Not affiliated, but have ordered from here before, & they ship to USA: https://www.soundimports.eu/en/markaudio-alpair-12pw.html
Also https://kjfaudio.com/product/alpair-12pw-single-driver/
No idea about shipping to US thou.
jeff
No idea about shipping to US thou.
jeff
Shipping and VAT. Maybe my best chance is to find a used set here in the US. I had the 12P, and in an unusual turn of events was gifted an expensive set of ScanSpeak drivers that are incredible, but in my cabinets the bass is excessive.
Ixnay,
What cabinets are these and what ScanSpeak drivers?
There might be some mods to the cabinets that might be possible to do in order to make the bass more to your liking.
What speakers are you using with these bass modules?
zman01,
A few years ago, I got interested in a back loaded horn design by Decware Audio called the DNA. I built it and thought good things, but then they came up with the DNA2 which was about 30% larger. I built that too and installed Mark Audio 12P drivers after trying a few others. no real complaints if you had your ducks in a row with your system powering them. As chance would have it, a customer gifted a set of Scan Speak drivers to me. The model 18WU/8741T 7" drivers. What could I say? I just had to try them. I sold the Mark Audio drivers and kept the Scan Speak drivers. The cabinet is a back loaded horn, and is very effective in the bass range. Because these were not full range, I had to add a tweeter and crossover. Here is a shot of the cabinets, but you can't tell much about them as far as internals. they do weigh in at about 65 lbs. though. Of course, you are seeing the Mark Audio 12P driver in place at that time before I installed the Scan Speak drivers. The next photo is after the Scan Speaks were installed.
FWIW, I have blocked the mouth of the horn, and even used a Harrison Labs 12db/oct 100hz filter to try and make things right,. No worky, so back to making things right with a set of Mark Audio 12PW drivers.
A few years ago, I got interested in a back loaded horn design by Decware Audio called the DNA. I built it and thought good things, but then they came up with the DNA2 which was about 30% larger. I built that too and installed Mark Audio 12P drivers after trying a few others. no real complaints if you had your ducks in a row with your system powering them. As chance would have it, a customer gifted a set of Scan Speak drivers to me. The model 18WU/8741T 7" drivers. What could I say? I just had to try them. I sold the Mark Audio drivers and kept the Scan Speak drivers. The cabinet is a back loaded horn, and is very effective in the bass range. Because these were not full range, I had to add a tweeter and crossover. Here is a shot of the cabinets, but you can't tell much about them as far as internals. they do weigh in at about 65 lbs. though. Of course, you are seeing the Mark Audio 12P driver in place at that time before I installed the Scan Speak drivers. The next photo is after the Scan Speaks were installed.
FWIW, I have blocked the mouth of the horn, and even used a Harrison Labs 12db/oct 100hz filter to try and make things right,. No worky, so back to making things right with a set of Mark Audio 12PW drivers.
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Ixnay,
My understanding is that the Alpair 12PW and Alpair 12P have different T&S specs, and the bass alignments will be different. The Decware DNA2 horn that is designed for using with the Allpair 12P will not necessarily work with the Alpair 12PW.
My understanding is that the Alpair 12PW and Alpair 12P have different T&S specs, and the bass alignments will be different. The Decware DNA2 horn that is designed for using with the Allpair 12P will not necessarily work with the Alpair 12PW.
Jeff, That is actually what I am hoping for. The 12P almost had the bass that I wanted. And in the upper bass, I felt that it lacked body. This was shamefully obvious when the SS drivers replaced them. So, this may be the compromise that I am looking for.
I am not certain that the DNA2 was designed for the Mark Audio drivers. I forget which drivers were being used.
Yes, I will first attempt to use the new tweeters with the 12PW and see what might need to happen from there.
I am not certain that the DNA2 was designed for the Mark Audio drivers. I forget which drivers were being used.
Yes, I will first attempt to use the new tweeters with the 12PW and see what might need to happen from there.
I looked again at the Decware site for which drivers were suggested for the DNA and DNA2 builds. The original smaller DNA uses a Mark Audio 10P driver. The larger DNA2 does not state a driver, although it would seem reasonable that the 12P driver would likely qualify. Let me look through the build thread to see if there is more info. Bottom line though is that the 12P did not quite cut it in the bass region, and if I substitute the 12PW, it will definitely need a tweeter. All of that remains to be seen.
Ixnay,
I checked the specs - the Alpair 12PW has a similar Qts and slightly larger VAS than the 18WU/8741T - without proper simulations it will not be possible to say for certain, but it is likely that you will end up having similar problems with this cabinet and the Alpair 12PW.
I also checked the specs of the Satori MW19P and MW16P woofers, and their specs in Qts and VAS are closer to the Alpair 12P.
However these are premium quality and premium priced drivers, and throwing them into cabinets not specifically designed for them might not yield the desired results.
I checked the specs - the Alpair 12PW has a similar Qts and slightly larger VAS than the 18WU/8741T - without proper simulations it will not be possible to say for certain, but it is likely that you will end up having similar problems with this cabinet and the Alpair 12PW.
I also checked the specs of the Satori MW19P and MW16P woofers, and their specs in Qts and VAS are closer to the Alpair 12P.
However these are premium quality and premium priced drivers, and throwing them into cabinets not specifically designed for them might not yield the desired results.
zman01,
Wow. Thank you so much for checking into this. I do understand what you mean about buying drivers and hoping for the best, when what needs to be done is a much closer inspection between cabinet and driver interaction.
I had to look long for any decent info at the Decware site in the build forums to get any idea of what the original drivers used was. Turns out, a Silver Flute 8" driver was used along with a Hi-Vi ribbon tweeter. The Silver Flute was the least impressive of any of the 4 drivers that I have used in the DNA2 model. At $40 each, what did I expect?
I will check into the Satori drivers just to get an idea about them. I am not looking for really dramatic bass, just a combination that sounds right down to maybe 60hz.
Wow. Thank you so much for checking into this. I do understand what you mean about buying drivers and hoping for the best, when what needs to be done is a much closer inspection between cabinet and driver interaction.
I had to look long for any decent info at the Decware site in the build forums to get any idea of what the original drivers used was. Turns out, a Silver Flute 8" driver was used along with a Hi-Vi ribbon tweeter. The Silver Flute was the least impressive of any of the 4 drivers that I have used in the DNA2 model. At $40 each, what did I expect?
I will check into the Satori drivers just to get an idea about them. I am not looking for really dramatic bass, just a combination that sounds right down to maybe 60hz.
Ixnay,
My "research" also took me to the Sliver Flute W20RC38-08. Looks like the designer decided that DNA2 would use the same drivers as the Decware DM497 speaker, and the DM497 uses the Silver Flute 8" driver.
When you say least impressive, can you please elaborate what was lacking? Was it low frequency performance or something else?
Just to add, the Scanspeak Illuminator mid-basses that you have are very good drivers; in the right cabinet, they should be able to provide you satisfactory low frequency performance. As you will be using them in a 2 way / multi-way system, the choice of companion driver is important, and just as important is the use of a proper crossover design taking into consideration drivers and the cabinet design.
My "research" also took me to the Sliver Flute W20RC38-08. Looks like the designer decided that DNA2 would use the same drivers as the Decware DM497 speaker, and the DM497 uses the Silver Flute 8" driver.
When you say least impressive, can you please elaborate what was lacking? Was it low frequency performance or something else?
Just to add, the Scanspeak Illuminator mid-basses that you have are very good drivers; in the right cabinet, they should be able to provide you satisfactory low frequency performance. As you will be using them in a 2 way / multi-way system, the choice of companion driver is important, and just as important is the use of a proper crossover design taking into consideration drivers and the cabinet design.
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It has been awhile, but to memory, I noticed that the bass was not defined very well compared to the MA 12P. Even though the MA drivers didn't get bass as low as I thought that they should, it was indeed defined very well by that which they were capable of. I don't recall what they rest of the spectrum sounded like so much, but I can say that the drivers did not remain in the cabinets very long.
Too bad really as the SS drivers are so very good at most of the spectrum that they cover except for being so heavy on the bass. I realize that this is more about the cabinet used, but after plugging the horn's throat and using a 100 hz 12db filter on them, I feel that it is time to reconsider a more appropriate driver (or cabinet).
Too bad really as the SS drivers are so very good at most of the spectrum that they cover except for being so heavy on the bass. I realize that this is more about the cabinet used, but after plugging the horn's throat and using a 100 hz 12db filter on them, I feel that it is time to reconsider a more appropriate driver (or cabinet).
2 way projects using the 18WU/8741T:
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Illumina-66.htm
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Illuminator-71.htm
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Illumina-66.htm
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Illuminator-71.htm
Oh, I have done a few projects for a friend of mine using this combination of drivers. Wonderful stuff, but so heavy at 80 lbs. per speaker.
One integrated that I am using right now is the Manley Stingray. But I get closer to what I like to hear with an Iron Pre in combination with a SS class A amp that used to be a Forte' model 3, but no, not anymore. John Dee redesigned it and now I am not sure what it is except wonderful.
One integrated that I am using right now is the Manley Stingray. But I get closer to what I like to hear with an Iron Pre in combination with a SS class A amp that used to be a Forte' model 3, but no, not anymore. John Dee redesigned it and now I am not sure what it is except wonderful.
