Unfortunately, all the experience I have with Hi-Vi speakers is restricted to K1, Q1R and DMB-A speaker pairs that I tested. Manufacturing quality seems very good excepting the silly plastic flanges in K1 and Q1R.
I don't think it would be a good fit for a "tweeter" (HF) application. In some niche uses it might be good as an upper-mid, but with the size of the flange, you're almost always better off with a small cone mid like the SS 10F which has comparable or better distortion and a smaller overall size.
Certainly a good driver overall. But, just like the aluminum SB23NAC, the rise of 3rd and 5th order HD above 200hz is unfortunate when compared to the smaller SB17 and SB15 whose higher order HD remain low up until 2 to 3khz. It is as if the motor was somehow inferior on the SB23 models (I doubt it comes from the cone).
Still good drivers, but could have been Seas W22 killers with lower HD
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That may be true, the Dayton RS180 also displays a similar behavior. I am far from an expert on the subject though, so I cannot tell. But, since the SB17 and SB15 don't show that rising odd order HD, would that mean that those have multiple shortening rings ? It is not clearly explained in their spec sheets. I would have expected them to have quite the same motor design as the SB23, just smaller.
The NAC/NBAC drivers have a copper sleeve which significantly reduces any Le(i) / Le(x) non-linearities, much more so than any combination of shorting rings could (at least where the sleeve is of a decent thickness).
However, the rising HD most likely is not due entirely to the (in)effectiveness of the shorting ring(s), but also because frequency response peaks (cone breakup) where that distortion ends up. Look at the response peak at ~2.4 kHz; where an HD5 nonlinearity comes from to end up at 2.4 kHz would be 2400 / 5 = 480 Hz. Look at HD5 at 480 Hz and you'll see that it's pretty much at its peak as well. Now, none of this is on a step function; the peaks are surrounded by hills (the breakup seems to start around 1 kHz). The NAC/NBAC drivers have very flat response curves so their HD curves won't peak as a result of cone breakup.
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The SB Acoustic 8" woofers, series SB23NRX, SB23NAC/BNAC, have single inductance rings.
The corresponding 5" woofers & 7" woofers, SB Acoustics series SB15NRX, SB15NAC/NBAC, and SB Acoustics SB17NRX, SB17NAC/NBAC have copper pole sleeves.
So yes, the SB Acoustic woofers in these series have different motor designs between the 5" / 7" versus the 8" woofers.
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Really well-designed motors then, to achieve the performance that they do without shorting rings.
What other drivers in a similar price range are a good comparison? The RS225P-8A, as an example, is still a top driver (for its size) if used from ~300 Hz down, even mostly disregarding its price point.
Dayton Audio RS225P-8A | HiFiCompass
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I have 2 sets of these lying around. So I used them as woofers in my current project. They need a lot of volume, so I only used one per side in 30 liters closed - cause I have subwoofers for all the low frequencies. This SB woofer plays really good
Mine coveres from 70 to 400hz.... works great... but I need two per side, to even out the spl for the entire system....
A lot of smaller baffle widths will "fill-in" that depression below 2.5 kHz - making for a slight downward tilted response usable from 1 kHz up.
It's a little lower in eff. than I'd like. (..but that could pair well with a typical mid-bass woofer for a 2-way with baffle-step; notably the NE180W-08.)
Something a bit louder, more linear, but with not quite as good HD performance above 1 kHz would be the BMR 2" for about half-again the cost (..though still very modest).
It's a little lower in eff. than I'd like. (..but that could pair well with a typical mid-bass woofer for a 2-way with baffle-step; notably the NE180W-08.)
Something a bit louder, more linear, but with not quite as good HD performance above 1 kHz would be the BMR 2" for about half-again the cost (..though still very modest).
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