Is it possible to cover the whole spectrum, high SPL, low distortion with a 2-way?

Beryllium Beater (??), at a fraction of the price.
 

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Yes, Carbon-Cotton, or Cotton (the one on the right).

Eminence is slowly getting overpriced, just like the majority of the "A" brands.

WRT output in the top octave, the Cotton-Carbon driver walks all over the 18Sound.

In Bulgaria you buy 3 PAIRS!! of these drivers for the price of just 1 ND4015BE.
 
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WRT output in the top octave, the Cotton-Carbon driver walks all over the 18Sound.

Source?

The ND4015Be is measured on a CD horn, according to their PDF, the XR1464C.

Eighteen Sound - Professional loudspeakers
From the 18 sound webpage, the graph shows about 95 dB @ 2.83V at 20khz, for the ND4015Be.

From the Voice Coil test bench, the ND72HB is showing 90 dB@20khz, mounted on an aluminum Oberton horn, the H-1464. The diaphragm was changed out to the CT version for the distortion test, but the output is comparable to the HB.



Comparing the horn polars, it appears the H-1464 has a bit more narrow pattern than the XR2064, bringing up the on axis spl of the tested ND72HB / H-1464 combo in the 12 + khz area compared to the ND4015Be / XR2064

A plane wave test is needed to directly compare units, without drawing erroneous conclusions.

http://www.oberton.com/ND72HB%20in%20Voice%20Coil%20Magazine.pdf?fbclid=IwAR31AGQhLhrHMgWHntbRRo8wWbItIqo_9476qTgtYwyrf20fMlR7_jmLZlo

Test Bench: Eighteen Sound ND4015BE Beryllium Compression Driver | audioXpress


Unfortunately, the center frequencies for the polar measurements are not the same, but one can extrapolate to see that the Oberton H 1464 has a narrower pattern.

iB4MgFz.jpg


GwMlXSH.jpg
 
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Does anyone else see a 2" throat version of the ND4015BE like mentioned on the Test Bench article>?

I haven't come across it in the 18 sound webpages, they list it as a 1.5 inch driver on the 18 sound website, unless it's an OEM only unit in 2".

Perhaps Vance was mistaken?

In photo 1 in the link, it sure looks to me like a 2" horn, and the outlet is smaller on the compression driver?

Test Bench: Eighteen Sound ND4015BE Beryllium Compression Driver | audioXpress
 
The ND2080BE is the 2" version, the XR2060(c) the matching horn.

After you've flattened and eq-ed the response you'll find the Oberton beats the ND4015BE wrt output in the top octave, which is not surprising given the difference in dia size (4 vs 3"). Some members have shared their own measurements of the 4015 (with different horns) in which the drop >10k was visible.

To be honest, I'd prefer the Oberton, at least based on Dickason's measurements.
Yes, there's a peak, but it's extremely well dampened. Moreover, the sound (signature) of cotton-carbon is supposed to be very easy on the ear.

I also like the diaphragm (design) better than the elcheapo solution of the Eminence 314X (expected price: €400).
 
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Even harmonics ?? ;)

Both drivers are more than adequate for hifi at Home. The 18Sound is obviously without major shortcomings, except it's 6x more expensive than the Oberton.

As far as 10-20k is concerned, there's no escaping an 8-10 dB nosedive. The same applies to the 4" Radians.
 
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Does anyone else see a 2" throat version of the ND4015BE like mentioned on the Test Bench article>?

I haven't come across it in the 18 sound webpages, they list it as a 1.5 inch driver on the 18 sound website, unless it's an OEM only unit in 2".

Perhaps Vance was mistaken?

In photo 1 in the link, it sure looks to me like a 2" horn, and the outlet is smaller on the compression driver?

Test Bench: Eighteen Sound ND4015BE Beryllium Compression Driver | audioXpress

There only exist one version with 1.5" exit! But I got two adapters from the distributor:
1.5" -> 1.4"
1.5" -> 2.0"

I also have already shown my own measurements in this thread. These provide a quite different view on these drivers... The NSD4015N was also investigated in comparison but it had considerable HF break-up modes in the audio band. Not acceptable anymore for me.