Seas vs Focal

[scientist1]

I am about to order several kits from Zalytron....I have decided to go with the Hiquphon OWII tweeter in my design...I need your unbiased opinion about the Seas Excel W18EX001 drivers vs the Focal Utopia 7W4411 mid bass ...I have heard the Utopia line for car audio and they sound phenomenal. I want a clean sounding mid rich with details to complement the tweeter...Are the Focals mids more detailed and smoother when compared to the Seas Mags??? Also what are your thoughts on the Hiquphon OWII when compared to the Hiquphon OWI....What are the sonic differences?

.I have never heard a seas driver....Give me quick and honest response.....I am trying to purchase my complete system before Christmas.

Last Question...How Does Dave Ellis's 1801b Kit compares to Zalytron kit that uses the Hiquphon tweeter.

Should I go with a MTM design vs TM design for the front channels...Its going to be a relatively small room....

Thanks
Stephen

[scientist1]

Anybody

[Ken L]

Originally posted by scientist1
Anybody

we're not ignoring you _grin_.

I'm guessing no one knows the answers to your specific questions.

I will suggest that you pay particular attention to the crossover because that is extremely important.

I suggest you select a configuration that has a crossover already worked out and debugged.


regards

Ken L

[michael]

im sorry this isnt really answering ur questions but i can give you some of my experience with seas excel. AMAZING. if they are in your budget, buy them. if you are after the best, buy them!
amazing bass, amazing clarity, amazing midrange, amazing everything, fast clean clear crisp.
EXCEL, they rock

[Pan]

I use Accuton drivers right now but have some new designs for Excel drivers to try out. IOW, I chose Accuton and Excel when $ is no issue. The best I´ve heard except Accuton and Excel is Focal..... then comes Scan Speak.

Buy Excel!

I also recommend MT instead of MTM. You can always cross them
over to a sub if you need more.

The tweeter you mention seems to be a wise choice. Try to go with a design for those drivers that matches the distance to walls in your room. IOW the baffle-step-correction needs to be balanced to the distance of walls surrounding the speaker, if not chances are you end up with thin sound or boomy/chesty sound.

/Peter

[PaleRider]

- well, I`ve been a speakerbuilder for some decades, and as a norwegian I know Seas wery well. If you asked me I would rather go for the Focal-driver than this Seas. seas is known for making some of the wery best mid-drivers, the strange thing is that only seems to include theyr cheaper drivers with paper-cones and so on.
The Focal 7" is a clear-sounding driver, with a good tuning and a simple filter it might get you exactly where you want

[navin]

Originally posted by scientist1
..I need your unbiased opinion about the Seas Excel W18EX001 drivers vs the Focal Utopia 7W4411 mid bass ...I

Should I go with a MTM design vs TM design for the front channels...Its going to be a relatively small room....Stephen

1. I have not heard the Focal but the Excels are fantstic. I heard them in a friend's system (Joesph Audio Pearl). both these drviers however require experinced XO design. I would not attempt to use them without good XO design. If you are using teh Excel why not the matching Excel tweeter?

2. I have heard a pair of 8546 (SS) and 9900 in MMT and MTM config and from what i hear one config you should try is the MT-M config. where the 2 M's are in push push. I would prefer the MT over the MTM though. The MT-M however obliviates 2 issues. 1. BSC and 2. some more cone area for the bass.

I am not sure if these drivers are capable of TL but ifthey are I would look at a MT-M TL.

[jewilson]

Both the Focal and the Seas Excel speakers are great. I would tend to build a W-M-T-M-W systems myself and skip the 2 way systems. In addition, If you don't have the software you should consider Madison. Madison will run Leap on your speakers and give you the response curves along with a design for the crossover. It is only 50.00 well worth it even if your just check your work.

Anyway, I have built speakers with Focal and just do not care much for there tweeters. Having said that, I like their woofers and a few of their midrange drivers. All things considered, my favorite tweeters are Scan Speak, in fact all their drivers are quite good.

[MurrayP]

VAF's SEAS Excel I93 kit is very very (did I say Very?) good in my experience. First order crossovers and phase aligned - rather more thoroughly developed than most kits I think. From Adelaide Oz, home of Halcro and Duntech incidentally

FWIW,

Murray


VAF I93 link

[Christopher]

I am not sure if these drivers are capable of TL but ifthey are I would look at a MT-M TL.

I'm not sure if there is a difference (too lazy to do a search) but if the WE18EX001 and the WE18E001 are the same driver, then there is an MTM TL design by Joe D'Appolito available on the SEAS website and in kit form from Madison and Solen among others. It is called the THOR. Presently I'm working my way through Martin Kings work so I can re design it a bit bigger for an improved bass extension. I already have a design done, but I'm not moving on it for a while until I decide if I can handle the crossover mods required for the new enclosure. (and get a budget for it)

You can search the forum here, a few people have built it as designed already. It gets very good reviews, but it is a bit thin in the low bass, (so they say)