Monacor SPH 130 AL - anyone?

[andyjevans]

I've just hooked up this aluminium cone 5" mid-bass unit. I'm quite astonished with the results - seems to work as a full range driver! Despite the peak in the response on paper, it sounds pretty smooth in practice. It's clean and detailed, and in a 20 litre enclosure there's bass too. How come everybody has overlooked this unit? It's under 45 euros too.

[Magura]

A lot of people consider monacor some sort of 2nd class, lately it have come to the attention of a few members here that it is not so. I for one have been VERY happy with the kevlar series mids for like 10 years, very few units can match the performance, and none can match the perfomance for the same price.
I unfortunately have to admit that I found out about the qualities by coincidence, I guess it was just my lucky day

Magura

[andyjevans]

I unfortunately have to admit that I found out about the qualities by coincidence, I guess it was just my lucky day>

Me too - I bought them on ebay as a cheap alternative to the usual SEAS magnesium and aluminium units and the Jordan JXs92. I'm wondering if these units aren't so far behind. they have good treble as they are, and adding a ribbon would be perfect. I have a couple of pairs of Deccas as it happens.

[Kittle]

I was impressed just with the stats on their website.

Now if only they were available in the U.S...

[Magura]

Add a decent tweeter and you will get a fairly nice 2 way speaker. I tried that a few years ago. At some point you will get to the thought that the bass is not all that, and add a couple of 10 inch units.

Now at this point the beauty of the monacor mids shines real bright.....cause you can choose the bass unit according to how low it will go in a small box with no concern how it performs in the upper end. All you have to do is to cross it over at the point where it is most suitable according to the bass unit, the mid will surely be fine with pretty much whatever you choose :-)

In my system I have sorted things with a couple of fairly cheap 10 inch units from monacor per side (don't remember the model designation), a 6.5" monacor kevlar mid, a 50mm scanspeak dome, and an old 25mm vifa dome. Works beautifully thanks to the great mid.


Magura

[Yarpen]

Hi

I'm used Monacor SPH 165 KEP (cca 60Euro) with Vifa XT25 . Really good sound !
Monacor's 8" and 10" kevlar basses are good too.. The ratio : quality/price is very good.
But the Monacor' tweeter..... :-(
In my plans for a future i have SPH170Al with VifaXT25


Yarpen

[sbolin]

Anyone know how to get these units outside of Europe? They do look interesting, but I can't get them where I am (Thailand). The Monacor website seemed to indicate they do overseas shipping, but I couldn't figure out how.

[Kittle]

same deal here. Id love to try some of those things. I tried getting a catalog from one of their distributors but got a "we dont ship to the U.S" email back from them.

[bombardon73]

The sph-130 al is usable to aprox. 2.5 khz, then some nasty k3 distortion jumps in. But up to 2.5 khz the unit is very good! especialy for it's price (it is now tested in Klang&Ton a german loudspeaker magazine).


As for the monacor tweeters, the DT-107 is unbeatable for it's price!!! I own one and it's just a very nice 1" dome, never harsh but still very open and transparent. Also very easy to xover. It would be a great partner for the sph-130 unit, then you would have a superb price performance ratio.

The dt-254 and the dt-400 also seem to be very good!

[andyjevans]

I was looking at the Monacor SPH-130KEP. Kevlar cone. the performance in a 20 litre box looks identical to the AL version in Win ISD. There is less cone breakup and a flatter response. My question is "will Kevlar give me the same quality of cleanness and detail as the aluminium cone?" I ask because I haven't used Kevlar.