Best 4.5 inch drivers?

[jazzbearz]

I am trying to exchange my old nht zero units to others. My idea is making it like an mani 2. what is the best 4.5 inch unit under $300 which can go down around 60s and also has good mid range out of it. don't care about efficiency prob.
Thanks in advance.

 

[morbo]

Well, you picked a perfect time to ask! John Krutke just posted a very thorough comparison of 3 of the best 4.5" drivers. See here:

http://home.new.rr.com/zaph/audio/4.5test/

 

[jazzbearz]

Thanks a lot!

 

[Nanook]

replacement woofer...

The original Super Zero used a Tonegen 458 woofer--not sure if it is available anywhere..

efficiency was 86db
85Hz(-3 db) 12db/octave low pass @ 2.2kHz
7.5 Ohm min resistence.

To me it seems that thw Seas L12 would be a close match, in regards to efficiency, and impedence (and frequency response too!). I guess I would calculate the enclosure and do a little more work if they were mine..

stew

 

[jazzbearz]

I did calculate myself. I found out I need a port to get bass tuned about 50hz. Do you guys think this will work through this small enclosure?

 

[planet10]

The new CSS WR125 is very worthy of consideration... the XBL tech gives it really good extension at the bottom (while giving up some top to something like the Jordan JX92 -- the latter pushing your budget a bit)

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

dave

 

[LineSource]

Hi Jazzbearz,

I've attached a plot of Xmax displacement vs. frequency for a 4.5" speaker in a sealed box for producing 110 db SPL @ 1m. This would give about 90db at the listening position with reasonable headroom for transients.

Most single 4.5" speakers are crossed around 300Hz and 2Khz to match their excursion and IM distortion limitations.

I get the best midrange sound from a sealed box with a lot of sound absorpton material to keep reflections from the rear of the cone. I have not seen many high end speakers with ported midranges.

 

[Cal Weldon]

I'm with planet10 dave. I got to hear the CSS a couple of months back and again a week or so ago, and I was stunned. For such a small driver, the bass extension was surprising. High end good also. Hardly needs a tweeter.

Cal

 

[morbo]

Count me as #3 vote for the CSS driver. I am using it full range and it sounds nice, LOTS more bass capabillity than the little tonegen woofer in the superzero, which I've owned before. Its also fairly easy to crossover because of the controlled cone breakup.