What Material is the Diaphragm of Yamaha HS5/7/8 Made From?

[spaceman5]

Hi


I wonder if it's possible to buy drivers that sound like the Woofers in the Yamaha HS5/7/8 Monitors..
(without spending 400-600$)

HS Series - Overview - Yamaha - United States


Does anyone know what material it is made from?

And what driver would give a sound that is close to it?


Thank you

 

[chrisb]

Being actively powered monitors, the material from which the drivers are fabricated is only one factor in the complex formula arriving at the “sound”of the system.
That said, as the marketing ad copy starts with a reference to the “iconic 70’s nearfield reference monitors”, and all the photos seem to show fairly simply cone profiles, my first intuition would be paper.

 

[spaceman5]

Thank you Chris.

If someone goes the DIY route,
is there a 6.5" driver that can be purchased and gives as good sound as the HS7 does?

 

[xrk971]

These monitors are trying to go for the look of the legendary NS10’s which used a white paper cone that was actually rolled up and glued with a seam (straight cone profile). The reviews of this speaker with measurements don’t look particularly good. I think you can do a lot better with many drivers from Dayton or ScanSpeak or SB acoustics. They won’t be white though. I think they may actually be made of white polypropylene rather than paper. Polycone woofers can be very smooth.

A few suggestions - low cost would be Dayton PA120-8 at $18, moderate price and very smooth would be Aurum Cantus AC130 MkII $70, and higher price and excellent would be SB Acoustics Satori MW16-8 $148, or ScanSpeak Revelator 15W/8531 at $211. All here are paper except the AC.

 

[KaffiMann]

I would:
1. Get some decently made but not too expensive paper cone drivers.
2. Paint them carefully with the desired colour.

 

[spaceman5]

I think you can do a lot better with many drivers from Dayton or ScanSpeak or SB acoustics. They won’t be white though.
I think they may actually be made of white polypropylene rather than paper. Polycone woofers can be very smooth.

Well I'm flexible regarding the material, if the result can be as good.

You say that you believe this will achieve a result which is a lot better than the HS7?

That's amazing.

A few suggestions -
low cost would be Dayton PA120-8 at $18,
moderate price and very smooth would be Aurum Cantus AC130 MkII $70,
and higher price and excellent would be SB Acoustics Satori MW16-8 $148, or ScanSpeak Revelator 15W/8531 at $211.
All here are paper except the AC.

Thank you so much for the recommendations.

I could find all the drivers you wrote in google, except the Dayton PA120-8.
Maybe their name is slightly different?

 

[xrk971]

Sorry typo. PA130-8

One more came to mind - this one is treated paper so appears to be shiny plastic but sound is very very good. It’s the one in this kit: XLS- Encore. The MW130 for $27.
M130 Woofer

The kit is $250 (pair) and includes all drivers, tweeters and crossover. You just need to make the box. It’s an exceptional speaker. You can’t touch it with a DIY effort for the same price.

X-LS Encore kit

I have this kit and can attest it’s superb.

 

[spaceman5]

Thank you XRK..

If only I could hear them before having to choose

 

[xrk971]

I have recordings of the PA130-8 and AC130 in several threads. The PA130 has recordings in the Daytonator thread.
The Daytonator - PA130-8X

The AC130 has recordings in this thread:
FR58EX and AC130F1 micro-FAST

 

[rabbitz]

I don't know about the HS series but Yamaha's domestic speakers with white cones use a material they call PMD (Polymer-injected Mica Diaphragm). Maybe some polypropylene drivers could give similar characteristics for near field use such as SB Acoustics SB**MFC series.

It has been mentioned in this thread that there is more to it than the just cone material as that's a very small part of the design. By the time you add the crossover, amps, processing etc the variables go up. The HS7 are great value and are very cheap for what you get and I'd have a hard time DIYing something like it for less dollars.

There are a lot of users of Behringer monitors (B20131A, B2030A) that love them and they are cheap to buy.

 

[spaceman5]

Hmm
we came to a situation of 2 oppositting advices..


Both these quotes are regarding the HS7:

I think you can do a lot better with many drivers from Dayton or ScanSpeak or SB acoustics. They won’t be white though.

there is more to it than the just cone material as that's a very small part of the design.
By the time you add the crossover, amps, processing etc the variables go up.
The HS7 are great value and are very cheap for what you get and I'd have a hard time DIYing something like it for less dollars.

I think XRK's advice would be correct, If the maker is extremely well experienced and talented in creating speakers, in all aspects of it.

Rabbitz advice, would be correct for the not so experienced, non-genious speaker maker.


Since I belong to the second group,
I think maybe the right choice for me is to just buy the HS7.

 

[xrk971]

In general it’s very hard to beat a commercial speaker for value. If you spend same money, but make cabinet yourself, I am pretty sure the XL-S kit would be better sound wise. But if you like sound and look of HS7, then it’s a good value.

Another very good value are JBL 308P MkII’s. Waveguide technology sounds very uniform. Same price range.

 

[spaceman5]

In general it’s very hard to beat a commercial speaker for value.

I see.

OK I will hear the JBL and the HS7 this week, and then pick one.


I appreciate all your great advices

 

[xrk971]

One more to listen to is Mackie MR624 - also has a waveguide and has TRS/XLR/RCA Inputs built in. It’s Class AB amp vs Class D on JBL. I prefer Class AB for sound quality.

 

[rabbitz]

Looks like the HS7 is class AB but I can't tell what type of chip. Maybe LM3886 series as I've seen that used in a lot of muso gear as well as the HS80M.

 

[spaceman5]

Interesting..

BTW,
Monitors are intended to give a flat frequency response (as much as possible),
but if we talk about Speakers that are not monitors, and that are intended to make the soun better, even if a bit less like in reality,
what speakers are then considered good for this purpose?

For example, in my case, when I listen to music, the part I like the most is the background music of the song,
like the chords.

Are there speakers that are known to be good for this taste?
Or one should just buy monitor speakers, and maybe slightly set the EQ?
(are there more things that can help in this, besides the EQ?)

 

[Scottmoose]

Interesting..

BTW,
Monitors are intended to give a flat frequency response (as much as possible),

Not all the time they aren't. The LS3/5a is perhaps the most obvious example of that: nearfield broadcast monitor, primarily designed for voice in small remote stations (vans). They spent a long time tuning its response balance to suit the desired application & characteristics. And other speakers with a non-flat axial response have found homes in studios for different reasons; other BBC designs, & the NS10 for example is still sometimes used specifically because of its particular FR characteristics. The critical assumption in all cases is that the engineer knows what they are doing and why.

 

[chrisb]

I’d posit that at the other end of the spectrum of “studio monitor” derived designs would be the larger JBLs. I’ve just recently retired from refurbishing speaker cabinets for a local collector/flipper, and he’s rather a fan of the mid to late 70’s big boys -L300, several of the 4300 series, including the monster 4350, mostly powered by similar vintage McIntosh.
They may be lots of things, but I’m not sure flat FR would be among them.
FWIW, one of the most disenchanting listening experienced I’ve had in the last 10yrs was a Ranger Paragon - gorgeous mid century futuristic cabinet design, but bloated, disjointed and certainly colourful

 

[spaceman5]

Looks like the HS7 is class AB but I can't tell what type of chip.
Maybe LM3886 series as I've seen that used in a lot of muso gear as well as the HS80M.

Looks like you were right

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

Yamaha HS7 Internals | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org



BTW,
here we can see the part # of the woofer..

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

Maybe we should suggest Parts Express to start having it in their stock..

 

[KaffiMann]

Not likely. I may be wrong here, but afaik yamaha designs and makes their own drivers Not many models that are available outside of the controlled channels.

Edit:
There are some very good drivers around if you want to diy. You have to decide if you want to diy or just buy the finished product. For what you seem to want: diy will be more expensive than the HS7. If you reconsider your goals you might reach the same price, but not to the same quality of the end product.