I once again have a question for those of you much more in the know than myself.
I am considering building a 2.5 way or mtm (no great preference) but am considering the scan 8945 or the seas w18e001 or w17e001. Do any of you have hands on experience with these drivers and how does the bass and mids compare with each other. Also is it worth the extra money over the regular vifa pl series and seas normal line. any advise is greatly appreciated.
I am considering building a 2.5 way or mtm (no great preference) but am considering the scan 8945 or the seas w18e001 or w17e001. Do any of you have hands on experience with these drivers and how does the bass and mids compare with each other. Also is it worth the extra money over the regular vifa pl series and seas normal line. any advise is greatly appreciated.
I don't have enough experience with these large diameter expensive drivers but from listening observation the SS have a 'better' bass while the Seas have 'better' mid.
The point is, it is not a matter of which driver, but a matter of which design. And may be preference. To my preference, any of those drivers can achieve equal bass quality down to 40Hz depends on the design so if I have to design the speaker myself I will choose the Seas.
Is it worth the extra money over the regular PL? Hmm... I believe that in the right hands it should. (At least I know that I'm not yet at the end of the world)
The point is, it is not a matter of which driver, but a matter of which design. And may be preference. To my preference, any of those drivers can achieve equal bass quality down to 40Hz depends on the design so if I have to design the speaker myself I will choose the Seas.
Is it worth the extra money over the regular PL? Hmm... I believe that in the right hands it should. (At least I know that I'm not yet at the end of the world)
Is it worth the extra money?
Yes, definitely. Particularly if you are only building a few. For a large manufacturer, probably not as evidenced by taking a look at pretty much any of the crap out there.
My understanding is that the Seas has a stiffer cone which can potentially lead to lower distortion. However, it does suffer from some pretty serious breakup in the upper end and if you are using standard analog crossover, it is harder for you to take that into account (probably need some sort of extra filter, take a look at the reference designs which I belive Seas offers).
The ScanSpeak units are also very high quality. Perhaps I like them better for historical reasons (I got started with SS first), or perhaps it is because they offer more models which allowed me to put find units more suited to the old concrete cabinet I had ...
Having said this, it should be clear to you that both units are capable of exquisite performance, and it is more likely that you will want to choose based on which other units you are connecting to. With a ScanSpeak, perhaps it would be wise to consider a complementary SS tweeter or perhaps a Focal unit? For the Seas, perhaps you want to stay within the same family or go for a ribbon tweeter from Orca or equivalent?
Good luck!
Petter
Yes, definitely. Particularly if you are only building a few. For a large manufacturer, probably not as evidenced by taking a look at pretty much any of the crap out there.
My understanding is that the Seas has a stiffer cone which can potentially lead to lower distortion. However, it does suffer from some pretty serious breakup in the upper end and if you are using standard analog crossover, it is harder for you to take that into account (probably need some sort of extra filter, take a look at the reference designs which I belive Seas offers).
The ScanSpeak units are also very high quality. Perhaps I like them better for historical reasons (I got started with SS first), or perhaps it is because they offer more models which allowed me to put find units more suited to the old concrete cabinet I had ...
Having said this, it should be clear to you that both units are capable of exquisite performance, and it is more likely that you will want to choose based on which other units you are connecting to. With a ScanSpeak, perhaps it would be wise to consider a complementary SS tweeter or perhaps a Focal unit? For the Seas, perhaps you want to stay within the same family or go for a ribbon tweeter from Orca or equivalent?
Good luck!
Petter
In my experience I have found that it is more about implementation than selection. Utilizing drivers of that quality warrants expert skills. I am not questioning anyone's ability. I am just saying that in my early years I spent more money on drivers than my skills were capable of. In my later years I have made some very inexpensive (read cheap) drivers sound pretty good.
MLC
MLC
Thanks for the replies. I certainly appreciate all you comments. I agree that skills of making a good box matter. I have so far build 1 set of TMM's (using a ribbon and Tang Band 4" midwoofers) from the ground up. They had a decent sound, but I still prefer my commercial speakers. The mids were very muffled in my DIY speakers. So I would like to build another pair, either TM or TMM with some proven drivers. There are quite a few designs to choose from.
Yea, how about the new Santori? Next on my list to try. I found the Seas ER18RNX paper driver easy to use. Very happy with it. The Mg drivers seem to be quite difficult to tame. Good if tamed, but difficult. If you can stand a larger box, the Usher and Eaton are possibilities. SS seem to need big boxes too.
Bill,
It seems that seas and ss are great drivers, almost regardless of which one you get.
I did look at Santori, in particular the Kairos speaker design.
Can you recommend a good kit?
My last build was a ML-TM, with very heavy bass. Have you had experiences, good or bad with MLTM speakers?
It seems that seas and ss are great drivers, almost regardless of which one you get.
I did look at Santori, in particular the Kairos speaker design.
Can you recommend a good kit?
My last build was a ML-TM, with very heavy bass. Have you had experiences, good or bad with MLTM speakers?
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Quick Question: Have you considered SB Acoutics? If not seriously consider them, there are many advantages; For example...
1. The people at SB are former SS engineers who took off when SS,vifa, and another company were bought by a Chinese(I think) company
2. These guys almost always deliver the goods and often best SS for less than half the price(i.e. Satori, their flagship, range)
3. There is a thread around here somewhere about a three way Avalon-cabinet using these drivers
All the best,
1. The people at SB are former SS engineers who took off when SS,vifa, and another company were bought by a Chinese(I think) company
2. These guys almost always deliver the goods and often best SS for less than half the price(i.e. Satori, their flagship, range)
3. There is a thread around here somewhere about a three way Avalon-cabinet using these drivers
All the best,
I have used SB drivers with outstanding results and the build quality is very good but they are still manufactured in Indonesia. In this day and age it is quite difficult to find any companies that don't outsource somewhere in the design/manufacturing process. Unless there is some definitive reason not too it is just too cost effective.
View attachment 403740
just recieved a Satori delivery 2 hrs ago - well made, solid, lovely engineering.
The driver on the left is a 'Mark audio' driver? It sure looks similar to what I used in the past.. I have the Alpair 7.3.
What is the project these drives are for?
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