard these speakers playing music yet?

[askbojesen]

Originally Posted by internationalmanofmystery

Has anyone heard these speakers playing music yet?

Yes I have...

I have listen many hours to the old revelators:
D2905_9900
15W_8530k00
(See attachment for my current box with these drivers)

The Illuminators I have listen to:
http://www.scan-speak.dk/datasheet/15wu_4741t00.htm
http://www.scan-speak.dk/datasheet/pdf/12mu_4731t00.pdf
http://www.scan-speak.dk/datasheet/r3004_662000.htm

My first impressions...

15W_8530k00 vs. 15WU_4741t00
- Not much difference.
- The illuminator might have a more flat response
(Need to measure in the same box/baffle)

Illuminator 12MU
Well I have never heard the "old" ss 12M 13M drivers, but I can compare it to a Eton 4" Hex. The 12Mu comparred to the Eton hex nearly have the same THD and response etc... The 12MU handles excursion in a nice way - the THD increases, but it does not break.
I love the sound of this 12MU - And so does my friends - very clear + varm + detail + relaxed at the same time. But the freq-response is not nice = flat. Hence Don't expect to use a simple x-over.

Illuminator R3004_662000
I have NEVER heard so much detail - Maybe to much detail - but I would prefer this vs. D2905_9900. As relaxed as the D2905_9900 but with far more detail. Comparred with the ringradiators VIFA XT25 / XT19 - you just get everything better:
- Less distortion
- Extremely flat response 1k-> 30k
- Detail
- Low resonanse frequency
- Alu-plate
- etc..
But the price is like 5 times comparred to the XT25

Measurements?
- Yes I know you want them... And I do have them - just need to find them and present them...

[asterduc]

I am playing a set of Illuminator for some time now and I can confirm 'askbojesen' his findings.

The 12MU is the best midrange I ever enjoyed as far as detail and soundstage. Fast, detail, clean, ... . As far as microdetail, it's a stage above the 12M revelator that I use in another project.
The only negative I can say is that it doesn't look as nice from the outside as it looks from the inside.
The designer has done his very best to make this beauty sound great in his active area. Therefore it needs some attention in the higher frequencies.
It also needs a lot of air directly behind the mounting ring. There is only like 2mm untill the air can flow in the enclosure. In my project, I have replace the normal MDF mounting plate by a heavy density plexi, which saved some thickness and made it possible to free the airflow area.
Pictures can be seen on my webpage, see link below.

For the high frequencies I have choosen for the small dimension Illuminators. The one on the picture is the R300466...
It is sounding bright, although there is still a massive fundation. I would call it fragile but solid. I like the sound very much.

The units are filtered 12/12 at 2.7 kHz.
I play them with a Lyngdorf TDAI-2200, however the DSP is not active above 500 hz, with the exception of a 2db largeband voicing.

My next project will have the 18WU/8747 added to the mid/high Illu' combination.

Pictures and drawings on the above projects can be found at www.collier.be
Click on the pictures to see the project album.
http://www.collier.be



Ed.

[oLjud]

anyone made a pair of speaker of 18WU/4741T00 and D3004/602010? I'm almost finished the speakers cabinet and looking similar speakers, can't really find any thing....

I've got the tranducers from the university for a loudspeaker project but I've used it for a completly diffrent kind of speaker project than.

Very greatful for any ideas how to made the crossover...

[InclinedPlane]

The 12mu looks interesting to me because of that rising response. I could set them somewhat off axis and use them up to...maybe 7-8k if the plot can be believed. Of course I could be missing a good reason not to do so. I like wideband application.