How do Scandinavian/Danish Loudspeakers compare?

[phibes]

I'm wanting to build a second speaker system for our new home and I've been looking at components from Danish manufacturers Vifa, ScanSpeak & Peerless as well as the Norwegian manufacturer Seas. I'm looking at MTM configuration in either bass reflex or TL design and I've found that the Seas drivers take a considerable leap up in cost compared to the other three for comparable specification.
I would appreciate comments from any DIY members that have experience with some or all of these drivers. I'm really looking for justification or otherwise for the extra cost of the Seas drivers over the others.

Cheers

[AGGEMAM]

I can safely say that you're in good hands with almost all of the drivers from those manufacturers.

The three danish makers; Peerless, Vifa and Scan-Speak have entered a mutual partnership that means they have sort of divided the market into sections. With price and quality going hand in hand. Peerless generally making the lowest cost, Vifa the mid-price, and Scan-Speak the highest cost drivers.

Seas makes both high and midrange cost speakers.

You have to point out what particular drivers you're interested in for me to make a specific recommendation.

OR I can just tell you which I think is good drivers from those makers.

[theoracle]

How patient are you?

I'll be able to at least enlighten you about Seas CA18's and Excell
tweeters --- when I've built the cabinets.
Throw a dart at a board numbered in weeks and double it, etc etc
Naturally, they'll be fantastic

theoracle

[phibes]

Thanks for the quick replies. The Seas drivers I've been looking at are the Excel series - W18E001 woofer and the T25CF002 tweeter. On the other side is the same configuration using Vifa's PL18-W009-08 woofer and the Scan Speak D2905/9500 tweeter.
Cheers

[AGGEMAM]

For some reason I dislike the magnesium drivers from Seas, I think it's because I prefer lower order filters, and in that respect the extremely high peak outside the working area of the driver is going to be painfully obvious.

The Seas T25CF002 is a very good tweeter though, but is surpassed by the Scan-Speak D2905/9500 which in my opion is probably one of the best tweeters ever design whatever the price. I would definately go for the latter.

Sadly I can't comment on the PL18-W009 driver specifically since I have never used it myself. But seeing that the new Scan-Speak 18W/8531G is roughly the same price, I would probably prefer that. Or the classic 18W/8535

[UrSv]

And I play both those woofers (PL18 and 18W/8535) and they are different in the application I have. The PL18 plays a wonderful punchy bass that seems to not run out of steam and hardly compresses at all. The 18W/8535 is in a pair of ProAc clones and they are wonderfully natural but compress and sound pretty awful when played loud. Everything is relative though and they are still very nice.

[5th element]

AGGEMAM the res peaks of the w15 are not painfully obvious, infact the opposite. When using a DSP xover if you remove the equivelent of the res trap you cant hear a difference, or if you can its very hard to.

Also you say that the Millenium is not as good as a 95? Seems a little odd as most people say the M is better. The 97 is better then the 95 anyway, so if you were considering the Millenium dont discount the 97.

[AGGEMAM]

I'm sorry, 5th element, but I stand by my word here. I have heard the excel woofer a lot of times, and they are excellent. But, and that is a big one to me, they do sound best if you use 3rd or higher order filters.

I prefer low order and preferably 1st order filters myself, but that's just me.

BUT BUT BUT with the D2905/9500, you are right. I did mean that it was the 9700 I found one of the best tweeters regardless of price. I'm sorry for the confusion. Btw, I do think the 9700 is better than 9900 too.

[tpenguin]

Originally posted by AGGEMAM
I'm sorry, 5th element, but I stand by my word here. I have heard the excel woofer a lot of times, and they are excellent. But, and that is a big one to me, they do sound best if you use 3rd or higher order filters.

I prefer low order and preferably 1st order filters myself, but that's just me.

BUT BUT BUT with the D2905/9500, you are right. I did mean that it was the 9700 I found one of the best tweeters regardless of price. I'm sorry for the confusion. Btw, I do think the 9700 is better than 9900 too.

I think the excels sound wonderful. They have incredible detail and responsiveness because of the extremely light and rigid magnesium cone. The breakup resonances can be a problem, but naturally, you have to select a filter order appropriate for each driver, or vice-versa. I haven't actually tried different filter configurations with excels because I don't own any myself, but personally, I think that if you find a tweeter that will cross low enough and use a notch filter, you should be fine with a second order filter. I do know that these are really great drivers, but I don't really know how they compare to their cheaper aluminum counterparts or the Vifa/Scan-Speak drivers. I wouldn't use peerless myself if you're going for high-end audio. They do have good bass extension, but they just don't have as much detail. Vifa, scan-speak, and seas should all suit you well, and the Focal W-cones are also supposed to be excellent even though they don't quite go as low as the other drivers. And you don't have to use drivers made by the same manufacturer. Mixing tweeters and woofers of different brands can sometimes produce the best results.

[5th element]

Ok point taken, after all this whole thing is a matter of taste, our ears and how our brain enterprets the electrical signals all varies from person to person. If you like very low order networks then I can see how this could be a problem with the excels. Either way they are "excel"lent drivers but its all a matter of taste.