It is not an easy task to make them work. Essentially each whizzer (one of the Cube drivers has 3) is a mechanically XOed smaller driver. And much as the moving cone in a coax can disturb the tweeter, with a whizzer we have an unattached edge that is hard to control (a couple of the mods i do to are to help minimize issues with this). Also the midbass ideally has to roll-off as the whizzer comes in. This is tricky. But it can be done reasonably well (the SEAS FA22 is a good example, FExx6 w whizzers are more problematic.
But bigger drivers do need them to get decent HF extension. A single cone with "break-up” characteristics that are well controlled and give an effectively smaller cone size as the outer part of the cone decouple as frequency goes up. Much harder to get right and requires greater control & presicion during manufacture.
The new Mark Audio Alpair 7ms/11ms are an example of this concept being pushed beyond what we have seen before. Elimination of the spider (ms = mono-suspension) so that the fight between the resonance of the spider & the surround does not destroy the smallest details.
It is way easier to do with a smaller cone and the best examples are typically 3-5”. Now to get those assests one gives up cone area, and sensitivity (in general), but that can to some extent be countered with greater excursion capability. Probably the biggest downside is the ability to play really loud with a relaxed ease.
But that is attainable by actually going 2-way, but with woofers crossed quite low (say 150-400 Hz) where centre-to-centre is shorter than the quarter wavelength at the XO point. This expedient frees up the FR from bass duty, imroving mis top, and bass extension comes down to budget (room & $$$). Biamping makes things way easier. And can always be done as step 2 after you find a FR to your liking (one that gives you the mid/top that works for you with less concern with how much air it moves down low). We have built some really good examples that use 3-4” midTweeters in a number of configurations.
Enclosure can help a lot too. The FHXL for instance will do bass down to about 35 Hz (depends on room/room placement). A FR that plays a bit louder and goes a bit lower than most is a good candidate for subwoofers (<60-80 Hz) to solidify the lowest octaves.
AFAIC bigger is not better. Execution is critical.
The Sonindo have a very good rep — the driver they make that is of most interest to me is the oval.
dave
Thanks for all the advice guys. I ordered a pair of SONIDO SWR250FC 10" field coil drivers and power supply today. I have always loved the sound of field coil drivers but they were always out of my price range. These are still pricey but I have the fun money saved up so what the hell. I think I have an old pair of cabinets that are 2.8 cu ft and Ill use those in a sealed configuration for testing.
Really looking forward to messing with these. I just hope my 18wpc GM70 SET amp will drive them proper.
Really looking forward to messing with these. I just hope my 18wpc GM70 SET amp will drive them proper.
I have not asked Istvan about the oval but I "assume" that once he has it down for one driver he can make FCs for any driver.
That's not too bad for a couple of FC's. Tempting.
That's really hard to say, one can always generalize, my somewhat limited experience tells me that larger drivers tend to work better with whizzers. But then again there's the Seas FA22RCZ like Dave mentioned, you never know until you've tried.
Yep! They work! Again, my experience so far is that they, in general, work better on big drivers. Never heard a 6" with whizzers that sounded great... Almost like they need some air gap between the various cones to lessen interference or something. That could be why the FA22RCZ works, the whizzer is shaped in such a way that even if it's relatively small driver, there is still some air between them.
Should be able to get quite loud. If you xo to some subs like you said, the xmax should not matter much.
I really want to try some field coil drivers myself.
I would probably put them in a open back enclosure with some dampening material, do not like the thought of having them in a completely sealed box.
Last night I realized I have sheets of plywood to make open baffles and I have cabinets I can make into vented and sealed so I am going to try these in each configuration and see what sounds best in my room and to my ears.
When I figure that out I'll build cabinets or baffles that are worth of these drivers. And, then like any good audiophile, I'll listen to them for a couple years and move on ;>)
When I figure that out I'll build cabinets or baffles that are worth of these drivers. And, then like any good audiophile, I'll listen to them for a couple years and move on ;>)
Apparently! 
I'm at the other end, I have to turn it up to hear speech, vocals clearly, but when I open finger 'cup' my hands over my ears with the lows now basically gone makes for an unpleasantly loud to shrieking experience, though it helps when critiquing a system.
Been surprised how distorted some $$$ speakers sound when done this way, so at first thought it was my hearing, but others with better, more youthful hearing noticed it too.
Anyway, you don't need big drivers, a 5.25" with 4 mm Xmax is plenty up to about 15 ft away with a sub, though having grown up with FCs........ With subs to protect them, seems a 'no-brainer' to me'.
GM
I'm at the other end, I have to turn it up to hear speech, vocals clearly, but when I open finger 'cup' my hands over my ears with the lows now basically gone makes for an unpleasantly loud to shrieking experience, though it helps when critiquing a system. Been surprised how distorted some $$$ speakers sound when done this way, so at first thought it was my hearing, but others with better, more youthful hearing noticed it too.
Anyway, you don't need big drivers, a 5.25" with 4 mm Xmax is plenty up to about 15 ft away with a sub, though having grown up with FCs........
With subs to protect them, seems a 'no-brainer' to me'. GM
Lol
If they get shoes / purses / clothes, we certainly can collect audio !!!!!
My wife had her closet so packed, the fixture ripped out of the wall !!!!!
I've always chuckled at some klipsch guys.
They have like 4 pairs of speakers from small to big flanking the tv, looking like some audio stores.
If they get shoes / purses / clothes, we certainly can collect audio !!!!!
My wife had her closet so packed, the fixture ripped out of the wall !!!!!
I've always chuckled at some klipsch guys.
They have like 4 pairs of speakers from small to big flanking the tv, looking like some audio stores.
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