Driver selection for 3way Studio Monitor?

[rhythmdiy]

hi friends,
I have selected the following drivers for a 3 way studio monitor. What would you say?

http://www.wavecor.com/html/tw030wa02.html

http://www.wavecor.com/html/wf160wa01.html

http://www.madisound.com/catalog/pro...oducts_id=1145



Vifa Premium line Better than Classic line Driver when compared with the PL26W(premium line) driver?

Can the above setup beats Genelec 1032A ( 2 way) which uses Vifa 10 inch Classic Driver?
http://www.genelec.com/products/2-way-monitors/1032a/

[tinitus]

Originally posted by rhythmdiy


Can the above setup beats Genelec 1032A ( 2 way) which uses Vifa 10 inch Classic Driver?
http://www.genelec.com/products/2-way-monitors/1032a/

though I know nothing about Genelec, but looks good

Fore a 3way I would choose a 12" woofer

[Willitwork]

Originally posted by rhythmdiy
http://www.wavecor.com/html/wf160wa01.html

That driver is way too large for your purpose and not meant to be used as a mid in a classic 3-way system, it'a mid-bass driver for a classic 2-way system or integrated in a so-called 2.5-way design where two identical mid-bass drivers are used with one cut off much lower than the other. What you seem to have in mind is a classic 3-way and those require a midrange driver specifically designed to be just that. With a 10-inch woofer your mid should be a relatively small, 3" or 4" cone driver or even a dome mid from the likes of Hi-Vi Research, which have replaced Dynaudio dome mids on the DIY market.

*edit* forgot to mention that that indeed the PL line from Vifa is supposed to be superior to the classic line but there appears to be little difference between them when it comes to their larger drivers. Whether or not it will sound better depends much more on the design as a whole than on the driver per se. In theory the main benefit of a "premium" driver is that it requires less correction at the Xover level therefore allowing for simpler Xover designs.

[pjpoes]

One road block is that Genelec is using active equalization, crossovers, and amplifiers to achieve something difficult in the passive domain. While you may be able to achieve a similarly flat response, and maybe even low distortion, it will be difficult to beat every aspect of the system.

My brother owns a similar pair of Genelecs, which I have the chance to take apart and examine. I was impressed with the parts and build quality over all. Some aspects were cheaper than expected, and the amplifier power supply is under sized for the amp rating, but otherwise, a well designed amplifier. The enclosure wasn't the greatest for construction, too thin, and not enough bracing. The tweeter is, IMO, a piece of crap that they happen to integrate ok. I'm not sure who made it for them, if the midbass is Vifa, then its possible that is as well, but it was vary cheaply constructed and did not look like a typical vifa unit at all. I also remember distortion not being so good, not as good as they say. I think I measured at 100db's, 1 meter, at 1khz around .25% and at 10khz around .6% or something like that. As I recall it was around 1% below 100hz, but distortion is less noticeable down there.

What I do remember most about the system was that it had an impressively flat response which implied to me they made good use of the active filtering method, including equalization. I looked to see, and I can't find anything to suggest this, but I thought I had read Genelec used Transient perfect crossovers. If nothing else I'm pretty sure I was able to pass a square wave through it without too much deformation of the wave, which would imply a transient perfect crossover. That is something that you more than likely will not be able to achieve passively. In fact, it is impossible, you can achieve quasi-transient perfect (I would argue that even the best active are still really only quasi), but its impossible to construct a true transient perfect crossover in the passive domain, as I understand it at least. I also don't believe you will achieve the high spl abilities of the Genelecs with the drivers you are considering.

[Michael Chua]

I would not recommend the Vifa PL26. I have 4 of them. Never sounded right to me on a 3-way. Simply no dynamics.

The Vifa Premium Line 10" shines at 20-40Hz range. You won't hear it but when its' moving, you can feel the sub-bass. I believe this is a specialize woofer for sub use. I plan to try a bandpass soon, time permitting. May perform better than a direct radiator.

Regards
Mike

[rhythmdiy]

I think one needs a powerful amp to see their dynamics... wat say guys?

[John_E_Janowitz]

When you say Studio Monitor, what are your goals for this? Is this a nearfield or farfield monitor? There will be a large difference in what you do depending on what you're looking at doing. For a near field monitor, I likely wouldn't look at a 3way, but a 2way with good components and a dedicated subwoofer integrated properly. For a far field monitor you're going to want something with much higher SPL capabilities than the drivers you're looking at.

There has been some talk lately on a 3way high efficiency monitor that will work very well for studio monitoring use here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1035126

You can see what we did for the main monitors in Nick Barnett's recording studio here:

http://www.aespeakers.com/phpbb2/vie...php?f=14&t=701

Lots to figure out before you start working on selecting drivers though. Need to know the distance you'll listen at, how loud you need to monitor, how low you want to monitor, and most importantly have the room setup properly.

John

[rhythmdiy]

well i just need a replacement for Genelec 1032A monitors. As they are vanishing soon. I wanted to make something better myself but I heard that PL26 is a very good driver... its for mid field monitoring.. not far field...

[rhythmdiy]

I thought that the 10 inch driver may not have better dynamics but I believe its all about the amp which can be used to drive these. One more thing is that when we use the 6 1/4 inch mid bass drivers then probably the mids can take much of the freq( 100-3000Hz ) so that the lower end is taken care by the 10 inch Vifa.. what say guys?

[el`Ol]

In studio monitors one tries to have more or less constant directivity, for that reason one often finds waveguided tweeters or dedicated mids like the ATC dome in a three-way, rarely a consumer-type subwoofer + midwoofer + tweeter concept.