Wilson duette driver compliment

[Hastur]

It's obvious the tweeter is the scan speak air circ or some variation on it, but does anyone have any idea what the woofer is. Since it's Wilson, I would suspect it's a Scan Speak. I was thinking about cloning them, fully active instead of the external xo bs the duettes come with.

I listened to them, and think they are the most livable of all the wilson speakers, I found them suprisingly pretty good. You don't need your head in a vice to listen to them. They ain't too bad.

[Hastur]

Well I think a found a likely candidate the Scanspeak 22W/4851T00 same odd 7 hole bolt pattern and similar looking cone material. Does anyone know a reasonable XO or slope for these speakers?

[Johpat]

Hello, according to this test, http://www.audiofast.com/main.asp?id...2&r=0&wersja=0 , the woofer is Scan-Speak 22W4851T00 and tweeter Scan-Speak D2904/7100. If you look at the woofers frequency response, I think the xo is somewhere between 1,5-2 khz. The enclosure is 467 x 232 x 350 mm and is probably made of Corian. Do you think it is important to copy the baffle shape? Are you planning to use analog or digital crossover?

I have heard this speaker on a hifi show in sweden and was very imressed. Unfortunately I can not afford to buy the drivers at the moment and have not enough knowledge of speaker building, but some day maybee...Please post your findings!

[s7horton]

I'm sure the wilson drivers appear similar to scan speak and probably are. But, in all reality, I'm sure they are heavily modified by Wilson as they come into the factory. Details we will never know.

I can almost guarantee that if you bought those drivers and built a crossover, it wouldn't sound like the Duette. Maybe close, though.

Also, the cabinet is not corian. It's their own "X" or "M" material. Not sure which one they used in that design. Since they produce the material, it's awful tough to buy. It's part of what makes the cabinet more reasonant free.

[Hastur]

Thanks Johpat that page verified my suspicions. The woofer looks like the one I suspected. They say the tweeter is the 7100, but for the life of me it looks like the 6600 air cir with the "dented" look to the rear of the magnet, and the expanded ring radiator surround. If you'll notice the King speaker also uses this tweeter. I will be trying to mimic the enclosure very closely is shape, but no exotic materials.

I've thought about it a long time and I think all this talk about Wilson heavy modifying drivers is bs. With the tweeter any coating or changing of the dome material will affect not only response, but will roll off the extention of the tweeter. Nothing has been done to the faceplate, except adding the foam piece. The rear of it in the review shows the same look as the standard tweeter. I doubt they are replacing the magnets with some super duper ones, but I could be wrong. I'm not sure if the 6600 uses fluid, but maybe they remove it, or replace it with one with different viscosity? Doubtful, but possible. Glue something to the pole piece under the dome? Doubtful again, messing with what ScanSpeak has done.

Maybe they coat the woofer cone, but that too looks exactly like the standard driver from both the front and the back. I think it's marketing bs. Maybe placing a sticker that says Wilson Audio instead of ScanSpeak invokes the audio gods to look more favorably upon the electrons within.

I also don't think there is any magic to the M or X material they use. I seriously doubt they developed it, they most likely just called up a company that uses phenolic resin and had them make something to order, or maybe something off the shelf.

[Salas]

There is much sanity in your thoughts. I like it.

[lndm]

Originally posted by Hastur
I will be trying to mimic the enclosure very closely is shape, but no exotic materials.

This is good. I wish you luck with the front baffle, which should be easy enough for some (that have a router for example), but seems much effort for the return.

Regarding the exotic material, I would want to brace the inside well. Other than that can you find out what structures are inside the original that you need to make?

I've thought about it a long time and I think all this talk about Wilson heavy modifying drivers is bs.....messing with what ScanSpeak has done.

It would seem pointless to counter ScanSpeak's work, but um, let me put it this way.

If you build a complex crossover that irons out all small bumps, it may measure well and sound clinically accurate, and some would say the crossover sucks the life out of it. On the other hand, remove some components and tweak, and tolerate some minor bumps and some would say the life comes back and the minor bumps are not significant.

From what I gather Wilson is choosing one of these schools of thought over the other.

they most likely just called up a company that uses phenolic resin and had them make something to order, or maybe something off the shelf.

Things can be added to a resin and I feel it's likely Wilson did add something.

[Eton]

I second the sanity thoughts. Right On.
I think they need to justify the outrageous prices hence all this top secret BS modifications and material used.

[augerpro]

I would have to add that the days of mixing stuff together and accidently inventing some great coumpound (like silly putty) are long gone. Wilson is doing nothing to the materials. Now he may have worked with a monster plastics manufacturer and looked through their catalog of compounds and picked one. And maybe they even made a slight change to it. But he sure doesn't have a plastics factory in his backyard. And why would he when there are companies like Corning who's R&D budget exceeds Wilson's entire revenue but several orders of magnitude?

Originally posted by lndm

It would seem pointless to counter ScanSpeak's work, but um, let me put it this way.

If you build a complex crossover that irons out all small bumps, it may measure well and sound clinically accurate, and some would say the crossover sucks the life out of it. On the other hand, remove some components and tweak, and tolerate some minor bumps and some would say the life comes back and the minor bumps are not significant.

From what I gather Wilson is choosing one of these schools of thought over the other.

I agree with that sentiment though. He may be making inaccurate colored speakers, but if people love that sound and they sell well, then who am I to question that? I think flat FR should be design goal of any manufacturer for the general public. But sometimes I wonder if that's the end all be all for the DIYer making a speaker for himself. Afterall there are all sorts of inaccuracies (BBC dip) that alot of people just seem to like better. I don't think that's a bad thing.

Unless of course you take it to the extreme like Bose

[s7horton]

I would strongly caution assuming the drivers are the same because they look similar. I know there are many companies that contact Scan speak directly and have them build drivers to their specs. Who's to say this hasn't been done by wilson?

I doubt Wilson designed their cabinet materials from the ground up, but to say that the days of designing new materials are long gone is just plain foolish.