|
SEAS CA18RNX
2½-WAY
These SEAS CA18RNX drivers hold the classical coated paper
cones, but here with a 39 mm voice coil former allowing
greater power handling compared to CA18RLY's standard
1" voice coil. Overall frequency response is better
for the CA18RLY, but despite a somewhat whobbly midrange
they sound smooth, detailed and throw a punchy bass. Read
more by clicking heading or image. CNO-25, 2½-way
CNO
Setting up the finished CNO-25 revealed a fully grown-up CNO. Sensitivity is increased by 4-5 decibels and the overall bottom end weight is significantly enhanced. Comparatively it goes louder with less distortion due to doubling the amount of bass drivers. Upper mid and treble is the same as for the CNO and this was what I wanted: Maintain CNO qualities, but increase power handling and bottom end capability. CNO mkII
These drivers were not only made to look good, but also to provide a sound clearly distinguishable from the average. High-end drivers built on classic virtues. As always we apply to the law of diminishing returns when we buy expensive stuff. Small improvements may cost small fortunes. I think these nextel units are the best sounding drivers SEAS has ever built. A slightly modified crossover delivers an overall balanced sound that will suit any kind of source material. My absolute favourite 24 liter floorstander. CNO-T25
The CNO mkII modified for SEAS T25C003 tweeter. SEAS TOK
What about spoiling semi-priced midbass drivers with super tweeters, super caps and super coils? Proper cabinet and damping too, obviously. Could it be we might reveal qualities from these mid-priced mid-drivers, we otherwise wouldn't? I am a little serious about this construction although I never expect to get any feedback on the design. I have set it up and used proper wound and baked copper wire coils, Superior Z-caps and 10W MOX resistors. And does it sound good? You bet it does. Maybe someone might even pick this one in a blind-test compared to the CNO-mkII. Cyclop
Commercial speakers I had in mind
for this construction were Spendor
SP100, Naim DBL and Harbeth
M40. All classic 3-way speakers being around
for many years and apparently still - I guess - holding a
small audience. The Naim DBL is a huge 65 cm wide
speaker, featuring a 15" bass driver surprisingly
married to a small 5" mid and a ScanSpeak 8513
tweeter, where Spendor and Naim feature 12 inch bass
drivers. Scoperta Mini transmission line from
If size matters, here is a neat mini-TL
that will deliver potent bass, Acapella NEXT Semi-dipole from state of the art drivers
My Autumn sale was a goodbye to my Acapella
SEas speakers. Drivers, crossovers, vents, terminals,
damping material, wires, everything but the cabs. You
don't ship these caps to Portugal unless you make huge
crates with loads of absorbent material. So, the cabs
stayed and having the W18 and T29 drivers the only thing
left to do was ordering the W22 bass units - and see if a
fairly high efficient Acapella could be made. The W22
comes with a huge 134 mm magnet and promises 90 dB
sensitivity. Not bad at all. Maybe the W18 could even be
run without any attenuation.... So, the Acapella NEXT was
born. SEAS
5INCH projects
SEAS
EXCEL W12CY003 + 22TAF/G
Poor
Man's Strad
The "Poor Man's Stradivari"
made from SEAS CA22RNX + MCA15RCY + slightly modified
27TFFC have been finished. Various tweeters (Vifa DX25TG
and Scan-Speak D2905/9700) have been tried and the
crossovers have been added to the website. - the not so Poor
Man's Strad - EXCEL version
SEAS
Classic 3-way
The SEAS CA22 was tried in a classical 3-way and it turned out so well that I have launched the project. The MCA12 is doing excellent and provides a fine midrange with a wide dispersion and a speedy presentation that leaves most 6-7" midbass drivers behind. These paper-coned drivers take some burn-in before delivering the goods. The tweeter is the 27TFFC, an fine tweeter at a modest price. Sensitivity is 90 dB/2.8 volts and it's an easy load on the amplifier. The crossover is a simple 2nd order topology and the overall cost for drivers and crossover components is around 535 €. I have to admit I have had very little feedback on this speaker. I know that MDF cabs have very little appeal* and the classic cab is out of fashion. Maybe some gorgeous veneer would make a change. I'd pick this speaker any time over the 2.5 clone/Amish 45-95 and others. *When I first launched the TJL in MDF test
cabs there was absolutely no response at all. I then made
a digitally manipulated image of the drivers in a very
nice looking yew veneered cabinet - and then things
started rolling. So, do we choose speakers by ear or eye? TJL,
2-way floorstander
The following project describes a 2-way
floorstander slightly smaller than the 2.5 clone. Overall
dimensions are: 19 x 98 x 26 cm (W x H x D). This project
is targeting a better midrange, better treble, bass
comparable to the 2.5 clone and a more moderate-sized
cabinet. Well, can all these requirements be accomplished
in a smaller-size construction? And from what drivers? TJL-3W,
3-way floorstander
I do think I've been writing quite a lot
about the TJL 3-way. The experiences gained from the Ekta
and Zahra made me even more anxious to get started. If
the latter two constructions hadn't come along, I would
have done the TJL3W a long time ago. But events took
their own course and I have been pleased with the results
of the former constructions and the TJL3W was very much
next. The TJL is my favourite among a number of 2-way
floorstanders and you always ask how to make a good thing
better. The TJL shares the limitations of most other
6" + tweeter two-ways: Lack of dispersion in the
upper midrange/lower treble due to the bass driver having
to handle everything up into the treble area despite the
low point of crossover around 2500 Hz. When a single
driver has to pump the deep bass and at the same time
handle the delicate upper midrange and lower treble there
are limitations to the loudness we can expect from such a
design. Suitable for most, but it can't play excessively
loud. However, the TJL3W wasn't made to play excessively
loud, rather to play low. Read full text and construction details on TJL3W W17EX001
+ Scan-Speak D2010/8513
This speaker, building on a well-known
commercial floorstander, is an easy project in a modest
24 litre cabinet. Point75
(pdf file)
Despite having a ScanSpeak bass driver,
this construction is placed in the SEAS section due to
the SEAS W15CY001 middriver and a later upgrade with an
8" SEAS alu driver.
Point75A upgrade by using SEAS L22RN4X/P (H1208) for bass. Modified crossover. New construction can utilise Fountek JP3 or Aurum Cantus G2Si ribbons as well. Read up-grade of Point75A to Point75i Acapella LT & LWJ (6 MB pdf file)
The aim of this project is to use the
experience gained from the Point75 to produce a speaker
with greater power handling and SPL capability. In other
words, it has to be able to play loud - and retain all
the qualities from the Point75. In addition to this, some
more weight/warmth in the lower/middle midrange would be
appreciated. Acapella
SE (3 MB pdf) and SEas (htm)
This is the speaker that is the steady
back-bone in my hifi set-up. Not a particularly
complicated speaker, a standard 3-way with an 8"
bass driver working up to 350 Hz. A 6" midrange
working from 350 to 2500 Hz and a ribbon tweeter taking
over from here. Recently a SEAS T25 dome tweeter is
taking the place in replacement of the ribbon. Some day
I'll make a four-way of this construction just to hear if
it is possible to fully integrate four drivers. Not an
easy task. The ribbon version is a tolerable set-up where
the T25 version has an extra 1-1½ dB in the 1-3 kHz
region providing a more forward presentation.
7.5 litre vented construction - a fabulous mini-monitor. This construction was made before I started my diy-loudspeaker website, and I never found the time to write anything about it. The drivers here are among my favourites and the W15CY001 drivers were acquired for the Point75 dipole speaker and the HIQUPHON OWI was bought only because I wanted to own a pair of these - probably - best ever made 19 mm domes. Some people find the OWI tweeter hard to find, but it's not. The OWI and other magnificient tweeters are made by Oskar Wroending here in Denmark and his website is here. You cab buy all types directly from Mr. Wroending or find a distributors list here. W15CY001
+ Fountek Neo3
I recently had a pair the Fountek NeoCD3 ribbon tweeters and have compared them to the JP3 true alu-ribbon tweeters. The new tweeters have a ribbon made from laminated material and will probably be less fragile compared to the JP3 pure alu ribbons. The easiest way to try out the Neos was to set up a small monitor and the SEAS W15CY001 midbass was an obvious choice. You don't find a much better upper midrange and from a 7.5 litres cabinet you get a surprisingly deep bass. I also tried adding a subwoofer from two push-push Dynaudio 21W54s with a crossover around 60-70 Hz/12 dB and it worked fine.
One of my friends needed a mini for his home studio and I suggested the SEAS T14RCY having the XP membrane material giving an ear-friendly midrange with excellent transparency. The ScanSpeak D2010/8513 tweeter in this company is sweet and gently, nowhere near how it performed with the 18W/8535 driver in the 2.5 Clone. The 8513 tweeter must never be mated with an even slightly harsh midrange. An even better tweeter option may be the HIQUPHON OW1. The T14 is getting hard to find and a replacement system is planned from SEAS CA15RLY + 22TAF/G. To come 2007. |
