Scan Speak just released a new line of drivers called the Ellipticors. The voice coil is elliptical and a very fancy neo slug motor for both the tweeter and midwoofer. The sensitivity is very high. 97dB on the tweeter, 92.5dB on the 7" woofer.
Ellipticor – Scan-Speak A/S
~38 mm Dome Tweeter
4 ohm, Neo, AirCirc
- Elliptic voice coil
- Low mechanical losses
- High sensitivity (SPL) (97dB)
- Aircirc optimized magnetsystem
- Unusually low distortion
- Flexible optics with replaceble decor ring
D3404/552000 Tweeter
18WE/4542T00
18 cm Midwoofer
4 ohm, Paper Cone, Neo, AirCirc
- Elliptic voice coil
- Very low mechanical losses
- High sensitivity (SPL) (92.5dB)
- Aircirc optimized magnetsystem
- Unusually low distortion
- Flexible optics with replaceble decor ring
Wonder how much these bad boys will be?
Ellipticor – Scan-Speak A/S
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
~38 mm Dome Tweeter
4 ohm, Neo, AirCirc
- Elliptic voice coil
- Low mechanical losses
- High sensitivity (SPL) (97dB)
- Aircirc optimized magnetsystem
- Unusually low distortion
- Flexible optics with replaceble decor ring
D3404/552000 Tweeter
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
18WE/4542T00
18 cm Midwoofer
4 ohm, Paper Cone, Neo, AirCirc
- Elliptic voice coil
- Very low mechanical losses
- High sensitivity (SPL) (92.5dB)
- Aircirc optimized magnetsystem
- Unusually low distortion
- Flexible optics with replaceble decor ring
Wonder how much these bad boys will be?
Looks to be beautifully crafted, as you would expect from a driver that probably prices itself out of the range of most DIYers.
A lot of these newer drivers use big Neo magnets but it's always in the standard configuration. Why doesn't anyone license Aura's NRT and use that in the magnetic circuit?
A lot of these newer drivers use big Neo magnets but it's always in the standard configuration. Why doesn't anyone license Aura's NRT and use that in the magnetic circuit?
The 18WE/4542T00 is very interesting. The inductance is exceptionally low, only 100µH (0,1mH), which is nice for a high xo at the top end but the big resonance at ~1,2kHz (-> impedance response in the datasheet, that WILL show on the decay!) doesn't seem to agree with that.
The combination of a high fs, low Qts and very high Xmax seems a bit odd though. I mean, you won't get very low so a subwoofer isn't a good use. On the other hand, for a sat, the high Xmax isn't doing much and the resonance is probably not easy to tame. Maybe I'm wrong but it's probably not easy to find an ideal use for the driver.
Fs (Hz) 47
Qt 0.27
VAS_(ltr) 15.7
Xmax_±_(mm) 7.2
Datasheet (PDF)
The combination of a high fs, low Qts and very high Xmax seems a bit odd though. I mean, you won't get very low so a subwoofer isn't a good use. On the other hand, for a sat, the high Xmax isn't doing much and the resonance is probably not easy to tame. Maybe I'm wrong but it's probably not easy to find an ideal use for the driver.
Fs (Hz) 47
Qt 0.27
VAS_(ltr) 15.7
Xmax_±_(mm) 7.2
Datasheet (PDF)
Agree with ICG.... Not sure what was the idea about the use of that driver.
For vented, the combination of those parameters is rather useless, you can get down to maybe 60-70 Hz in a smallish box, but then why is that huge Xmax value there for?
The guys at SB Acoustics make way more useful drivers for the fraction of the price.
For vented, the combination of those parameters is rather useless, you can get down to maybe 60-70 Hz in a smallish box, but then why is that huge Xmax value there for?
The guys at SB Acoustics make way more useful drivers for the fraction of the price.
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Totally agree. The off axis responses of the tweeter are not very impressive... it seems to be getting very narrow. That could be fixed if they used some horn loading. And why can't they seem to get rid of that midwoofer 1 point something kHz resonance? That's nothing new in their product line. At least the frequency response does not have a dip there like previous drivers have.
What isn't shown is the distortion (HD and IMD) and energy storage. Maybe these characteristics are stellar... but then why not put that into the datasheet for all to see? They do mention "Unusually low distortion". Any junior marketing person can write a blurb about the amazing performance of the company's latest shiny product. Come on Scan-Speak: PROVE IT TO ME WITH DATA. I'm certainly not going to shell out a few hundred dollars just to check it out on a hunch!
I feel like this combination of specs is designed to be used for an active speaker. In this case, the natural bass extension does not matter since it is fixed by DSP. However, it gets the benefits of the additional efficiency and most likely better micro detail from the higher acceleration force of the very strong motor and light-ish cone.
Typical low cost oem made in china argument: low distortion is cheap to achieve though of marginal importance spending a few cents on iron and other low cost materiales. Right combination of cones, periferical suspensions, or spiders is real art and what is worth paying for and way more dificulta to achieve.
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Well, you can also see on the tweeter it got several resonances (750Hz (probably a internal volume issue), 3k, 5k). That's not very impressive.
The fs of the tweeter is very low though (475 Hz), in combination with the big dome.. er.. elliptoid surface it's probably possible to xo it very low.
The fs of the tweeter is very low though (475 Hz), in combination with the big dome.. er.. elliptoid surface
it's probably possible to xo it very low.
No, that's completely wrong. No material on its own justifies a 'high end' price. It's only worth it, if it actually performs significantly better. Otherwise it's just a money sink to get some 'prestige' and to impress others on how much you spent on it.
And no, it's not art, it's science. Physics, to be precise.
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Naaa....
If it were science, everything would be under control. All drivers would be made the same, measure the same, and sound the same, close to perfect. There would be no need for Scanspeak to offer their Classic, Revelator, Illuminator, Ellipticor lines, etc... There would be no place for boutique small series loudspeaker manufacturers in this world. Fortunately enough that science is plagued with flaws, imperfections, misconceptions, half valid theories, dubious ideologies, myths, mantras etc...that still make this hobby entertaining...Perfection would be dead boring!
For guys inclined towards pure rationality, this 50eur Discovery model might be closer to perfection than the new line, probably designed for more esoteric minded guys...
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
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