Speaker driver measurements: 2-4" midrange, full range

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T

TMM

Member
Joined 2007
#1
Hi all,

Several years ago I measured a bunch of 2-4" cone midrange / 'full-range' drivers and published the results on my website, in a 'Zaph Audio'-style. You can view the measurements and commentary here:
Timothy Feleppa's Pages

I still have all the measurement equipment I used in 2013 and I'm hoping to get back into measuring soon. I plan to add +10dB and -10dB harmonic distortion sweeps in addition to the existing test level otherwise the test methodology won't change.

My interest is still primarily in small drivers with the focus on using them as midranges in passive 3-way systems. Drivers I have acquired and plan to test very soon are as follows:
-Scanspeak D7608/920010 3" dome midrange
-Dayton Audio RS52AN-8 2" dome midrange
-Dayton Audio RS52FN-8 2" dome midrange
-Dayton Audio RS75-4 2" full range
-Aura NS3-193-8A1 3" full range
-Peerless TC5FB00-04 1.5" full range
-Peerless TC5FB00-08 1.5" full range
-Peerless TC5FC00-04 1.5" full range
-Peerless TC5FC07-04 1.5" full range
-Peerless TA6FC00-04 2" full range
-Peerless TA6FD00-04 2" full range
-Peerless TC7FD04-04 2.5" full range
-Peerless 830970 2" full range
-Tang Band W2-748SG 2" full range
-DLS Ultimate U2.5 and UR2.5 2" dome midranges (Morel CDM54 and a version with a sealed rear chamber)
-Tang Band W3-2141 3" full range
-SB Acoustics SB65WBAC25-4 2.5" full range
-HiVi B2S 2" full range

All of the drivers previously tested and the ones listed above have been purchased by myself with funds from my own pocket. I have no affiliation with any audio companies, my day job is not in the audio industry. Up until this point I have been doing this only to satisfy my own curiosity. If there is significant interest in a particular driver and I become interested too, i'll consider purchasing and testing it. Being in Australia shipping is quite killer from USA and Europe so I can often only justify buying a whole bunch of drivers at once, rather than buying just one pair at a time.
I may consider in the future accepting driver donations for testing if there is demand. I will never do a 'paid review' however - my opinion can't be bought and I will always call a spade a spade 🙂

I may also consider doing ~1" tweeters and ~6.5" woofers in the future as I have a bit of a collection of those now too 🙂.

Any feedback is always appreciated. Cheers!
-Tim
 
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#5
Ugg10 said:
Have you done or planning to do a Visaton b80. Looks an interesting speaker.

B 80 - 8 Ohm | Visaton

Models well with their g20sc tweeter and gf200 (8 ohm config) woofer in a 70l floor standers.
Click to expand...
It's definitely on my radar, I've been putting off buying a pair because of the price. I think i remember xrk971 posting some measurements of it in one of the blind comparison threads and it looked very very good.

Another 3" full range i've been eyeing off is this one from MCM:
http://au.element14.com/mcm-audio-select/55-5650/3-die-cast-woofer-8-ohm-rubber/dp/2827720
My suspicion is that it is good but not $38AUD good.
 
#6
Driver measurements added:
-Dayton Audio RS52AN-8 2" dome midrange
-Dayton Audio RS52FN-8 2" dome midrange
-Aura NS3-193-8A1 3" full range
-Peerless TC5FB00-04 1.5" full range
-Peerless TC5FB00-08 1.5" full range
-Peerless TC5FC00-04 1.5" full range
-Peerless TA6FD00-04 2" full range
-Peerless TC7FD04-04 2.5" full range
-Peerless 830970 2" full range
-Tang Band W3-2141 3" full range

Link to results

All the peerless measured as expected. The TC5 are kind of interesting; Tweeter-like response at the top end but much different distortion characteristic at the bottom end since they are an overhung motor with much higher xmax and lower fs than the average tweeter. They overload more gradually than the average tweeter. Would work great in an array - I'm thinking of how I can use a pair of them with a 7" woofer.

Peerless 830970 and Aura NS3 are close to unlistenable imo.

The Tang band has an excellent motor, I just wish they found a better cone for it. I've always said that TB need to put a metal cone on one of their better motor designs. This motor with a metal cone would be killer.

The RS52F is a bit of an upset. The RS52A I purchased years ago performs much better.
 
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#16
Quard said:
any thoughts about adding FaitalPro 3fe25?
still only $19 plus shipping
Click to expand...
The 3FE22 and 3FE25 are on my shortlist for next time I make a Parts Express order 🙂

That might be a little bit away though. There are another six 2-4" drivers in this group waiting to be put on the test baffle and after that I might go on a slight tangent and test a few 6.5/7" woofers. Between making the baffle inserts and finding time when it's both acceptable to be blasting out 90dB+ sweeps and other people around me aren't making too much noise, several weeks pass 😛
 
#18
Ooooo, 6-7” mid woofers, nice.

Love to see a test showing the differences between the Dayton RS180-4 and RS180P-4 and a comparison with the Peerless 830883. All sem to be popular and perform at a sensible cost around $50-60.
 
#20
Already sold off the FU10RB a few years ago together with some of the other drivers that I didn't intend to use in any projects. Zaph tested it at what I assume was a similar output level to my own testing and his sample looked to perform a lot better:
http://www.zaphaudio.com/temp/Seas-FU10RB-04-HD.gif
Still got a cone resonance issue at ~1.5kHz though.

I'm more interested in ~2.5-3.5" because they tend to cover the deficiencies of ~6.5" woofers and 1" tweeters better than 4" drivers do. I find that 4" drivers tend to be more suited to be paired with a 8-10" woofer(s) and that is bigger than I like to build. Of course there are exceptions to this and I have a couple of drivers I'm going to test which are about 100mm diameter like the SEAS. I'd also like to compare the Dayton RS100 to the RS100P at some point.
 
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