Scanspeak Drivers vs. ????? , should i go with something else.

[Juggy]

I have moved into a new house, and now am going to be starting a project. Initially, my thoughts were to build a 2-way design using a scanspeak 8545K mid-woofer and D2904-9700 tweeter, i beleive that it will produce accurate smooth sound and have a good bottom end.

The catch, as many of you are already thinking is, "sure good sound, but alot of $$$". My question to you is, that many of you have used these drivers, and made other systems that could compare, i'm selecting these drives based on their reputation and the feedback i have seen on the forum regarding their performance.

As a sanity check, and advice, i wanted to know, if there are drivers that could be used to come to a similar sound (very close) using different drives and saving some money, or, if spending the money will indeed show a significant return over more economical drivers. These are speakers that i will be using for a long time and do not want to get into much experimentation.

Pending all things being the same, such as a proper enclosure and good crossover design and components.

As we all have different tastes and preferences, i guess i want to get a general opinion of which path i should follow in.

Thanks for any insight.

Juggy

[djarchow]

The best drives on the planet will sound lousy if the speaker isn't designed properly, especially the crossover. If you have the ability to measure your drivers in your cabinet (frequency response, impedance etc, then design a proper XO, you will end up with great sound.

The 8545 and the 9700 are very good drivers, though I find the 9700 overpriced. The Usher 8945 woofers are very good and have a very similar sound to the SS 8545 but are about $40 less than the Scan Speak.

Regards,

Dennis

[Juggy]

Thanks Dennis.

Yes, i did mention that i wanted everyone to assume good xover design and cabinet construction were a given.

[tinitus]

Originally posted by Juggy
Thanks Dennis.

good xover design and cabinet construction were a given.

how?

[cotdt]

Good crossovers with Revelators are not hard. You can cross anywhere, any slope, and they will still sound good. You can take care of BSC and the shelving in a single stroke as they overlap perfectly. Hell the Scanspeaks sound decent even without a crossover as the response is super smooth.

I'm making my 2-way Scanspeak Revelator 15W with the Peerless HDS Tweeter (and another version with my homemade ribbon tweeters). The HDS Tweeter sounds very good, and I selected it over much more expensive Scanspeak and Seas Excel tweeters. Having previously paired the HDS tweeter with the HDS Exclusive 5.5" crossed at 2kHz LR2 electrical, I will try the same 2kHz with the Scanspeaks, probably 3rd order this time.

If you're willing to use a 7" inch wide baffle, the uncoated cone Revelator, and the HDS Tweeter, I can share with you the crossover I will be using. Or you can use the Peerless HDS Exclusive 5.5" which is an amazing sounding midrange. The Scanspeak has deeper bass at the expense of 3dB efficiency. I just got mine so I don't know if it will sound better than the Peerless in the final crossover, but currently the Peerless Exclusive is the one to beat.

[cotdt]

Go for the Revelators over the 8545K. Those are dark sounding. If this is the kind of sound that you want, then the Silver Flute is similar and much cheaper.

[sdclc126]

Check out some of the designs at www.zaphaudio.com - there are ScanSpeak & other high value designs. Also look at http://www.geocities.com/woove99/Spk...Usher_2way.htm - high performance and very high value, significantly less than ScanSpeak prices.

I'm building Jay's design with the SEAS 27TBFC/G tweeter - I fully expect to be listening to this speaker for a very long time.

[Juggy]

Originally posted by cotdt
Good crossovers with Revelators are not hard. You can cross anywhere, any slope, and they will still sound good. You can take care of BSC and the shelving in a single stroke as they overlap perfectly. Hell the Scanspeaks sound decent even without a crossover as the response is super smooth.

I'm making my 2-way Scanspeak Revelator 15W with the Peerless HDS Tweeter (and another version with my homemade ribbon tweeters). The HDS Tweeter sounds very good, and I selected it over much more expensive Scanspeak and Seas Excel tweeters. Having previously paired the HDS tweeter with the HDS Exclusive 5.5" crossed at 2kHz LR2 electrical, I will try the same 2kHz with the Scanspeaks, probably 3rd order this time.

If you're willing to use a 7" inch wide baffle, the uncoated cone Revelator, and the HDS Tweeter, I can share with you the crossover I will be using. Or you can use the Peerless HDS Exclusive 5.5" which is an amazing sounding midrange. The Scanspeak has deeper bass at the expense of 3dB efficiency. I just got mine so I don't know if it will sound better than the Peerless in the final crossover, but currently the Peerless Exclusive is the one to beat.

Cotdt thanks for the info. I actually am using a 7" wide baffle. I was just looking at the HDS tweeter, that seems to perform well and is 1/2 the cost.

If you could share the xover that would be great.

Thanks all for the input so far.

[milen007]

Originally posted by sdclc126
Check out some of the designs at www.zaphaudio.com - there are ScanSpeak & other high value designs. Also look at http://www.geocities.com/woove99/Spk...Usher_2way.htm - high performance and very high value, significantly less than ScanSpeak prices.

I'm building Jay's design with the SEAS 27TBFC/G tweeter - I fully expect to be listening to this speaker for a very long time.

go with sdclc126 suggestion of building Jay's design.
i have build Jay's design (usher 8945p and 9950). you cant go wrong with this. you can read my other threat about "improving diy speaker"

i am comparing these with one of the high end speaker made.

happy listening

[blue934]

[QUOTEIf you could share the xover that would be great. [/QUOTE]

i would be interested in that also.

blue934