Questions before building a 2way Scan-Speak

[maartentje]

Hi there,

I am planning on building a 2-way speaker system with Scan-Speak drivers.
There is only 1 design i can find with the new illuminator drivers:
PCA M6 IR

And a couple designs with the revelator drivers:
Reference SE Monitor
SpassVogel
Zaph ZRT

• Any other ideas on designs?
• How are the Illuminators compared to the Revelators units?
• Which tweeter do you guys prefer? R2904, D2904, R3004, D3004.
• Is the R3004 better then the R2904? They are cheaper but newer?

Thanks in advance.

[MatchASM]

Originally Posted by maartentje

• Any other ideas on designs?
• How are the Illuminators compared to the Revelators units?
• Which tweeter do you guys prefer? R2904, D2904, R3004, D3004.
• Is the R3004 better then the R2904? They are cheaper but newer?

I've built a 2-way myself using a Revelator midwoofer and am very happy with the result. It's a closed 2-way (I don't like the sound of bassreflex); if you want really natural bass sound, you'll probably want a dipole, which will then affect your freedom in placing your speakers inside an actual room. But I digress...

From what I understand, the illuminator drivers are much more linear, so I expect them to have an even cleaner sound than the revelators.

I honestly think that the midwoofer makes a bigger difference than the choice between the tweeters you listed. I can recommend the Visaton KE 25 SC (if they still make those), but if you're doing a Scan-Speak, why not consider the new Beryllium tweeters? ok, they cost US$500 each, but they'll probably sound a_MA_zing.


--
Greetz,
MatchASM

[maartentje]

I have been looking around some more. Based on review/comments it looks like that the Revelator are better then the Newer Illuminator mid-woofers.

No i have to decide to build the Spassvogel or the ZRT. Any people that can advice me on those?

A closed 2-way system would be nice as well. Only there is nothing to find about that. I am not be able to make the design myself (cabint/crossover).

Thanks for you comments MatchASM

[chlorofille]

I suggest you look at some of Troels designs as well. I try to avoid tall floorstanding boxes because they often act as a hybrid between bass reflex and transmission line and this causes a little muddiness to the bass once the 1/4 wave resonance is excited.

Between the ZRT and Spassvogel, I'd go for Zaph's design as the crossover is simpler. I have used quite a few Scanspeak midwoofers in the past and never found them to require a steep filter.

[pkitt]

If you design a tall vented cabinet to take advantage of the 1/4-wave resonant frequency from its height, and locate the port at an optimum point, you will end up with much better sounding bass. In the process you will have created a mass-loaded TL. Of course you need to model this design, using Martin King's software for instance, in order to optimize the design. If, on the other hand, the port's dimensions are determined solely by the cabinet's enclosed volume and more or less randomly located, then you may indeed end up with less than optimum sound.
Paul

[QUOTE=chlorofille;2416396]I suggest you look at some of Troels designs as well. I try to avoid tall floorstanding boxes because they often act as a hybrid between bass reflex and transmission line and this causes a little muddiness to the bass once the 1/4 wave resonance is excited.

[mikeandmar]

You might want to have a look here also

ScanSpeak Projects

[JonW]

Hi maartentje,

I don't want to bias your choice any. But in case you have questions, I built the Spassvogels and could provide some info if any is needed. The htguide thread has a little more up-to-date info than the thread here.
http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=25031

Best of luck with your project.

-Jon