Tested: a weird bunch of 6.5" drivers

[Zaph]

I rounded up everything I had in the house last week and did some tests. It's a wide variety of drivers.

6.5" to 7" Driver Comparison

[xyrium]

Nice work Zaph. I'm sure happy I chose the L15s for my first project. THose alu Seas drivers sure seem to have hit a perfect price/performance ratio, and leaning towards performance!

Rgds,
Paul

[Grahamt]

I always look forward to your tests, good work.

[ShinOBIWAN]

As ever Zaph, good work!

I've got a few high end drivers here, things like the ATC mid dome, Scan R2904-7000, Scan R2904-7100, ATC 9" bass driver (SB75-234SC), Seas Excel W22.

What I'd like to do is test them in similar fashion to what you've done. Frequency, sensitivity and impedance plots are already done but I'm really wanting to measure the HMD tests.

I think it would be interesting for everyone to see if there's any justification for these expensive drivers.

Care to give a little more detail on your methods and software you used?

Thanks.

[sqlkev]

Great info!

any new project in the work Zaph?

[bowdown]

Hey Zaph have you ever had a chance to test and compare the Vifa XG18WH , Vifa PL18WO and also the Vifa M18WO in one test? Even just the XG18 and PL18 would be good enough but all three would be like having gold. I just thought id ask as these seem to be very popular Vifa speakers and most people(myself as well) get confused choosing a woofer out of this list. Please let me know what you think.


Regards

Bowdown

Kepp up the DIY spirit!!

[Etacovda]

awesome stuff, truely useful - however a few possible improvements if i may?

pdf links to each driver would be nice, along with each driver in the photo with its model number beside it would be extremely useful - id round up the links for you myself, but being stuck on 'internet excuse' connection at the moment (56k) its rather painful opening pdfs...

A bit more work, i realise - but could be really handy (same with the tweeter tests) - hope it doesnt seem like im not appreciative, I truely am!

Thanks
Etacovda

[ShinOBIWAN]

Originally posted by ShinOBIWAN

Care to give a little more detail on your methods and software you used?

Got it:

http://www.zaphaudio.com/setup.html

SoundEasy eh, well I've never tried it out but do they have a demo version?

[Zaph]

Originally posted by bowdown
Hey Zaph have you ever had a chance to test and compare the Vifa XG18WH , Vifa PL18WO and also the Vifa M18WO in one test?

Nope, can't say I have. I generally don't feel a need to test drivers that have been extensively tested by others. I trust other people's measurements, and if Linkwitz says the PL18 performs poorly, I believe him. I think Mark K tested the PL18 too, and for some reason I suspect the M18 would only perform worse. I mentioned in my blog, this is just what I have in the house at the moment. (unfortunate - nobody should have as many drivers laying around as me. Or so my wife says. )

Originally posted by Etacovda
awesome stuff, truely useful - however a few possible improvements if i may?

Hold on right there. My burst of energy and excitement has disipated, and I've already completely lost interest in this test. Not to mention I'm out of time and have to get other things done, like this waveguide TMM I'm working on.

Originally posted by ShinOBIWAN


Got it:

http://www.zaphaudio.com/setup.html

SoundEasy eh, well I've never tried it out but do they have a demo version?

I don't think there's a demo version. Keep in mind, all you really need to look at HD is a spectrum analyzer and a signal generator. You can get all that for free if you look around for freeware apps.

[DcibeL]

Thank you for your tests Zaph, they are very helpful to me. Would I be crazy to assume that the Vifa XG performs equally as well as the XT distortion wise, the only difference being the cone material (and in the case of the XT18wo09, a larger magnet).

I am considering your MTM XG project for a friend of mine, and would like to use the XT instead of the XG. If I am not overlooking anything, the XT looks to be a drop in replacement for any design using the XG? I would be building the floorstanding version.

Thanks again.