Any experience with Aerogel polymer-chassis drivers?

[coolkhoa]

I'm considering building a two-way bookshelf using an Audax Aerogel midbass (the cheaper polymer-chassis series). Has anyone used one? How do they sound?
A little dilemma: should I choose the 4", 5-1/4", or the 6-1/2"? The 4" seems to have the smoothest response but has the least bass.
Thanks for any advice.

[A Titmus]

Hello,

I am afraid that I have only had experience with the 8inch vesion (AP210Z0) from the same range. They are in the first proper set of speakers I have built and although there is still a lot more work to put into the cabinets to have them sounding right (I never have the time), I am impressed with the sound.

I would suggest some care in cutting the hole, as the polymer chassis can deform slightly if you try to press it into a hole that is fractionally tight, and they don't feel rugged to handle. To my uncalibrated ears (I have never listened to a decent commercial system), they perform well and appear to be good value for money.

Hope this is of some help.
Andrew

[dokter dB]

hey coolkoa


There is also a test on the linkwitz-lab page (it is really from "the mr linkwitz" himself I believe) on the 2 different size aerogel audax versions, compared with others, I suggest you take a good look at that.
I have experience with the 4" audax, HM100Z0. At 93 dB sens. (one of the highest sens. hifi mids I found in the consumer price-region here in europe) and still going quite low (400 Hz@2L enclosure, if you c.o sharp enough). Distortion measures extremely good, specially in the upper region 1-3kHz. I use it in range 400-3kHz/24dBLR. The bigger ones I've never used...
good luck

[sreten]

you can find quite a few designs with a web search that use aerogel drivers e.g. :

http://www.worldaudiodesign.co.uk/pr...twdestext.html

http://home.hetnet.nl/~geenius/Auriga.html

sreten.

[coolkhoa]

Thanks for all the replies everybody. I may consider using the die-cast Aerogel ones for durability (they have flatter responses, too). Now, for the tweeter...

[dokter dB]

Originally posted by coolkhoa
Thanks for all the replies everybody. I may consider using the die-cast Aerogel ones for durability (they have flatter responses, too). Now, for the tweeter...

coolk, I'm gonna combine the 4" audax (93dB) with the 96dB aurum cantus tweeter (active application). There is also the cheeper aurum cantus (93dB), that can work fine in a passive combination. I have not ordered the tweeters yet, but the reactions are really good so far, there is some talk about them in this forum. maybe a suggestion for you? or the 96dB tweeter with a series resistor to make up for the relatively low 6 ohms...
good luck

[coolkhoa]

Thanks, dokter dB. I think you're talking about the G2 ribbon, which looks attractive, indeed.

Actually, I need a really inexpensive tweeter with a small faceplate so I can position it close to the Audax in a relatively small (read: tiny) enclosure. Now I'm seriously considering the 1" Micro Tweeters from Audax that have been paired with the Aerogels in many projects on the web (including the Audax Home Theater system by Joe D'Appolito). My dilemma this time is which model to use: the textile dome (TM025F1), which has gotten good reviews, or the similar titanium dome (TM025F7). The titanium one seems to have the flatter response at the upper-end (the textile's response climbs slightly). But I don't know if the metal will sound "metallic" or a little too harsh on the ears.

Maybe this calls for a new thread on the forums

BTW I'm really interested in ribbon tweeters (they supposedly sound clear and transparent), and I would like to experiment with them in the near future. For a different project, perhaps?

[5th element]

Ive used the small 1" fabric dome paired with the 4" polymer aerogel driver for a small set of speakers for the kitchen. These were one of the 1st pairs of speakers I built not using any kind of simulation software so therefore are not perfect. But then again they dont need to be, one speaker is three meters of the ground on a cabinet and one is one meter off the ground in a shelvin unit with the hifi. So as you can see well integrated speakers are not needed there as noone is going to pic nits that the tweet doesnt integrate perfectly with the woof at two different listening levels as you walk around! However I do pic nits LOL as I think they sound a lil harsh and forward but thats comparing them to my system which is a smooth as (insert an appropriet word)

Anyway, they do sound very impressive for the money, deffinatly worth it.

Now that I have got measurement software Im going around redesigning all my previous designs!

[coolkhoa]

Hmmm...interesting, very interesting. 5th element, I was surprised to hear that you think the fabric dome is a little "harsh" and "forward." Maybe I will have to try both versions for myself!

[dooper]

Hopefully this is not too far OT. I work in the same town as a vendor who still reportedly still has a decent supply of Audax drivers. Since I've read that Audax is following Dynaudio's lead and abandoning the DIY market, I'd like to know which of their drivers are especially prized by the folks here. For example, I've seen the AP210Z0 mentioned in a couple of threads.

I'm thinking about putting a few boxes together in order to get my HT system better matched. I just added a sub:

http://diyaudio.com/forums/showthrea...threadid=25852

and I would like to replace my main left and right (Tannoy PBM-8s - want to move them upstairs to the home studio) and center and left and right rear surround (all Sherwoods scrounged from a POS HT in a box rig). I'd like to put together five to seven identical small systems, two-way, probably sealed. The XO in my Yamaha receiver is fixed at 90 Hz, so I would like all of the systems to be fairly flat from 90 Hz to 15 kHz or higher.

I'm certainly not stuck on Audax - I'll consider any recommendations. If there are any Audax drivers that are particularly desirable for the application that I've outlined, I would love to hear about them.

Finally, I'd just like to say that I'm really glad to have found this place, and I hope that I will be able to contribute what I can.

TIA,

dooper