Scan Speak 8531 vs Accuton 173

Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.
Hello, I'm looking at building an active 4 way using Fountek X3.0 as super tweets, Accuton 50 as lower tweet/upper mids and a set of Infinity 1252W as sealed subs. For the lower mids/upper bass, which would you recommend? The Scan Speak 8531, or the Accuton 173? I love the old Infinity Kappa sound, and listen to vocals and classic rock. Thanks, John:)
 
I have 2 sets of speakers, one using the accutons, and one using the scans.

Keep in mind they are different designs.

But,
The scans are a warmer more mellow sound.
The accutons are a cleaner sound.

Both are really nice and I would be happy with either as a life long speaker.
If I really had to pick one over the other, then it would purely be personal choice, I think I would pick the accutons.
 
Do you have the Accuton C50 yet?
I am waiting on the Accuton C51. This is the newer cell concept version. It was my understanding the C50 is kind of discontinued, though you can still get it by special order. I am hopeful the C51 surpasses the already stellar C50.

In my upcoming 4-way project I will try the Acoustic Elegance TD6M for midwoofer duty (150Hz - 1000Hz). I do have a few C173 versions in the shop, so will make a comparison.

Old'n'Cranky, is your accuton speaker a 2-way or a 3-way? If the scans only had to play up to 1000Hz, how do you think they would compare?
 
No, but I was about to buy the C50 today or tomorrow. I wasn't aware that they were coming out with a C51. I only have the ribbon tweeters and the sealed subs (Infinity 12" X4) for this project.

Old n Cranky, do you mind sharing which drivers you are using for your Accuton set up?

Thanks, John
 
Bill - thanks for the info on the Dayton. I'm now leaning towards the C173 which I believe can be crossed as high as about 2-2.5Khz. I don't feel the ribbons should be crossed lower than about 3Khz. So using the $600 pair Accuton C50 to fill such a small gap seems like a very expensive proposition for me. Rethinking.... John
 
Bill - thanks for the info on the Dayton. I'm now leaning towards the C173 which I believe can be crossed as high as about 2-2.5Khz. I don't feel the ribbons should be crossed lower than about 3Khz. So using the $600 pair Accuton C50 to fill such a small gap seems like a very expensive proposition for me. Rethinking.... John

I dunno whether this thread is still live, but for a while I've been planning a design based on accuton's 2" upper mid and too been waiting on their new Cell version - since late 2012... Will be interesting once it finally hits the market!

Using C173 with a ribbon as opposed to deploying a small driver in-between is for me mostly about off-axis (power response) behaviour since the digraph diameter of the small driver will give a far more extended "even spread" than larger diameter of the C173. In return, ribbons true talent lies in the upper region whereas they all do far worse down low which makes it a compromise to fit almost any ribbon with a large-ish hard cone woofer. Softer digraph woofers are generally helped by their decoupling of the dust-cap above about 1kHz, which effectively makes them a small driver in a waveguide. This is not to say that C173 + ribbon cannot be made to sound excellent, but as always, it is about compromises.

BTW, a waveguide will probably help the low end of the ribbon to better integrate with almost any woofer :)

cheers,
 
Last edited:
Ive seen those cell drivers from Accuton but I cant quite see what the advantages are.

Haven't heard them nor seen any distortion specs yet, so I can't comment on their audible performance. Their design however has quite a few promising features (here's a few that came to my mind):

- Ti VC former (higher Qms than the alu VC of C50)
- Copper cap-rings (less inductance)
- Large VC + neu mags (break modes moved to higher frq, less dynamic compression)

cheers,
 
The ScanSpeak 8531/4531 are really great sounding, very warm, and have incredible bass output, but require a lot of cabinet space, especially if ported. Based on Madisound's calculations, about double what the cut cone ceramic C173 would.

One nice thing though is the 4531 adds sensitivity, so you may have an easier time matching it with the next driver up.

Personally, based on speakers I have heard at audio shows, I find the difference between Accutons and SS 4531/8531 pretty striking. I would not really be able to live with an all Accuton system for very long. I would loose interest and find them tiring. Though I have to say I really am fascinated by the tech of the latest ceramic drivers.

I built a pair of monitors with 18W/4531 and have not heard anything from Accuton that would compel me to switch.

My point isn't that Accuton is bad, but that these are two very different sounding drivers to me, so if you really like Accuton, don't settle for SS, and vice versa. I think that you are going to be a fan of one or the other but not both. :)



Best,


E
 
Last edited:
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.