Tested: a weird bunch of 6.5" drivers

[Zaph]

I rounded up everything I had in the house last week and did some tests. It's a wide variety of drivers.

6.5" to 7" Driver Comparison

 

[xyrium]

Nice work Zaph. I'm sure happy I chose the L15s for my first project. THose alu Seas drivers sure seem to have hit a perfect price/performance ratio, and leaning towards performance!

Rgds,
Paul

 

[Grahamt]

I always look forward to your tests, good work.

 

[ShinOBIWAN]

As ever Zaph, good work!

I've got a few high end drivers here, things like the ATC mid dome, Scan R2904-7000, Scan R2904-7100, ATC 9" bass driver (SB75-234SC), Seas Excel W22.

What I'd like to do is test them in similar fashion to what you've done. Frequency, sensitivity and impedance plots are already done but I'm really wanting to measure the HMD tests.

I think it would be interesting for everyone to see if there's any justification for these expensive drivers.

Care to give a little more detail on your methods and software you used?

Thanks.

 

[sqlkev]

Great info!

any new project in the work Zaph?

 

[bowdown]

Hey Zaph have you ever had a chance to test and compare the Vifa XG18WH , Vifa PL18WO and also the Vifa M18WO in one test? Even just the XG18 and PL18 would be good enough but all three would be like having gold. I just thought id ask as these seem to be very popular Vifa speakers and most people(myself as well) get confused choosing a woofer out of this list. Please let me know what you think.


Regards

Bowdown

Kepp up the DIY spirit!!

 

[Etacovda]

awesome stuff, truely useful - however a few possible improvements if i may?

pdf links to each driver would be nice, along with each driver in the photo with its model number beside it would be extremely useful - id round up the links for you myself, but being stuck on 'internet excuse' connection at the moment (56k) its rather painful opening pdfs...

A bit more work, i realise - but could be really handy (same with the tweeter tests) - hope it doesnt seem like im not appreciative, I truely am!

Thanks
Etacovda

 

[ShinOBIWAN]

Care to give a little more detail on your methods and software you used?

Got it:

http://www.zaphaudio.com/setup.html

SoundEasy eh, well I've never tried it out but do they have a demo version?

 

[Zaph]

Hey Zaph have you ever had a chance to test and compare the Vifa XG18WH , Vifa PL18WO and also the Vifa M18WO in one test?

Nope, can't say I have. I generally don't feel a need to test drivers that have been extensively tested by others. I trust other people's measurements, and if Linkwitz says the PL18 performs poorly, I believe him. I think Mark K tested the PL18 too, and for some reason I suspect the M18 would only perform worse. I mentioned in my blog, this is just what I have in the house at the moment. (unfortunate - nobody should have as many drivers laying around as me. Or so my wife says. 🙂 )

awesome stuff, truely useful - however a few possible improvements if i may?

Hold on right there. My burst of energy and excitement has disipated, and I've already completely lost interest in this test. Not to mention I'm out of time and have to get other things done, like this waveguide TMM I'm working on. 😀

Got it:

http://www.zaphaudio.com/setup.html

SoundEasy eh, well I've never tried it out but do they have a demo version?

I don't think there's a demo version. Keep in mind, all you really need to look at HD is a spectrum analyzer and a signal generator. You can get all that for free if you look around for freeware apps.

 

[DcibeL]

Thank you for your tests Zaph, they are very helpful to me. Would I be crazy to assume that the Vifa XG performs equally as well as the XT distortion wise, the only difference being the cone material (and in the case of the XT18wo09, a larger magnet).

I am considering your MTM XG project for a friend of mine, and would like to use the XT instead of the XG. If I am not overlooking anything, the XT looks to be a drop in replacement for any design using the XG? I would be building the floorstanding version.

Thanks again.

 

[nerd of nerds]

Hey zaph

I LOVE all of your speaker designs...

you are my most respected speaker designer because of the way you can build insanely great speakers with such small budgets....

I'm wondering what woofers you are using for your waveguid tmm?

i'm guessing neither of the fostex speakers are gonna make it in there?

I'd be VERY interested to see what you do with the dayton 7" speakers...

these have always speakers i've had in mind but i haven't found any good measurements of them until now...

EDIT: do you think with a different crossover these could work in the TMM waveguid speaker?

 

[Ed LaFontaine]

waveguide

Hi Zaph,

like this waveguide TMM I'm working on.

I picked up one of those MCM "waveguides" yesterday and talked it up @ DIY Dayton. Are you going to use a profile "off the shelf" or seek something tailored to match the x-over point and driver size more closely?

If the latter I may be able to make what you want and be willing to do so.

Regards,

 

[Zaph]

Re: waveguide

I am considering your MTM XG project for a friend of mine, and would like to use the XT instead of the XG. If I am not overlooking anything, the XT looks to be a drop in replacement for any design using the XG? I would be building the floorstanding version.

There's a good chance the smaller magnet XT is a direct drop in replacement. The larger magnet version probably requires changes in tuning and tweeter level. I could only guess if the wood cone is worth the extra money. My guess is no, but I'll probably never know. I'm ignoring the urge to buy a pair of those to test. I also ignoring the urge to pick up a pair of those 7" Ushers on sale at Parts Express this weekend. My curiosity could make me go broke.

I'm wondering what woofers you are using for your waveguid tmm?

i'm guessing neither of the fostex speakers are gonna make it in there?

My waveguide system requires flat, smooth and extended response and a smooth rolloff, since I'm targeting 2nd order. I pretty much have my heart set on the CA18RNX for this. I'd use the XG18, but then I'd have to do sealed, and the bass performance of the XG/XT series is not very good. The Extremis doesn't fit my enclosure, so that's out but otherwise it might work ok. It's a little pricey though.

As far as the Fostex, the FE's weren't mine but the FF165K's are. And believe it or not, I may do a design with these some day, using a small tweeter, just to see if I can get good sound out of them. I like a challenge. 🙂

I picked up one of those MCM "waveguides" yesterday and talked it up @ DIY Dayton. Are you going to use a profile "off the shelf" or seek something tailored to match the x-over point and driver size more closely?

I'll be using the MCM waveguide simply because I'm likely to post this design, and I'd like something that's easy for others to replicate. If there was a lathe in everyone's garage (including mine), I might be temped to use a slightly modified profile based on some waveguide design info I've looked into, and then I'd go quite a bit bigger and likely use 8" woofers too. But for now, I'll keep it simple.

John

 

[DcibeL]

Re: Re: waveguide

There's a good chance the smaller magnet XT is a direct drop in replacement. The larger magnet version probably requires changes in tuning and tweeter level. I could only guess if the wood cone is worth the extra money. My guess is no, but I'll probably never know. I'm ignoring the urge to buy a pair of those to test. I also ignoring the urge to pick up a pair of those 7" Ushers on sale at Parts Express this weekend. My curiosity could make me go broke.

Thanks for your comments Zaph. I wanted the XT because I really like the look of the wood cone, and since I'm not paying for it the price wasn't a concern for me. I was given a budget of $1000 (drivers and crossover) to come up with something that could compare to the Totem Hawk. Having never heard the Hawk I really didn't know where to go, but with a little reasearch I found that it uses an expensive Scan-Speak 8530 and an LPG 26T tweeter. I don't think he will be dissapointed at all with your design.

 

[nerd of nerds]

Re: Re: waveguide

There's a good chance the smaller magnet XT is a direct drop in replacement. The larger magnet version probably requires changes in tuning and tweeter level. I could only guess if the wood cone is worth the extra money. My guess is no, but I'll probably never know. I'm ignoring the urge to buy a pair of those to test. I also ignoring the urge to pick up a pair of those 7" Ushers on sale at Parts Express this weekend. My curiosity could make me go broke.



My waveguide system requires flat, smooth and extended response and a smooth rolloff, since I'm targeting 2nd order. I pretty much have my heart set on the CA18RNX for this. I'd use the XG18, but then I'd have to do sealed, and the bass performance of the XG/XT series is not very good. The Extremis doesn't fit my enclosure, so that's out but otherwise it might work ok. It's a little pricey though.

As far as the Fostex, the FE's weren't mine but the FF165K's are. And believe it or not, I may do a design with these some day, using a small tweeter, just to see if I can get good sound out of them. I like a challenge. 🙂




I'll be using the MCM waveguide simply because I'm likely to post this design, and I'd like something that's easy for others to replicate. If there was a lathe in everyone's garage (including mine), I might be temped to use a slightly modified profile based on some waveguide design info I've looked into, and then I'd go quite a bit bigger and likely use 8" woofers too. But for now, I'll keep it simple.

John

Yeah, i think those fk165s are soooooooooo sexy...😉

So, do you think those dayton aluminums would work well with a 27tdfc in a Tmm or MTM design? So far i haven't designed a crossover myself. I think i'm up to the challenge tho...

 

[jleaman]

What is this driver ?

 

[DcibeL]

That is the Seas L18.

 

[jleaman]

That is the Seas L18.

OHH me like that driver.. wonder how it mesured ?

 

[jleaman]

I found this. > http://home.hetnet.nl/~geenius/DD8-MkII.html

Any comments on this guys ?

 

[Etacovda]

OHH me like that driver.. wonder how it mesured ?

All the detail is there...?