Which is the best 7" mid/woofer around?

Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.
Off topic Warning:

From what I know, SB Acoustics, is owned by Sinar Baja Electric (based in Indonesia). In 2006 SB Electric founded Danesian Audio in Herning, Denmark (just 10 mins from Videbaek) to develop and design drivers (Ulrik Schmidt and Frank Nielsen both live in Denmark).

The turmoil caused by Vifa, ScanSpeak and Peerless all being bought under one umbrella (DST/Tympany) and then later the break up/dissolution of Tympamy/DST etc caused a lot of ex-Vifa, ex ScanSpeak, and ex Peerless engineers moving on to greener pastures. Wavecor (based in Guangzhou, China) was another company formed from this turmoil (by Allan Isaksen, Per Madsen and others).

It is surprising that a small country like Denmark has so many well known audio products from companies as diverse as Bang & Olufsen, Brüel & Kjær, Oticon, Widex, AM3D etc. not to forget all of Mr. Skanning's creations (Dynaudio, etc..).

Now lets get back to the regular programming. :)

Thank you! The SB Acoustics 6.5" struck me as an identical twin of the Vifa NE drivers and this confirms my thinking.

Back on topic, I am in a bit of this decision for myself for my surround speakers. I love my extra pair of SEAS Excel W22EX drivers but they are a bit large to play well above 1.5khz (to my ears they are not great in this region). I'm hunting for a nice ribbon tweeter to play with them (Beston or Fountek) or I will use a pair of CSS LD25X domes, though I'd like to use something with wider dispersion. I'm all active with two MiniDSPs so xover functions are somewhat more flexible.
 
I love my extra pair of SEAS Excel W22EX drivers but they are a bit large to play well above 1.5khz (to my ears they are not great in this region). I'm hunting for a nice ribbon tweeter to play with them (Beston or Fountek) or I will use a pair of CSS LD25X domes.

I have used the 22EX with a Excel 5" mid and Fountek Neo CD3.0 tweeter. The design is from Selah Audio. Pictures in the link below.
Pictures of Selah designed Tempesta Extreme and RC4 (no subwoofer)
 
OEM

Nope, Feb 2013. If you are looking for OEM discount, min 250.

Hi all,

was reading some posts so i wanted to Jump in.

I really like to work through local distributors, I know from years of expierence that they offer the best support to the Diyer and small OEM's. We have worked directly with the distributors to create an OEM pricing based on as little as 10 units(please note you need to qualify as an OEM from the distributor so this is not a garuntee everyone will fit the qualification, you need to talk to you local distributor!). This pricing is based on standard drive units and available through distributors only. the High cost of shipping and packaging would make it impossible for us to service your needs directly. so talk to the distributors. they know there stuff. they normally can ship in a day and supply you with a wealth of knowledge!, Not to mention Crossover part, dampening material, binding posts etc!

We are always willing to discuss some modifications at smaller Volumes and these can be purchased through the Distributors but this is a conversion you must have with your prefered distributor. since they are ultimately buying the products for you.

at 250 Units you can buy direct and make changes from Stock. custom part numbers etc. but you could face tooling and development costs. not to mention Higher part costs and much longer leadtimes.

We as a company want to support the DIY. I started as a diyer and know that some of the best designers in the industry also started their companies and careers this way.

We love feedback on our products good and bad. We are listening. We know we cannot please all the people all the time! We know there are a lot of exceptionally good products on the market! I m a huge fan of the work i did at Scan speak and especially Vifa and still to this day have many great friends there!

In creating the concept behind SBACOUSTICS, I wanted to create an alternative to the high costs of producing in Scandinavia. I wanted to create a value line of products really focused on the perfomance of Vifa. We did not want to sacrifice performance for Dollars. so we exchanged high labor costs for better materials and with the Help of Sinar Baja have created a production line squarley based on Scandinavian small cell manufacturing. We strive to make the best products possible.

So we as a group, Sinar Baja, SBACOUSTICS and Danesian audio hope we are gaining your trust, and look forward to seeing your projects.


David A Stephens
Director Of Sales and Marketing
SBACOUSTICS
 
To have its Satori, give up your money...and the good transition become a Nirvana :D.

Story of cost or marketing ? The price increase of 100 euros...maybe a zen Neomagnet for coins ! The reed paper is for the Nirvana side to escort you for eternity !

Beautiful driver but there is no industrial difficulty to make it ! It's hifi Davis Acoustic here make a 8" full band at 1000 euros : 4kg of alnico : vintage with vintage museum price ! They don't need marketing director but a good purchasing director ! The Satori neodyne of Ise is too expensive !

I will go to B&G and planar : Neo 10 or 8 : same use than most of 8" : little distorsion too ! (maybe need more EQ than a satori...)
 
Last edited:
Between the increased cost of neodymium, and obtaining Egyptian papyrus, the price of bliss becomes higher, grasshopper :).
Missed this before, Egyptian papyrus is a very hardy plant, grows everywhere where it's warm, wet and doesn't freeze, especially around lakes and ponds. With that said it grows in the wild here and have transplanted many. Cost is dirt cheap.
 

Attachments

  • SAT-M_P14.jpg
    SAT-M_P14.jpg
    86.3 KB · Views: 641
My question to you guys: Which 7" mid/woofer is the best around for a small vented box? Money is not an issue. :)

Money is not an issue? Here is a trick to find the best one:

1) under hung voice coil for low distortion
2) The motor must be strong for low distortion. Bigger magnet will block back air pressure and it is a no-no, so strong magnet (to allow small size) is a must. Alnico is the best, then neodymium. Even strontium is better than ordinary magnet. To avoid blocking of back air movement of the cone, when big magnet is used, it is good to have "flower"-like magnet design.
3) cone must be light for details but must be stiff for low distortion. Diamond is the best. Magnesium or aluminum composite is the most common and cheap, ceramic is the best in term of price to stiffness or Performance ratio.
4) shorting ring will help lower the motor distortion.
5) voice coil material may help a little.

So, which one is the best? Accuton is at least better than what has been mentioned, may be better than SS illuminator.

For pure aluminum and magnesium, crossover skill is a must, so not your option.
 
Hi Gornir

I have been considering building a pair of your Sequence - BE speakers for a little while,

What are your thoughts on the AT vs. the SB.

Seb

Hi Seb,

The AT drivers are good, but I think the overall performance of the Satori is better, especially when the price is considered.

Both have the qualities to sound very nice, but as always, the design it's used in is what determine how good it will sound in the end.

Both drivers need some extra attention in the cross-over design due to its frequency response in the higher frequencies, especially when used in a shallow sloped filter topology e.g. LR2 (acoustical).

The Satori goes deeper, but requires a larger enclosure. The Satori also has a better distortion profile than the AT driver.

An easier mid-woofer to work with is the ScanSpeak 15W/4531G00. Very nice driver with the smoothest frequency response I've ever measured for a mid-woofer, but it doesn't sound as "open" as the AT or Satori mid-woofer.

Regards

/Göran
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.