I have a couple spare 12" drivers (old Adire Shivas that have been sitting in their boxes for, um, 20 years), and I thought I'd make a pair of speakers to go in the shed and get used outdoors occasionally for parties. Therefore I am looking for a midrange and tweeter, with the following approximate design goals:
They'll go in DIY cabs and be actively crossed over with 4th order Linkwitz-Riley (because I have boards to do that), which is convenient for ignoring poor driver behaviours outside their pass-band that would be relevant at lower orders. Likewise, assuming my current prototyping run works out, I will be driving these with TDA7293s, so power handling up to about 70W is probably good.
Suggestions from personal experience and/or "I bookmarked an interesting thing" kind of speculation are welcome. I pretty much ignored the driver market for 15 years there, so I have little to no idea what is good and/or readily available anymore.
- high SPL cleanly, with a preference for good sensitivity
- good value for money, doesn't need to be gold-plated audiophile-grade
- no piezos because I am prejudiced and hate the sound of piezos
- preferably 8 ohms (will simplify power supply design shared across multiple amps)
- power handling of about 50W+ RMS on the mid
- bonus if they have sealed backs to reduce the amount of carpentry I need to do
- bonus points if they're available in Australia without ridiculous shipping
They'll go in DIY cabs and be actively crossed over with 4th order Linkwitz-Riley (because I have boards to do that), which is convenient for ignoring poor driver behaviours outside their pass-band that would be relevant at lower orders. Likewise, assuming my current prototyping run works out, I will be driving these with TDA7293s, so power handling up to about 70W is probably good.
Suggestions from personal experience and/or "I bookmarked an interesting thing" kind of speculation are welcome. I pretty much ignored the driver market for 15 years there, so I have little to no idea what is good and/or readily available anymore.
These come to mind.... I know you hate piezo, but these are actually not bad (I would use them but only these... the imitations sound terrible) - use a 2u2 cap to couple them and they won't sound like a piezo. It will get rid of the bump around 5kHz... https://www.gad.net/Blog/wp-content/uploads/3017/04/KSN-1001A-1005A-Datasheet.pdf
If you want a mod to move your post, report your own post and say why in the report - they will move it for you.
https://www.adelcom.net/MOTOROLA_ksn1005a.htm
If you really can't deal with piezo, I use these and they are excellent (at least the original Vifa is).
https://www.parts-express.com/Vifa-D19TD-27-08-3-4-Poly-Dome-Tweeter-299-124
For mids, if I couldn't find any in the garbage or at a thrift shop, I'd go with something like these: (the only sealed back mids I found there but I don't like foam surround for damp conditions like a shed).
https://www.parts-express.com/Goldwood-GM-85-8-Heavy-Duty-5-1-4-Sealed-Back-Midrange-8-Ohm-280-115
If you want a mod to move your post, report your own post and say why in the report - they will move it for you.
https://www.adelcom.net/MOTOROLA_ksn1005a.htm
If you really can't deal with piezo, I use these and they are excellent (at least the original Vifa is).
https://www.parts-express.com/Vifa-D19TD-27-08-3-4-Poly-Dome-Tweeter-299-124
For mids, if I couldn't find any in the garbage or at a thrift shop, I'd go with something like these: (the only sealed back mids I found there but I don't like foam surround for damp conditions like a shed).
https://www.parts-express.com/Goldwood-GM-85-8-Heavy-Duty-5-1-4-Sealed-Back-Midrange-8-Ohm-280-115
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Agreed with the vifas; I use D27TG35-06 on my main stereo/theatre and they are lovely.
Seems they still exist and got a lot cheaper too at parts-express since the Vifa brand went away.
Seems they still exist and got a lot cheaper too at parts-express since the Vifa brand went away.
Has anyone tried the PRV WGP275PH and TW700Ti or similar? The sensitivity looks stupendous, but the response graphs are extremely lumpy.
Are there any affordable and sensitive horn-loaded type things that don't have 10dB+ wobbles in their response?
Are there any affordable and sensitive horn-loaded type things that don't have 10dB+ wobbles in their response?
The Econowave comes to mind. Not sure how the Adire Shiva's handle midrange frequencies though. I know that these are marketed as subwoofers, but some subwoofers have good inductance control and actually work well up to several kHz.
https://www.audiokarma.org/forums/i...econowave-speaker.150939/page-12#post-1856214
https://www.audiokarma.org/forums/i...econowave-speaker.150939/page-12#post-1856214
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Wow, thanks; that D220Ti looks like just the ticket on paper. I have never used compression drivers and horns before - is there a good intro somewhere as to what is required in terms of design thought to integrate them, and/or any particular shortcomings I need to be looking for in selecting one? I take it there might be some subtlety in selecting a horn that will load the driver appropriately?
My "no free lunch" alarm bells are ringing where I see 108dB sensitivity on something covering 1kHz-20kHz or more. Are there any (sound quality) reasons these are mostly used in PA and not hifi applications?
The links in that post are mostly 404, but one mentions "CD compensated crossover". The datasheet is silent about that; do you have a handy pointer to a reference or intro or something? Sorry for all the dumb questions; CD horns are entirely outside my design experience.
The Shiva is good for about 300Hz but I can put in a big sensitive midrange (8MR600X or similar?) to cover 200-2kHz. SPL at the low end (87dB@1W vs 100dB and 108dB) will be my limiting factor with a bunch of high-sensitivity drivers above so I'd like to cross the Shiva as low as possible; I guess I should put that in a different cab to support future upgradeitis.
I have started reading the Econowave thread and related builds. Much to digest.
Thankyou.