I see there are quite a few folks on this forum who have experience redesigning crossovers for the various Kef Uniq speakers. I am considering using one of these drivers in a 3-way design, likely using a hypex fusion plate amp to provide power, crossover, and DSP.
I realize the r300 midrange driver would be the best choice here, but I'm not likely to find one at a reasonable price. I can find Q150, LS50, or R100s at a pricepoint I can live with.
My question is; if we assume
a) I'll be pulling the driver, making a new sealed enclosure
b) Using DSP for XO
c) Using a dedicated low distortion woofer(s) to cover <300hz or so
I also have a set of the HTS3005SE 'egg' speakers, but I don't think they are up to the class of the newer uniq drivers, if I remember the measurements I saw correctly.
Which of the drivers would be the best choice here, and why?
I realize the r300 midrange driver would be the best choice here, but I'm not likely to find one at a reasonable price. I can find Q150, LS50, or R100s at a pricepoint I can live with.
My question is; if we assume
a) I'll be pulling the driver, making a new sealed enclosure
b) Using DSP for XO
c) Using a dedicated low distortion woofer(s) to cover <300hz or so
I also have a set of the HTS3005SE 'egg' speakers, but I don't think they are up to the class of the newer uniq drivers, if I remember the measurements I saw correctly.
Which of the drivers would be the best choice here, and why?
I'd use R100. You get basically LS50 driver without the price of the fancy cabinet which is a large chunk of the money you pay for it.
Q150 has steel basket and i wouldn't use it unless i had to. Maybe not bad but i do not have direct experience as i have with R300, LS50 and Q100.
Q150 has steel basket and i wouldn't use it unless i had to. Maybe not bad but i do not have direct experience as i have with R300, LS50 and Q100.
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R100. I dont have experience with q150. Unlike the R100 and Q100 which have an Al membrane, LS50 has Al-Mg.
LS50 has advanced cabinet with constraint layer damping. It will be more expensive to make a similar one yourself than re-use existing one. I'd stick with LS50, keep enclosures but change crossover and add woofers/subwoofers.
LS50, Q100 (and probably other derivates of that concept) sound really bad bellow 200Hz or so. Bass is bloated and parts of lower midbass are muffled. It really needs something to climb at least to 200Hz or so and then give it to dualconcentric. Other benefit of crossing it over a bit higher than you would with typical subwoofer is that the midrange cone excursion is quite lower when deprived of frequencies bellow 200Hz. So basically waveguide doesn't jump around your tweeter all the time.
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Interesting feedback gents, thank you.
This is the first I've heard of cone material difference, I thought it was only motor changes and slight waveguide geometry changes between these models thanks. What is the advantage to AL cone only?
I will be crossing between no lower than 250-300hz to low distortion woofer(s), have not decided on which just yet but have several good ones on hand. Depending on which way I go, I could possibly cross higher (500-700hz?) to stay in the lowest distortion range for the KEF midbasses.
Around here, used priced per pair tend to run around:
Ls50 $750-850
R100 $600-700
Q150 $250-300
I do marginally prefer the cosmetics of a black cone version but could live with the others.
The Ls50 cabinet could be used as well, but it would have to lie on its side directly on the woofer enclosure, so would be a rather clumsy solution aesthetics wise. I'm sure KEFs enclosure is very good, but I am confident I can match all aspects of it besides the flexible port (which I don't need anyway) and curved baffle.
The R100 has the flared trim ring which extends the waveguide a little further, which could perhaps be repurposed. Is this a worthwhile benefit?
This is the first I've heard of cone material difference, I thought it was only motor changes and slight waveguide geometry changes between these models thanks. What is the advantage to AL cone only?
I will be crossing between no lower than 250-300hz to low distortion woofer(s), have not decided on which just yet but have several good ones on hand. Depending on which way I go, I could possibly cross higher (500-700hz?) to stay in the lowest distortion range for the KEF midbasses.
Around here, used priced per pair tend to run around:
Ls50 $750-850
R100 $600-700
Q150 $250-300
I do marginally prefer the cosmetics of a black cone version but could live with the others.
The Ls50 cabinet could be used as well, but it would have to lie on its side directly on the woofer enclosure, so would be a rather clumsy solution aesthetics wise. I'm sure KEFs enclosure is very good, but I am confident I can match all aspects of it besides the flexible port (which I don't need anyway) and curved baffle.
The R100 has the flared trim ring which extends the waveguide a little further, which could perhaps be repurposed. Is this a worthwhile benefit?
Personally, i could not tell. With LS50 there seems to be just a tad more openness in midrange than Q100 but i could not contribute that to the cone alloy since the cabinets, motor and suspension are different also. I also did not listen Q100 and LS50 side by side. Given that both Al and Al-Mg measure so well, i'd say that there are no obvious advantages one over another in Kef UniQ arangement.
There is no need to cross it that high since distortion starts to rise at 200Hz, which is the crossover frequency i would choose. Here are the distortion figures for LS50 and R100 made by NRCC
R100
So do i 🙂 Prices are Ok but check if you can obtain Q100. There are few guys that made 3way speakers with it and with great success.
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That is a must, unless you want to make your own trim rings. I'd save the factory ones just in case.
New pair costs that much in Germany:
https://www.idealo.de/preisvergleich/OffersOfProduct/5864486_-ls50-schwarz-hochglanz-kef.html
Probably, sales. Check your local stores or buy from germany.
I am in Canada, won't be buying from Germany 😉 This is the price in canadian dollars, which are worth ~0.7 USD on a good day. New price here is $900-1000 CDN.
Open Baffle UniQ
Just wired and playing since an hour.
Open baffle UniQ (Q350 unit).
Woofers are Beyma 12BR70.
Not sounding well balanced yet: too much mid (tweeter can possibly do without attenuation).
Woofers not yet equalized to compensate for open baffle loss.
For the time being crossover is active between woofers and UniQ (DBX 234S).
This must play from 70 hz upwards; sub bass will be a sealed Scanspeak 30W4558 for each channel.
Just wired and playing since an hour.
Open baffle UniQ (Q350 unit).
Woofers are Beyma 12BR70.
Not sounding well balanced yet: too much mid (tweeter can possibly do without attenuation).
Woofers not yet equalized to compensate for open baffle loss.
For the time being crossover is active between woofers and UniQ (DBX 234S).
This must play from 70 hz upwards; sub bass will be a sealed Scanspeak 30W4558 for each channel.
