ScanSpeak Reference Plus speaker (from audiocomponent.nl site)... how is it?

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It is a three way design using ScanSpeak 18W8545,18W8546 and D2905/9900. I found several european speaker DIY site which has this speaker in it.

It seems to be a good design. Just the fact that it's three way using all scanspeak drivers.... Anyone tried it?

For those who are familiar with this design... its baffle is tilted 18.25 degrees from vertical. i.e., all the drivers are slightly looking upward. What's the reason behind this? if I make the cabinet with same internal volume but with a straight vertical baffle, will I get a "wrong" sound?
 

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The reason that the cabnet is slanted back is to align the acoustic centers of the drivers. The acoustic center of a woofer is not at the open end of the, but a little behind that. Adding a crossover to the drivers (a necessity, of cource) can change the centers relative to the other drivers. A sound coming from one speaker might lead the sound coming from another speaker by 90 degrees. Another phrase for this is "group delay." If all three drivers were out of phase with the others by 90 degrees, then putting them in a slanted baffle would align them.

As for your other question, I have never heard this particular set-up (I'm too poor to play with Scan-Speak).
 
I've heard this particular speaker at a diy-shop in the Netherlands, It has a neutral sound and the sound is rich of detail, imaging is also good, but the problem is that I've auditioned only for a short time, it's too expensive for me, and I wasn't as impressed as the driver line-up would suggest.

The people of the diy-shop said that it was a very difficult speaker to drive, because the impedance load dips <3ohm! So the amp which they used (vincent amp) hadn't enough power to control the speaker. This speaker also needs a big room, the auditionroom was not large enough. The room has to be >30m^2

So bottomline is buy it if you have got a beast of an amp which is stabile at any load. (pass? rotel 1090? or an other powerhouse) This speaker deserves an hq frontend.

If you doesn't have the above conditions, plz build the reference monitor which IMO is better (not in the bass department ofcourse), it's more subtile and has better imaging (it's a monitor speaker) and is a little less amp dependend.

disclaimer
All this speakers are auditioned in a shop, not my own room under ideal conditions (sunday night :) own set). So the listening impressions aren't optimal and are subject to change (mostly in a positive way)
 
How good is the Reference Monitor!

This small speaker looks very interresting.
Do you happen to know how it compares to, say....

Proac Response One SC
Totem Model One Signature
Merlin TSM
or any other high quality manitor?

I am thinking of building a small speaker for my little room, but I have never heard the Ref Mon :bawling:

Any subjective listning impressions would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
I haven't heard the commercial ones, so sorry about that :bigeyes:

A free translation of a Dutch reviewer about the Ref Mon.

"Imaging was excellent both in depth and width, the soundstage was big. The bass was extremely controlled clean and transparent. The highs were detailed but modest (I hope it's the right word for "ingetogen") The mids were very detailed. It's a very fast speaker. The speaker was capable of presenting to the listener even the smallest and most hidden information."

Most of these statements I recognised when I listened at the diy-shop (also for a short time ~30minutes).

I'll hope this helps.
 
thank you :)

Yes this helps, they seem even more interresting now.
I`ll gather some more info around the net before I decide on a specific speaker.

Btw, I have a comercial speaker with Scan Speak Revelator (Doxa 8.1 Revelator) and it is absolutley lovley up in the highs, so I really would like a design using this tweeter.

Ok, thanks again.
 
How about "Reference Monitor" ?

From the same site, there is a book shelf version of Reference Plus. Revealator tweeter and 18W8546 woofer in a small ported enclosure.

This one doesn't look all that expensive to build (comparatively). anyone tried this?
 

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Scan Speak reference monitor

Hi to everyone,

I have ordered the drivers and crossovers from Rolph at audiocomponents.nl (email: info@audiocomponents.nl). The prices where the best you can get and the service excellent.
At the moment I am wondering whether to build them out of mdf (cheap version) or solid 5cm oak (expensive version). I am also trying to decide what to use as damping material.

It would be nice if anyone else is interested in this speaker to exchange ideas. I beleive that for small listening rooms it must be very good. I am planning to match it in the future with a sub-woofer.

Question: Can this speaker be driven by an aleph 3 or 5 or Zen ver.4 amplifier. Which is the better choice?

Thank you all for reading,
George Christofilopoulos
Athens-Greece
 
Re: How about "Reference Monitor" ?

vision said:
From the same site, there is a book shelf version of Reference Plus. Revealator tweeter and 18W8546 woofer in a small ported enclosure.

This one doesn't look all that expensive to build (comparatively). anyone tried this?

Read the 3 posts above yours, that's all about the Ref Mon. ;)

gchrist:
I would go for 22mm MDF wit lead bitums (http://www.intertechnik.de/shop/artikeldaten/datenblatt/1343345.html) and the front baffle twice the thickness, so 44mm, also I would add some bracing with 18mm mdf (for an impression look at
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
) But compensate for the extra volume, keep the original volume. About the crossover use Tritec coils and Audyn or Mundorf caps, it is expensive, but worth the trouble.

edit: about the amp I would go for an volksamp aleph 30 (almost as expensive as the zen v4, but an improved aleph...), but I haven't experience with one of the pass designs :(. It's just a feeling after I read the review on enjoy te music -> http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0701/volksamp.htm
 
johnny1 said:
Scanspeak Event looks very interesting in this site. Very good drivers (18W8535 is used in the Proac Response 2.5 also) I guess Planet 10 will agree with me....

I've also heard this one, The lows of this speakers are very very deep, detailed and TL like :) (in a positive way), the highs aren't as detailed as the Ref Mon. (less analytical, more musical and modest), there is also a small dip in the lower mids, but this is only noticable if you change to a speaker which excells in it (e.g. Ref Mon).

I like the Event very much, only it was a bit to expensive for me (I'm a poor student :bawling: ss isn't the brand for students I'll stick with Vifa :))
 
LaMa said:


I've also heard this one, The lows of this speakers are very very deep, detailed and TL like :) (in a positive way), the highs aren't as detailed as the Ref Mon. (less analytical, more musical and modest), there is also a small dip in the lower mids, but this is only noticable if you change to a speaker which excells in it (e.g. Ref Mon).

I like the Event very much, only it was a bit to expensive for me (I'm a poor student :bawling: ss isn't the brand for students I'll stick with Vifa :))

:bigeyes: :D :) Well LaMa you are my man!! I was wondering how this speaker sounds! By the way, Vifa are very desent and "honest" drivers. It is very unlikely to be dissapointed by a Vifa driver, but SS deserves the extra Euros! If you can't afford Sc-Speak another alternative is the Audax Aerogel drivers. Excelent mids and well controlled bass with very reasonable prices. If you can audition them somewhere don't miss them.
 
Re: MDF versus OAK

gchrist said:
Why not use oak instead of mdf. The cost is significant but I beleive that it will be sonically better. Why use 22mm MDF. Using thicker wood (5cm) you dont have to construct any inner bracings!

Cheers
George Christofilopoulos
Greece - Athens

It has something to do with the own resonance frequency of the material, also oak is a natural material, which isn't of constant quality or density. Wood is also subject to stresses due to drying of the wood. (I'm searching for the specific term :bawling: ).
 
To gchrist...

Oak is just natural wood with all the ads and disadv that comes with it. This means that it is possible to see cracks :bawling: after six months as the wool will dry. Thicker materials will also increase the size of the baffle (wider) which is going to affect the stereo imaging. I would use marine plywood with MDF as sandwich. Try 16mm plywood+8mm MDF and inverse this (16mm MDF+8mm plywood) for sizes with the same dimensions. This will attenuate box resonances as every side of the box will tune to different frequency.
Tou can't avoid internal bracing in a speaker with the size of Reference plus unless you built them with marble!!
 
Jonny1

Jonny1,

You are correct about the bracings, but I was speaking about the Reference Monitor (not the plus version) which is a small version of the Big Reference Plus.

I was planning on building the front buffle out of two 19mm MDF parts. The original plan was for a 30mm MDF which I could not find in the shops. Will this affect the quality of the output?

Thanks
George Christofilopoulos
 
Re: Scan Speak reference monitor

gchrist said:
Hi to everyone,

I have ordered the drivers and crossovers from Rolph at audiocomponents.nl (email: info@audiocomponents.nl). The prices where the best you can get and the service excellent.

Hi George,

emailed them on your recommendation. Turns out they are not allowed to ship to Germany (I assume because some other dealer has the licence) and will sell in the NL only through their retail dealers at comparatively high prices.

Eric
 
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