Input welcome on high SD 2-way "book-shelf" speaker

[Havoc08]

Hi all.
I have long been interested in making a high SD speaker as I have a feeling I would like the ease with which such a speaker would load the room and make details such as lips opening on a trumpet or every touch of the guitar string palpable.

My design goal is:
- "Normal" cost, i.e. not exotic drivers (thinking ~100USD per driver unless a very nice driver shows up at acceptable premium).
- "Book-shelf", i.e. not a short floor stander with 5 inch heels . 20-35L maybe?
- Nice sensitivity
- Fair bass, but ~50-70hz would be fine as I probably would cross it to a sub.
- Probably closed cabinet to increase step response which should add even more to the "palpable" details .
- And most important... high SD driver, if possible as stiff and light as possible.


So my first question is: Does anyone know any large drivers that would suit the purpose?

I've looked at the Hivi F8, some of the 7 and 8 inch peerless drivers and the obsolete? red cone vifas, but is it too optimistic to cross such a large driver to a large dome tweeter or can beaming and breakup be avoided with the right mid bass driver?

Otherwise I'll have to settle for a 6.5" mid bass, but that takes away some of the fun of high SD unless it has very good specs (rigid, linear, low moving mass etc.)

For tweeter there are several large domes on my mind atm. I will dig up some links for you.

Any input is appreciated

[mondogenerator]

ive been trying to plan something similar, but decided and 8inch driver was to big to cross to a 1inch dome. Given that most 34mm domes ive seen arent spectacular, ive been limited to a 5-6 inch woofer. The biggest issue is that the requirements are opposing. Lightest of cones wont be the stiffest and many drivers that are reasonable in closed box arent as sensitive. Eg i could make a bookshelf with audax hm130zo/hm130z10 vented at 2/4 litres respectively. Only 5inch driver though. But the mms is exceptionally low for this size driver, i think 7 and 8 gram in each case. Maybe the 6 or 8incher may be worth a look in your case?

[jerome69]

Originally Posted by Havoc08

Hi all.
....
So my first question is: Does anyone know any large drivers that would suit the purpose?
...

Hi

10" + 1" ?
Dynaco clone with SEAS Exotic T35 tweeter

A high sensitivity 8"
H1471-08 CA22RNY

[Michael Chua]

Originally Posted by Havoc08

I've looked at the Hivi F8, some of the 7 and 8 inch peerless drivers and the obsolete? red cone vifas, but is it too optimistic to cross such a large driver to a large dome tweeter or can beaming and breakup be avoided with the right mid bass driver?

I've been thinking of something like this but it won't be a dome tweeter. I plan to use my JBL2425 loaded with the JBL2342 Bi-Radial Horn. Woofer is either an 8" Peerless HDS 830869 Nomex or a 10" Seas CA26RE4X. Crossover between 1,200 - 1,500Hz.

[Havoc08]

Thx guys. I'll look into your links when I finish ordering my new pc tonight .

[dirkwright]

Originally Posted by Michael Chua

I've been thinking of something like this but it won't be a dome tweeter. I plan to use my JBL2425 loaded with the JBL2342 Bi-Radial Horn. Woofer is either an 8" Peerless HDS 830869 Nomex or a 10" Seas CA26RE4X. Crossover between 1,200 - 1,500Hz.

Yes, I agree. Forget the little dome tweeter and get a nice high quality compression driver and matching horn. According to what I've read, if you want a big woofer, you have to cross it over lower for good sound.

I built a two way with:
B&C 8NDL51 (vented in 0.4 cu ft box tuned to 72Hz)
B&C DE250 compression driver
B&C ME20 horn
passive crossover @ 1.6 KHz.

I intend to use a subwoofer so no big deal on not going really low here (-3dB @ about 72 Hz). Sensitivity is about 94dB.

[boris81]

How about this one?

ER18DXT

[River757]

This is from the "olden days" but there used to be many commercial manufacturers that sold 8" 2-ways with dome tweeters who tried to deal with that configuration's problems.* In this specific case, an eight inch woofer in a sealed enclosure + an inverted dome tweeter - equipped with a 20oz magnet! - crossed over relatively low, in this case way down at 1,800Hz. The following variation is one of many sold by Genesis: Model 1+ (the guy who runs that site used to work for Genesis).

And I know that for awhile, KEF used a two inch dome tweeter in their Model 105, which helped produce great stereo imaging because it was so directional but also produced a "head in a clamp" effect many people didn't particularly enjoy (an LED mounted in a tunnel near the tweeter aided the owner as far as aiming the speaker in the right direction).


* actually, such a design is shared by the front mains in my own system, a multichannel system to be exact: a pair of cherry finish Boston Acoustic CR9s bought new by yours truly in 1998

[Michael Chua]

The Altec CD912-8A Duplex is a very unusual speaker. A 12" Coaxial with a Dome Tweeter crossed at 1,500Hz (12dB/oct). And that's a pretty big dome, definitely more than 1 inch.

They are quite good for PA use. In fact, excellent as ceiling speakers in live voice announcements.

A bit "rough" for Hi-Fi though. Tweeter is a bit peaky at certain places. With a bit of equalization, I am sure it can sound quite good. Have 4 of these in mint condition waiting for me to work on them. Just never found the time.

[Ile]

Originally Posted by mondogenerator

ive been trying to plan something similar, but decided and 8inch driver was to big to cross to a 1inch dome.

In this kit 8" Peerless 830869 is crossed around 3kHz to NeoCD 3.0 ribbon.

Haven't heard this speaker, but I have heard some other speakers he designed and those were great.