FYI, Magico Zellaton drivers on Ebay!!

[Adam D]

Just wanted to let everyone know there are a pair of Zellaton drivers on ebay with no resurve. They are used in the $140,000 Magico Reference. Retail on them is about $1400 per pair. Many people who have heard them feel they are the best drivers out there.

Good Luck!
Adam

[Willitwork]

The beast in question:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ATD-Gorlich-Zell...QQcmdZViewItem

[Zaph]

What's up with the way they look? It looks like someone glued crumpled up aluminum foil to an old Focal driver. Apparently, they are in "pristine" condition.

A while back I was offered to test the newer version ATD W18-4 as long as I paid shipping here and return from europe. I turned it down as that was rather expensive and I'm temporarily taking a break from testing drivers. (gotta build some projects now)

[Willitwork]

Originally posted by Zaph
What's up with the way they look? It looks like someone glued crumpled up aluminum foil to an old Focal driver. Apparently, they are in "pristine" condition.

I assumed the foil was some sort of protective cover for shipping/storing. If it's not then the seller's definition of "pristine" doesn't match yours or mine.

[imjatse]

I was curious about the marks on the cone so I did some searching and one description I found of the drivers is that they are a metal foil lamenated to a foam "to be self dampening". NO idea if this is true but it makes sense. You ever make aluminum foil masks, where you put the foil down on a soft surface and "draw" on it. The foil doesn't break but you are left with lines. That could describe the flaws on the cone. As for pristine, well so's my 1994 accord. Since my odds of seeing a speaker like this in my lifetime is minimal I am just guessing. Anyone have any more information on the construction of the cone?

[Adam D]

From what I've seen online, even new Zellatons have the lines. I assume caused by laying flat aluminum foil to a non flate ( concave) dome. It seems this is normal. I would not assume he is mistaken in his claim that they are prestine due to the foil lines!

best regards,
Adam

[Zaph]

I don't even know for sure if these are from the same company, but I thought these were the newer version.



As used in newer Magico products:



In any case, I have my doubts that these perform any better that drivers at 1/10th the price. We'll probably never know until objective tests are run on them.

[Marik]

Originally posted by Zaph
What's up with the way they look? It looks like someone glued crumpled up aluminum foil to an old Focal driver. Apparently, they are in "pristine" condition.

A while back I was offered to test the newer version ATD W18-4 as long as I paid shipping here and return from europe. I turned it down as that was rather expensive and I'm temporarily taking a break from testing drivers. (gotta build some projects now)

It is not even pics of the actual item. Inspect and compare:

http://translate.google.com/translat...l%3Den%26lr%3D

[Willitwork]

Originally posted by Marik


It is not even pics of the actual item. Inspect and compare:

http://translate.google.com/translat...l%3Den%26lr%3D

Quote from driver description:

The membrane “Zellaton� laughed them to a licence[...]

Refreshingly candid

[Willitwork]

Originally posted by Zaph
In any case, I have my doubts that these perform any better that drivers at 1/10th the price. We'll probably never know until objective tests are run on them.

These drivers obviously fall into the esoteric category where exclusivity is an important factor. I guess that someone interested in paying $100,000+ for a speaker system wouldn't be overly thrilled to find the same setup at the Joneses. No doubt these are quality drivers but like you say many more affordable drivers are probably just as good.

It even appears that ATD drivers are merely entry-level in this market segment, judging by the asking price for these from another fancy manufacturer:

http://www.phy-hp.com/English/Products/Drive_Units.html

The cheapest of those woofers sells for $950.00 US