I am trying to clone zu audio souil speaker. The speaker seems very effificient 99 dB SPL 1W, 1m and it would be a great speaker for class A small power (60-80w) amplifer and the driver it used seems to be better than fostex.
the driver it used seem to be better than the fostex anyone know what driver zu audio soul speaker is using and are they using a bass reflect enclourse.
Soul | Zu Audio
the driver it used seem to be better than the fostex anyone know what driver zu audio soul speaker is using and are they using a bass reflect enclourse.
Soul | Zu Audio
Its a co-axial driver. There are some good reviews ones from Tang Band & Seas.
"Zu Nanotech High-Output Crossoverless Co-ax
The heart of any great loudspeaker system is the driver(s) and with Soul we think we’ve done something pretty special. We’ve taken our super-duper high-performance 10 inch full-range driver and combined it with a coaxial super-tweeter. And like our top-shelf full-range driver this new full-range co-ax features a very similar paper-cored nanotech cone. In a good room with good gear you will be shocked at what this sensibly priced loudspeaker will do with your music. Soul runs this to-the-max co-ax driver full-range and totally filterless from from bass through mid treble (12kHz); no coils, no nothin’ just an intimate connection of your amp to the full-range driver’s voice coil. And the paper-cored nanotech cone yields a very well damped and extremely quick cone propagation velocity. We also developed a massive and powerful motor complete with magnetically under-hung voice coil assembly to realize the full shove potential of all that high-strength magnetic sweetness. Getting all this high-output torque and horsepower transmitted into the cone has demanded a heavy cast aluminum basket, high damping surround and spider, a Mylar/ridged-paper former and high-tensile adhesives to tightly interface the nanotech cones. All this driver wizardry translates into a very tone dense and resolving sound that is highly expressive of timbre and dynamics, big to nuanced.
ZuGriewe Acoustic Technology
The result of all this driver engineering is an expressive and dynamic full-range co-ax driver, where the tweeter section is not called on or needed until the upper most treble range (12kHz and up), and as this co-ax was designed to work within our ZuGriewe™ box/acoustic loading technology you get a loudspeaker that is lightning-quick yet still lays down loads of tone density. The system is consistent and linear in its resolution and dynamic behavior—from bass though treble. ZuGriewe™ delivers increased efficiency in the bass range and reduces noise and distortion, a design that outperforms bass-reflex or acoustic suspension designs. Our exclusive technology reduces internal acoustic noise from within the cabinet and couples more tightly the high acoustic impedance of the driver cone to the low acoustic impedance of the room. So you get improved bass drum thwack, techno beat hit, thunder-broom shove, snare pop, guitar tone, fiddle bite and body. And all able to scale and span even the most demanding and complex recordings (particularly when matched with a great subwoofer like our Undertone). And yeah, voice always sounds human, real and present."
"Zu Nanotech High-Output Crossoverless Co-ax
The heart of any great loudspeaker system is the driver(s) and with Soul we think we’ve done something pretty special. We’ve taken our super-duper high-performance 10 inch full-range driver and combined it with a coaxial super-tweeter. And like our top-shelf full-range driver this new full-range co-ax features a very similar paper-cored nanotech cone. In a good room with good gear you will be shocked at what this sensibly priced loudspeaker will do with your music. Soul runs this to-the-max co-ax driver full-range and totally filterless from from bass through mid treble (12kHz); no coils, no nothin’ just an intimate connection of your amp to the full-range driver’s voice coil. And the paper-cored nanotech cone yields a very well damped and extremely quick cone propagation velocity. We also developed a massive and powerful motor complete with magnetically under-hung voice coil assembly to realize the full shove potential of all that high-strength magnetic sweetness. Getting all this high-output torque and horsepower transmitted into the cone has demanded a heavy cast aluminum basket, high damping surround and spider, a Mylar/ridged-paper former and high-tensile adhesives to tightly interface the nanotech cones. All this driver wizardry translates into a very tone dense and resolving sound that is highly expressive of timbre and dynamics, big to nuanced.
ZuGriewe Acoustic Technology
The result of all this driver engineering is an expressive and dynamic full-range co-ax driver, where the tweeter section is not called on or needed until the upper most treble range (12kHz and up), and as this co-ax was designed to work within our ZuGriewe™ box/acoustic loading technology you get a loudspeaker that is lightning-quick yet still lays down loads of tone density. The system is consistent and linear in its resolution and dynamic behavior—from bass though treble. ZuGriewe™ delivers increased efficiency in the bass range and reduces noise and distortion, a design that outperforms bass-reflex or acoustic suspension designs. Our exclusive technology reduces internal acoustic noise from within the cabinet and couples more tightly the high acoustic impedance of the driver cone to the low acoustic impedance of the room. So you get improved bass drum thwack, techno beat hit, thunder-broom shove, snare pop, guitar tone, fiddle bite and body. And all able to scale and span even the most demanding and complex recordings (particularly when matched with a great subwoofer like our Undertone). And yeah, voice always sounds human, real and present."
for an inexpensive 10cx, Eminence's Beta10cx could work - there's no whizzer cone so the clone would lack that look and feature. I ran Beta10cx in a Karlsonator12 cabinet and did not like it -but that was with the stock Eminence 2K5CX crossover.
I would imagine that Michael Chua's "OSPREY 2" crossover sounds better detailed than the Eminence model plus a cabinet of Soul's size appropriate for Beta10cx. Does Soul's cabinet vent at the bottom like the Druid? Horresp will sim MLTL.
Osprey-II Revisited (Eminence 10CX with Selenium D220ti) – AmpsLab
I would imagine that Michael Chua's "OSPREY 2" crossover sounds better detailed than the Eminence model plus a cabinet of Soul's size appropriate for Beta10cx. Does Soul's cabinet vent at the bottom like the Druid? Horresp will sim MLTL.
Osprey-II Revisited (Eminence 10CX with Selenium D220ti) – AmpsLab
You can't clone it precisely, since as far as I am aware the main drive unit is a custom Eminence, or based upon it, with a coaxially mounted tweeter. Setting aside the marketing, the loading is a QW variation (just about) with a large tapered internal foam plug, so no, it is not a bass reflex design.
Zu offers upgrades on some of their older models where they replace the 10" FR drivers with new units and offer refund for return of the old units. I suspect not everyone returns their old units and just hangs on to them.
I've never seen anyone selling old drivers but something you could look for perhaps.
Have you heard the Soul Supreme before? Lots of people happy with the Omen Dirty Weekend at a fraction of the price of the Soul and there are ones on the used market from time to time as well.
I've never seen anyone selling old drivers but something you could look for perhaps.
Have you heard the Soul Supreme before? Lots of people happy with the Omen Dirty Weekend at a fraction of the price of the Soul and there are ones on the used market from time to time as well.
Not many places, I suspect, given that Zu usually appear a mite optimistic with their claimed sensitivity figures. 
They mention 'Efficiency: 99dB SPL 1w, 1m' on their site Soul | Zu Audio However its Soul Supreme sister model is apparently rated at 97dB 1m/w, and Stereophile measured it at 91.5dB 1m/2.83v so YMMV. Still, could be worse, & higher than a lot of commercial boxes.
They mention 'Efficiency: 99dB SPL 1w, 1m' on their site Soul | Zu Audio However its Soul Supreme sister model is apparently rated at 97dB 1m/w, and Stereophile measured it at 91.5dB 1m/2.83v so YMMV. Still, could be worse, & higher than a lot of commercial boxes.
Try the Loudspeaker Database: Below link guves results for wideband and coaxial speakers from 10" up, with at least 95dB (manufacturer's definition, take a bit care) and fs up to 60Hz. I get 71 results.
Loudspeaker Database
Personally, I'm using a Fane 12-250TC wideband. It does not shred ears with highs (or heights?) even without EQ. Many people on this forum like it, me too. I tamed it with DSP, which gives much design freedom as you don't need a crossover and have more options regarding housing.
Loudspeaker Database
Personally, I'm using a Fane 12-250TC wideband. It does not shred ears with highs (or heights?) even without EQ. Many people on this forum like it, me too. I tamed it with DSP, which gives much design freedom as you don't need a crossover and have more options regarding housing.
Here's a proposal from the German Klang&Ton magazine with a Monacor 12" coaxial, which actually achieves about 93dB/2.83V/1m.
Test Selbstbauprojekt - IMG Stageline K+T-Projekt Stage 12 - Seite 1
Test Selbstbauprojekt - IMG Stageline K+T-Projekt Stage 12 - Seite 1
I'd take the Monacor over the Fane like a shot. I designed an MLTL variation for it a while back, which my friend Colin built & uses as one of his two main speaker options. I've also used its 10in sibling in a slightly smaller MLTL; I have those myself in my collection of speakers, and a friend also runs them. They can't do sub-bass, but crossed well, the rest is pretty good.
The Fane is a lot of driver for the money, no question, and certainly well-suited to its intended role, but I can't live with it as-is for home audio -the midband & HF take my head off even well off-axis. That said, last time I checked I was still good for 17KHz, so I tend to be a bit sensitive to excess HF gain. Since I'll be 42 later this year, I doubt that'll be lasting much longer though!
The Fane is a lot of driver for the money, no question, and certainly well-suited to its intended role, but I can't live with it as-is for home audio -the midband & HF take my head off even well off-axis. That said, last time I checked I was still good for 17KHz, so I tend to be a bit sensitive to excess HF gain. Since I'll be 42 later this year, I doubt that'll be lasting much longer though!
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Hi Scott, I have heard good things of the Monacor coax-es as well, though haven't auditioned them.
About the Fane, do I understand correctly that you used no kind of correction network? The strongest on-axis peaks are at 6.5 an 9 kHz, I took them down 10dB each. If that isn't done, to me they are still bearable for a while.
This one, the "Celeste" by Klang&Ton, with a Celestion TF12225CX 12" coax, is also an excellent speaker that I've actually heard. It's an Altec style BR cabinet, which I personally would tune a tad lower.
To the original poster: What are you trying to achieve? Are you capable enough to design your own filters? If not, you have to go with some kit.
Sorry that all the high efficiency DIY kits I know are from Germany. I'd be happy to hear about similar designs from other parts of the world.
About the Fane, do I understand correctly that you used no kind of correction network? The strongest on-axis peaks are at 6.5 an 9 kHz, I took them down 10dB each. If that isn't done, to me they are still bearable for a while.
This one, the "Celeste" by Klang&Ton, with a Celestion TF12225CX 12" coax, is also an excellent speaker that I've actually heard. It's an Altec style BR cabinet, which I personally would tune a tad lower.
To the original poster: What are you trying to achieve? Are you capable enough to design your own filters? If not, you have to go with some kit.
Sorry that all the high efficiency DIY kits I know are from Germany. I'd be happy to hear about similar designs from other parts of the world.
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The Celestion is a good unit. In out & out terms, I give the Monacor a slight edge, mainly thanks to the motor, but they're both solid performers that can give very good results. Not a 604, but good examples of modern 10in & 12in coax units.
The Fane was nothing to do with me. It was built by my friend Steve in an acoustically small sealed box (Qtc is over 1.0) which he runs without filtering, as that is anathema to his design philosophy and he feels no requirement for it anyway. He also runs an OTL, which would limit his options in that sense anyway. It just doesn't happen to suit me. Well adapted for its intended application, but as-is, I could not live with it -I found it painful to the point that I was obliged to go into another room. Later, when the volume was turned down from its modest (not a euphemism for 'loud') level to something in the middling 70s, I spent a while assessing its general behaviour and concluded that while the excess output could be addressed without great difficulty, I would still not be satisfied. To each their own, & long may it continue to be so.
In out & out terms, I give the Monacor a slight edge, mainly thanks to the motor, but they're both solid performers that can give very good results. Not a 604, but good examples of modern 10in & 12in coax units. The Fane was nothing to do with me. It was built by my friend Steve in an acoustically small sealed box (Qtc is over 1.0) which he runs without filtering, as that is anathema to his design philosophy and he feels no requirement for it anyway. He also runs an OTL, which would limit his options in that sense anyway. It just doesn't happen to suit me. Well adapted for its intended application, but as-is, I could not live with it -I found it painful to the point that I was obliged to go into another room. Later, when the volume was turned down from its modest (not a euphemism for 'loud') level to something in the middling 70s, I spent a while assessing its general behaviour and concluded that while the excess output could be addressed without great difficulty, I would still not be satisfied. To each their own, & long may it continue to be so.
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