|
ScanSpeak Illuminator kit series
ScanSpeak Revelator kit series
ScanSpeak Discovery kit series
ScanSpeak Ellipticor kit series
Illuminator-15
I have used the Illuminator 15WU/4741T00
before in my Illuminator-7751, and I came to like this midbass
driver very much, so much I decided to make a small two-way from it
- some day. Well, now is the time. Due to its underhung voice coil,
its sandwich membrane and its non-reflective magnet system it
delivers utterly transparent midrange, and what we didn't hear from
the Ill-7751, its ability to also play bass.
Very small cabinets
and drivers requiring a fairly low port tuning spells trouble as a
port would have to be excessively long. The answer to this is a
passive radiator. Now, ScanSpeak does not provide passive radiators
except for the subwoofers. So, we have to turn to SBAcoustics for a
suitable passive radiator - and the oval
SB15SFCR-00 fits our narrow cabinet just perfect - and in this
case we don't have to add any additional weight to the membrane. To
make a passive radiator work well for a midbass we need to add a
low-pass filter and this is done by simply adding three layers of
acoustilux on top of the passive radiator. This allows low
frequencies to pass through and the midrange left undisturbed. More
on this later.
This Illuminator-15 wasn't meant to be
cheap and a number of tweeters were tested, like the Ellipticor
D2404/552000, the Revelator D2904/710002, the Illuminator
D3004/660000 and last the new Illuminator TPCD dome D3004/666000,
the latter used with success in my Illuminator-71 and Revelator-851.
The final choice was the -6660 making a perfect blend to the 15WU
midbass driver. We can never what works the best before we've tried.
There is no best, only best synergy with adjacent driver(s) - and
not to forget - taste!
This is not a high-efficiency speaker and
I have found other users of the 15WU claiming 87 dB sensitivity.
Forget it! The 15WU may display 87 dB on an infinite baffle but on a
small narrow front panel we're more looking into 84 dB due to baffle
step loss, etc. But don't despair, it runs very well from my 30 wpc
tube amp. Very well indeed. If we want deep bass from a small
cabinet we have to sacrifice something, here efficiency. Please read
here. We can't fool the laws of physics.
Illuminator-71
Fortunately Viawave is back in business from Slovakia! Very pleased
so, as I've long wanted to make use of the ScanSpeak 18WU/4741T00 in
combination with the Viawave GRT-145W-4. I've had a pair of
GRT-145W-4 in stock for a long time and have tried it out in a
mockup and it did very well. At least as good as the Be dome tweeter
- if not even better.
Should I point to my two favourite midbass
drivers it would be the Ellipticor 18WE and the Illuminator 18WU.
The 18WE has the advantage of the elliptical voice coil and the
Illuminator the advantage of a magnificent sandwich cone and
underhung voice coil, both delivering great midrange. The
Illuminator further has the advantage of being able to play some
decent bass.
My
Illuminator-71s are among my few keepers as an example of what
can be done from a simple crossover and state of the art drivers,
and the Illuminator-7R here is likely to replace it - or maybe I'll
just keep both. And for sure the GRT-145W-4 delivers some of the
best - if not the best treble I've ever heard. Period! I
used Amber-Z for the tweeter section in my prototype crossovers. The
basic kit will have Alumen-Z as the Amber-Z is seriously expensive,
but should you want Amber-Z, please ask Jantzen Audio if possible.
Ellipticor-1824
The very first speaker I made from the
then new Ellipticor drivers was the
Ellipticor-1
with the D3404 tweeter and it was on display at the Munich High-End
Show in 2017 (.....has it really been that long?).
Since then we have sold quite a few kits
being an introduction to the Ellipticor range of drivers - or for
good for those who prefer/have to live with a smaller standmount.
Later the
Ellipticor 18WE/8542T00 (8 Ohm version) and not least, the
tweeter D2404/552000 was introduced and I have used the smaller
tweeter in my
Ellipticor-A50
speakers and my
Ellipticor-2F8
construction. I liked the latter so much I soon wanted to implement
the basics in an Ellipticor-1-mkII construction.
The new speaker will be Ellipticor-1824,
and it will be presented with both 4 Ohm and 8 Ohm 18WE driver,
should you have either at hand. They sound the same, but obviously
the 4 Ohm version will play louder for the same volume setting of
your amplifier. Efficiency is the same, but sensitivity is not the
same. Lower impedance may let you think a speaker is more efficient,
in fact it just draws more current from your amplifier. Your
amplifier may have a specified max watt @ 8 Ohm, but this does in no
way make it unsuitable for a 4 Ohm speaker. I have these
questions...
Next objective was to make a much easier
cabinet as the faceting of the original might have put a few
potential customers off, hence a simple sloped baffle like the
Ellipticor-2F8.
ScanSpeak Ekta-TL
Every time I set up a transmission line I
hear something I don't hear from conventional ported boxes, a
quality of bass reproduction that is unique in its lightness and
ease of reproduction of bass notes. By lightness I don't mean low or
vague, but as the bass driver has been relieved of some acoustic
resistance. I haven't made a lot of TLs, because it takes space and
for a 3-way it's not always that easy to incorporate the midrange
driver in the physical design. However, making the TL here is no
more complicated than making a conventional vented box with braces.
Basically a TL is a quarter wave tube with
the bass driver placed around 1/3 down the tube and the initial
square area around 1.5 x the membrane area and ending around 0.5 x
the membrane area. It's not that critical as can been seen from
examples on the web. Learn more about transmission line speakers on
Wikipedia. Technically a TL's roll-off is the same as a vented
box, 4th order.
I wanted to try out the concept once more
with basically the ScanSpeak Ekta-mkII setup to further improve bass
response. In addition to this I wanted to use the new and
magnificent 3/4" dome
D3004/712000 tweeter. This tweeter has been on my shelf too
long.
ScanSpeak Ellipticor-84
It had to be done.
Mating a large bass driver with a large midrange dome. Nothing new
under the sun, but very little used. I guess Acoustic Research was
the first to do it with their legendary AR3a speaker featuring a 12"
bass driver handing over to a 1½" mid-dome from around 575 Hz
according to specs. I never heard the AR3a, but a friend of mine
still have his AR11s with pretty much the same drivers - and it does
well - after I re-foamed his bass drivers.
Best known
today for this layout of drivers is ATC with their well regarded
range of studio/home speakers featuring the magnificent 3" double
spider mid-dome. British VOLT produce a couple of (single spider)
mid-domes, one 2" and one 3". Most recent addition to the limited
range of mid-domes is the SBAcoustics MD60N-6, which I tested in my
SBA-7MD
construction - and I very much liked what I heard. I just learned
Yamaha launched a new speaker with a 3-1/4" mid-dome, so maybe we'll
see more mid-domes in the future - and I certainly wouldn't mind.
Last year
ScanSpeak released their D8404/552000 mid-driver, a one-of-a-kind
mid-dome with elliptical voice coil of 84/68 mm - and double spider.
Never seen before and partly due to corona I spent almost two years
with the prototypes before final release at the Munich HighEnd show.
And suffice to say, I had some good times with the "D84", which
resulted in the
Ellipticor-A50-mkII.
Now, in mating a bass driver to the D84,
we should most likely not look for some heavy subwoofer type, rather
a driver with a more light-weight cone with the ability of playing
some midrange, possibly all of the midrange, although we're not
going to take advantage of this.
ScanSpeak Revelator-3WC
I have made a lot
of these 3-way classics - and for good reason. Easy cabinet
construction is an important issue as a lot of people do not have
sophisticated workshops, rather hand tools and basic workshop
facilities. Does this mean we can only build lesser quality
speakers? Not at all! A classic 3-way may prove just as good as any
fancy looking speaker with high-gloss lacquer, etc.
With the
Revelator drivers used here we're into high-end and with
high-quality baked coils, Superior-Z and
Alumen-Z
capacitors we're into super-high-end. A speaker is never going to
sound better than what crossover components allow to pass to the
drivers and especially capacitors are a key ingredient in
high-quality sound reproduction.
Click heading or image to go to website.
ScanSpeak Ellipticor-2F8
In hindsight, my
ATELL-3 was a keeper, but I was desperate for space and had to
let it go. Actually I may have to lend these to friends to have some
space at home.... Anyway, since then I wanted to make a semi-active
version together with a fully passive version, thus the 8 Ohms
Ellipticor 18WE/8542T00 for mid-bass in order to keep final system
impedance relatively high.
With the Viawave ribbon tweeter not
being available I decided on the Ellipticor D2404/552000, being more
expensive - but doing so well in my Ellipticor-A50 it had to be this
tweeter.
With the Hypex module running the bass, the MT-section
impedance stays above 7.1 Ohms - and you have almost infinite
options for room-adaption, something very much in demand as room
acoustics leaves a lot to be desired for most.
My 32 wpc EAR-861
runs the fully passive version from its 8 Ohm tabs without trouble.
I also wanted to use the magnificent Faital 10RS350 for bass as it
does the same as the AudioTechnology 10C77 - and at around a third
of the price. If you're a strong believer in high cost equals better
performance, the AudioTechnology
10C77-25-10-KAP or the ScanSpeak
28W/4878T01 can be used, but only with the Hypex module as I
don't have the drivers and can't ensure proper function from the
passive Faital bass crossover.
The ATELL-3 has been removed from
my website as the Ellipticor-2F8 leaves no rationale for ATELL-3.
The Ellipticor-3 is to my mind slightly better and much easier - and
cheaper - to build.
ScanSpeak
Ellipticor-A50-mkII
Simply the best speaker I have ever made.
Click images to go to websites.
Ekta-7741
The sandwich cones and non-reflective magnet
systems of the Illuminator range of drivers have something to offer
in terms of dynamic headroom, uncoloured sound - and well, here it
is, the GRANDE's update.
The 12MU for midrange hardly needs any
introduction being used in some of the world's most expensive
speakers. I know customers have asked ScanSpeak for customised
versions - and yes, they could make such a driver - but only worse!
You better take it as-is - or leave it. And so they did.
Saxophone from the 12MU is something and I've spoiled it with foil
capacitors to get it all from my level 1 version, see below.
I've
used the D3004/660000 so many times, and I love it. Here it really
doesn't do much due to point of crossover, but what it does, it does
so well. I have also made a crossover for the 6640 Be dome as some
people have a preference for Be domes. To my ear a matter of taste
and belief.
Revelator-51
Time for an update on my old
Revelator-4R
construction. New tweeter, new and simpler crossover, time-aligned
drivers, etc. The Revelator-4R will be discontinued from Jantzen
Audio, but should you still prefer the ring-radiator and 4th order
crossover, you can buy the schematics directly from me.
The
mid-bass stays the same being the foundation of the construction,
and this magnificent drivers is the same as 10 years ago. If it
works - don't change it!
To time-align drivers I chose a sloped
front panel - easier than a stepped front panel, and I know kit
customers appreciate simple.
For many constructions in the
not-so-expensive range of speakers, I have used the venerable
D2608/913000. Still the best affordable tweeter I know of.
Crossover is a simple LR2 filter crossed at ~2 kHz and by few means
the drivers can manage a smooth roll-off on both flanks and due to
the sloped front panel, good phase integration can be achieved.
ScanSpeak Discovery-18W-mkII
With high-quality crossover components and
design, we can turn medium priced drivers into the high-end
category, thus this mkII version of the popular ScanSpeak
Discovery-18W construction.
ScanSpeak Revelator-66
Click image to go to website.
It has been many years since I did a two-way from the 18W Revelator
series. Since last, the 18W/4531G01
has come along. A variant of the 18W/4531G00, where some wood fibers
have been added to the cone. Not sure what it is supposed to do,
ScanSpeak doesn't tell, but probably adding further strength to the
cone - or just another way of making a cone with the two opposite
targets of cone rigidness and self-damping, the inevitable compromis.
Whatever, the 18W/4531G01 does not appear to have lost resolution,
while maintaining a frequency response that makes this 7" driver the
easiest driver when it comes to crossover design that I know
of. Well, except for the Ellipticor 18WE :-)
ScanSpeak Illuminator-CENTER
After making an illustrations of the various
ScanSpeak family of speakers, I couldn't help seeing something
missing in the Illuminator range of speakers. A center speaker based
on Illuminator drivers. I wanted it to look like the drawing below.
Thus, here an Illuminator-CENTER construction to make the picture
complete.
Center speakers for surround sound hasn't had high
priority, as we just simply do not sell a lot of them. Very few in
fact. On the other hand, making a single cabinet isn't that much
work, so here it is.
ScanSpeak Revelator-851
Click image or heading to go to website.
Exploring new drivers can be revelatory and having spent some 50-200
hours on your newest creation you go through your record
collection and discover new things you hadn't heard before. The tonal
palette of instruments may get a new colour, maybe more true to what you
think it should be, maybe lower distortion means higher resolution and
better holographic soundstage. In the pursuit of resolution and low
distortion we have seen fancy motor (magnets) systems and we have today an
abundance of cone materials - I don't think
we ever had so many. From paper to diamonds - and everything in between.
Paper pulp never seems to go out of fashion as it can be made in all kind
of ways with additives, coatings, etc. Very rigid cones have the downside
of ringing, break-up modes, etc. They may have superior resolution but
often require steeper crossovers to eliminate the ringing. All
compromises.
The bass driver here features a hard-pressed paper cone, SD magnet
system
and high Qm, ensuring articulate and dynamic bass. The midrange with the sliced paper
cone does some of the best midrange I know of - and the tweeter has stood the test of time and has become a role model for other
manufacturers.
I have picked three drivers I really like to make a fairly small and
powerful 3-way floor-stander. It may not be revelatory - to me -
but I know all these drivers from previous constructions and client work,
and they're all just so damned good that I wanted to put them together
in a classic 3-way, thus
Revelator-851. Actually the tweeter is an Illuminator, but Revelator has
the upper hand here, so Revelator-851 it is.
ScanSpeak Illuminator-71
I wasn't quite prepared for getting the
finished speakers into our living room in front of my bridged
EAR-861 amps - and the Anna-D cartridge. Tin Pan Alley came through
with a deep powerful bass - as should. Vocals, cello and Vestbo Trio
- all came trough with a credible power and soundstage thanks to the
7" Illuminator bass driver. My always-first-to-hear friend just
couldn't believe the scale and power of Tin Pan Alley when he sat
down on the couch to have his first listen.
What these sandwich
cones also deliver is clean and transparent midrange and I recall a
situation at ScanSpeak factory some years ago and engineer Birger
Jorgensen asked me what I thought of the Illuminator drivers. I
scratched my head and said that my general impression was that I
could driver the Illuminator drivers harder than the Revelator
drivers before hearing any distortion. That the Illuminators had
significantly increased power handling. He smiled and looked happy.
Mission accomplished. Well, these paper sandwich cones and their
ingenious non-reflective magnet system and underhung voice coils do
their thing. As can be seen from the crossover and measurements,
easy on crossovers.
The D3004/660000 tweeter? It had been some
time since I last heard the 6600 tweeter - and.... like meeting a
good old friend! No wonder this tweeter is found in numerous
constructions, often with a different faceplate and sometimes with
weird looking back chambers. It is hard to find a tweeter with a
ruler flat
frequency response from ~600 Hz to well above 20000 Hz, very low
distortion down to below 700 Hz, a clean waterfall profile, etc.
What's not to like? This tweeter does it and can be handled with
shallow sloped crossovers.
Discovery-81
Simplicity has always been a driver in the
speaker DIY community. How little can we get away with and how do we
keep cost at a minimum too. Not always easy because there are
compromises in any design.
Back in the Eighties the "8+1" 2-way
from Vifa drivers had huge popularity. I'm thinking of Snell and
others. These were indeed very low-cost designs with el-cheapo
tweeters and well, the Vifa C20xx paper cone drivers were actually
really good. Light-weight coated paper cones, 32 mm voice coils,
foam surround, decent magnets and we had quite high sensitivity - at
the cost of deep bass, but this was not of paramount importance to
target customers. Also power handling was compromised due to the
small voice coil, but with a 20 watt NAD 3020 everything fell into
place.
Try an up-dated version of this classic concept and you
may be surprised.
ScanSpeak Illuminator-7751
2021
This is the logical successor of the Ekta
Grande, which has been around for more than ten year - and built by
many.
I wish I'd taken up the 15WU driver much earlier. Here it
covers three octaves and it will pretty much tell you what you feed
it - and this without being clinical or particularly demanding on
source material. Tap the sandwich cone with a finger nail and you'll
hear a well-damped cone, which at the same time is very rigid. A
great driver.
The 45 rpm Tin Pan Alley track made clear these two
7" midbass drivers certainly goes deep and the 9130 tweeter having a
fairly high high-pass filter does what I've experienced so many
times before. Honestly, would beryllium do better? I don't think so.
Maybe different, but not necessarily better. It blends seamless with
the midrange - this is what matters the most. The crossover
topology, crossover components' quality can mean a lot more than the
price of the drivers. Expensive doesn't always mean better sound.
ScanSpeak Discovery MTM
MTMs were
introduced back in the 60'ies and became popular after the concept
was further developed by Joseph d'Appolito in the 80'ies (?) and
have been used by many commercial manufacturers, e.g. Dali and
Living Voice. Various crossovers have been used with MTMs, all with
the aim of reducing
crossover lobing.
Adding a second driver obviously
doubles the radiating area, in this case to 274 cm^2, close to the
size of a 10" bass driver, thus capable of quite some sound level.
Another benefit of having two drivers in parallel is reduction in
crossover complexity compared to e.g. 3-ways or 2½-ways, although
the latter not so much if drivers are well behaved like seen in the
Discovery 861.
MTMs can have a strong presence
character. Having 274 cm^2 membrane area up to point of crossover,
rather than a small 4" midrange driver with some 50-60 cm^2 area,
has an impact on sound and the crossover must be fine-tuned
accordingly. In this case the size of L2. In the final voicing of
the speaker L2 coils with increments of 0.1 mH were tried until a
proper upper-mid balance was found.
What this huge midrange
driver area does is most noticeable on e.g. piano and vocals
delivering effortless sound pressure for the size of the speaker. I
also found it very good in terms of actual hearing the lyrics of a
song. Listening mostly to English/American music (even Danish
singers mostly sing in English in case somebody outside our borders
should listen) I'm happy for singers being articulate in order to
catch the lyrics. Not always that easy when English is not your
mother tongue.
In our living room I have the speakers pretty much
free of most room gain, yet found the bass powerful for the size.
The 18W drivers are not subwoofers, so it you want the bottom octave
(20-40 Hz), add a subwoofer.
ScanSpeak Discovery-861
The benefit of running an 8" and 6" in a
2½-way fashion is the increase in membrane area to around 370 cm^2,
more than most 10" bass drivers and while the 8" bass driver from
its vented cabinet delivers the low-end, the 6" in its closed
cabinet delivers the punch in upper bass as needed.
What I had
not foreseen was the exceptional smooth response of the 18W/8434G00
on this particular baffle. From a designers perspective a dream
scenario. Smooth all the way to 7 kHz. See measurements
below. Equally well behaved are the 8" bass driver and tweeter.
Having almost ideal frequency response profiles also provides an
endless options for crossover design. Troublesome drivers usually
leaves you with fewer possibilities because there are corrections
and equalisation that just must be done. Here, it can go forever
with fine-tuning, raising or lowering the midrange half a decibel or
so - and how does it sound with solid state, tube amps, in different
rooms, etc. It can go on forever.
The most popular ScanSpeak kit
I have ever made.
Discovery 3WC mkII
The thing I can say is that had I built
this speaker 15 years ago when I started my website, there
wouldn't have been as many speakers as there is today.
Some
3-way classics wouldn't have been made and some floor-standers
too. Actually I wouldn't have been able to build it 15 years
ago. The Discovery drivers were not there, the Silver-Z and
Alumen-Z were not there - and I would have been short of 15
years of speaker building. The choice of the 15W for midrange
proved to be right. The fullness of Ingram Washington's voice
combined with the crisp presence is there - and a seamless
transition to treble range. No upper mid harshness from any
rubber resonances, etc. I guess the unusual crossover topology
is part of it, but can't claim for sure.
ScanSpeak Discovery CENTER
A ScanSpeak center speaker has been on the to-do
list for a long time, so here it is. Initially I was thinking of
Illuminator drivers, but my recent experience the
Discovery-861,
convinced me of using the Discovery drivers as they offer exceptional
performance. I wouldn't hesitate to use this center speaker with the
Ekta-mkII, The Ekta Grande, Ekta-25 or any middle sized floor-stander or
the 3-way classics, being ScanSpeak or other brands.
Some may think
my use of crossover components' quality is extravagant, but these
drivers deliver when fed an undistorted signal. Worth every cent.
Eventually there will be a low-cost version with STANDARD-Z caps for the
midrange and Superior-Z for tweeter.
Ekta
25
My
STUDIO-101
mkII is a keeper! If it must be small and not cost a fortune, this
speaker does it. With the updated 18W/8542-00 driver, now 18W/8542-10,
we have the tools together with the 9130 tweeter to make extraordinary
quality for a modest investment.
Finishing the Studio 101 mkII, a
2½-way was an obvious thing to do to get more of the same goodies. More
bass, more power handling, more of everything.
Setting up the Ekta-25
I experienced a vivid and dynamic presentation, yet delicate and smooth
in upper-mid and treble. The two 18W drivers can throw quite some bass
having a combined area similar to a ~9" driver. Giving the ~91 dB
sensitivity also an easy load for my 32 watt tube amp. I'm more than
pleased!
STUDIO-101-mkII
Making an mkII version of the popular Studio
101 has been on my to-do list for a long time. The Studio 101 has sold
steadily over the years and here's an updated version with an updated
18W woofer, better tweeter and optimised crossover.
There are classic
drivers that don't change much over the years. The 18W/8542-00 is such a
driver featuring a cone similar in composition to my 8008-HMQ driver.
The 18W/8542-00 has gotten a brush up since last time, new alu
chassis, a more thorough coating of the surround and damping of the
center pole piece producing an overall flatter response and smoother
roll-off. Overall the edge coating suggests some experience from the
18WE driver is carried over to this driver. All very welcome. Now
18W/8542-10.
I've praised the D2608/913000 tweeter before, and this
tweeter in terms of quality belongs in one of the higher categories
among ScanSpeak tweeters. Here's a test of the D2608/913000 tweeter and
compared to D3004/660000 tweeter. Link
here.
Ellipticor-3
The special thing about this Ellipticor-3 is
that we do not have a high-pass section for the two midrange drivers as
is standard for larger speaker systems and the two drivers are working
in a 2½-way fashion, where the 21WE adds to the low-end weight of the
18WE. And due to inherent smooth response, we only have a single coil to
each of these two drivers, creating target roll-off. I've never before
had drivers that could do this. We are dealing with 1st order filters.
The Ellipticor-3 has been a playground for numerous crossovers and
initially I meant to publish two, but one of them continuously
proved the other one inferior, so only one will be presented - and it's
a rather unusual one. I had a good friend doing a blind test, where I
played two pieces of classical music on two different crossovers
creating the same frequency response within ½ dB. He didn't know what he
was listening to and he immediately picked the simplest crossover, which
was my own favourite too - which he obviously didn't know in advance.
"This just sounds more natural!".
Ellipticor-4
Ear-friendly is a dubious term. It may be taken
for being forgiving on troublesome recordings. The Ell-4 is anything but
forgiving, but I can't help thinking ear-friendly. The mid-tweeter
integration works particularly well here, and not just because we have a
perfect LR2 profile far beyond point of crossover, but - I think - these
two drivers just make a remarkable couple. We can have "the best" of
midranges and tweeters in the world, but to make a coherent sound, each
supplementing the other in the best possible way, is up to trial'n
error. Sometimes we can have excellent sound from low-cost drivers due
to good compatibility and good crossover design. We can't tell from
specs - and we can't even tell from experience. Each combination must be
tried and evaluated from various baffle and crossover designs.
Should you think Be domes is the final answer to good treble, try D3404.
The D3404 delivers the resolution of good compression drivers when it
comes to e.g. cymbals and the ability to reproduce the sound of applause
from a live audience, the latter often heard as smeared noise. I've
never heard better treble from any dome, regardless of diaphragm
material. And I'm aware this is also a result of the integration
of
mid-tweeter as the 18WE handles the lower part of the treble range.
Ellipticor-1
The construction here displays new drivers never
seen before and to be honest, it's a daunting task being the first to
put these drivers together and see what has become of a serious
investment in time and money. Both mid-woofer and tweeter feature
elliptical voice coils, something - to my knowledge - never tried
before.
We have seen oval* speaker cones, even square cones, but all
with a round voice coils. I can only imagine the trouble ahead of these
units in terms of manufacturing oval voice coils, oval magnet parts,
machines that can add glue in ovals and many other issues in
manufacturing. Round is so easy. And no, they are not going to be cheap!
This ellipse project was started at ScanSpeak a few years ago by
Birger Jørgensen, who sadly passed away last year. The project was
brought to maturity by Dennis Hansen and Simon Møller Nielsen, and I was
handed the drivers to make a 2-way stand-mount for the Munich High End
Exhibition 2017. Quite a challenge as it often takes considerable time
to get to really know a driver, know its strengths and weaknesses,
because all drivers have compromises, and we have to learn how to handle
a driver with regard to cabinets and crossovers. What goes and what
doesn't? Initial crossovers tend to be complicated as we want to make
the drivers work nothing less than perfect.
Ekta mkII
The first Ekta construction dates back to 2005
and it was time for an update. The Ekta mkII features Illuminator
drivers like the world's best 4" midrange, increased sensitivity,
simpler crossover and lower price. Too good to be true? Follow link
above. Except for wood materials, the kit includes all from bitumen pads
to driver screws.
What you get here is something rarely seen in
commercial speakers, a 7+4+1. The vital 4" midrange driver bridging the
gap between bass and tweeter. That's not to say the 6+1 or 7+1 cannot be
made very well, it surely can, but it doesn't compare to the real thing
of paying attention to the troublesome upper-mid/lower-treble.
Illuminator-4
I dare say you can put the very best
amps money can buy in front of these speakers. From the level 1
kit you'll get quality you rarely find in any commercial design.
I had this speaker running for 3 months before the idea of an
Illuminator-5 appeared, and I really wasn't thinking of the
Illuminator-4 until a year later and setting it up again I found
it to be too good to let go and here it is. Less elaborate than
the Illuminator-5 and by having the 7100 tweeter with its good
low-end response, it's no problem taking the point of crossover
between mid and tweeter down to around 1.7 kHz, delivering a
presence close to the Ill-5.
The "thing" about these now
five constructions is the use of an 8" driver in a closed box
delivering the slam we wouldn't have from a single 10" driver in
a vented enclosure. It works! We have the low bottom end from
the 10" driver in a traditional vented box and the transient
attack of the closed box.
Illuminator-5
This will be my attempt to make the very
best we can get from ScanSpeak drivers*. Who knows what the
future will bring, but until then, these Revelator and
Illuminator drivers can make recorded music alive in our living
rooms.
Why 5-way? The thing is that a 18WU driver has a cone
area of 154 cm^2 and a dome like the D3004/602010 some 7 cm^2.
Any driver will start beaming at a frequency having a wavelength
equal to the diameter of the cone, thus for the 18WU it will
start beaming around 34.400/14 = 2.457 Hz. On paper this all
goes well as long as we stick to a point of crossover somewhere
around that frequency. And this has indeed been the prescription
to countless speakers over the years, the classic "6+1" set-up.
It's a compromise as any speaker is and it's OK! They're doing
well, but they also have a sound that is characterised by this
sudden change in dispersion pattern going from 150 to 7 square
centimetres. The Ekta and SP44 and Classic 3-ways sound very
differently because they all have this small 2-4" middriver with
a much different dispersion in upper mid/lower treble, creating
a presence the standard 6+1 doesn't. This "presence" reveals
detail and to some it may be too much detail because source
material may not be too good - or the overall front-end, amps,
CD-player, etc., is not up to the task. In this construction
we're talking as few compromises as possible.
DISCOVERY-4
What's seen above is meant to be a seriously large speaker from modest
investment. All drivers alone are 790 EUR. What I've tried is to spend
the money where it counts: The midrange driver and the crossover
components' quality. I haven't experienced any driver that didn't
benefit from good quality crossover components. The cabinet is designed
to be as easy as possible and something for any diy enthusiast with a
little experience in wood working.
Ellam 9800 mkII
This speaker has been on my to-do list for along
time. The first Ellam 98 dates back to 2005 (can't believe it) and was
designed around the common 2nd/3rd order filter as needed when drivers
are placed on a flat baffle and the need to compensate for the lack of
time-alignment. Placing the 15W driver some 20 mm in front of the 9800
tweeter allows a time- and phase-coherent system based on an LR2 filter
improving mid-tweeter integration and overall sense of transparency.
The 9800 dome is not particularly cheap, but to my ears it's the best
alu dome ever made and seriously rival the much more expensive beryllium
domes.
Jenzen
Illuminator
3-way TL design
from ScanSpeak W26/8861T00, 18WU/8741-T00 and D3004/660000
Several months of work
went into this design and it's so far the biggest ScanSpeak construction
I've ever made. The Jenzen Illuminator features a stepped front panel to
smooth midrange frequency response and to provide acoustical alignment
of drivers for implementation of true LR2
crossovers. A simplified crossover can be realised with enhanced
transparency and timbre quality.
Jensen 1071
ScanSpeak
26W/8861T00 + 18W/8531G00 + D2905/9900
This project started
with
Steen writing he'd acquired 2 x 26W/8861T00 bass drivers
and after the usual some 20+ mails, the top part of this
big 3-way became the 18W/8531G00 for mid and D2905/9900
for treble due to another diy'er giving up his
project. Not a bad choice! The 18W/8531G00 can go low in
a suitable top cabinet and possibly a simple crossover
could be implemented to mate bass and mid.
I never had the opportunity to do a crossover for the
9900, and having read on the web that this tweeter was a
tough one, I never applied for those second hand samples
available from time to time. The 9900 measures excellent
and modelling the crossover was even easier. So far, this
tweeter looks easy. Click heading or image to read more.
Ekta Grande
2
x Scan-Speak 18W/8531-G00 + 12M/4631-G00 + D2904/7000
Project
2007-14
This speaker is heavy and I do not have a
large photo studio, hence some white sheets and two lamps
in my workshop. I hope it provides an impression of the
sculptural beauty of Jesper's latest creation, the Ekta
Grande.
This construction will be rather quick and dirty. Most of
what can be said about the SS drivers can be found in the
Ekta and SP38 files. The basic cabinet coordinates can be
found below and to make the crossover work properly, the
front panel dimensions and driver placement must be kept
fairly accurate. What's behind the drivers is up to you.
The bass cabinet is 65 litres and this speaker goes low,
really low.
15W/4531G00 is the more lively sibling in
the Revelator 15W family of drivers. "30" means coated, "31" is
un-coated. "45" means 4 Ohms version, hence the increased
sensitivity compared to the "8530" driver used in
Ellam FLEX
and Ellam 98
mkII. Un-coated means its cone
has a different sonic impact on the overall presentation. A little
more lively, more lush, if you will. To balance this I picked the
classic ring-radiator, providing a balanced and very neutral
sounding treble.
The "4531" may sound more dynamic compared to
the "8530" due to its low-resistance voice coil, drawing more
current from your amplifier and just simply plays louder for the
same volume setting. At the end of the day a matter of taste.
Discovery W18
Discontinued, kit instruction can be
bought from me: mail
troels.gravesen@hotmail.com
V3 crossover:
Making the stepped baffle and implementing a true LR2 filter made a
world of a difference. Suddenly music started flowing and sense of depth
and perspective improved vastly. I never heard the difference between a
flat baffle/2nd-3rd order crossover and a stepped baffle/true LR2 filter
so clearly. It's night and day. It also made me think I have to do the
Ellam XT once more with an easy stepped baffle because people continue
building the Ellam XT speaker rather than the much better Ellam FLEX
with its more complex front panel layout. There are more to be gained
from these Ellam XT. And I would love to do the 9800 tweeter again in
such set-up... well, well, back to the Discovery here. Check it out by
clicking link above.
Ellam
FLEX 3W
Discontinued, open kit, buy components from a local
dealer.
3-way from 22W/4851T00, 15W/8530K00, D3004/660000 and three other
tweeters:
R3004/662000, D2604/833000 and
R2604/833000
Extend your Ellam FLEX with a bass module and experience a full-blown
3-way having a significant soundstage from a modest footprint.
Ellam
FLEX
Discontinued, open kit, buy components from a local
dealer.
2-way mini from
15W/8530K00 and four tweeter options:
D3004/660000, R3004/662000, D2604/833000 and
R2604/833000
Ellam Flex is just what the
name suggests, flexible. The idea is to make a small two-way from the
venerable 15W/8530K00 - still the best 5" I know of - as an
upgrade/replacement to former Ellam 9800, Ellam XT and W1500/97
constructions. These constructions will disappear from my website as I
think I can do better today with all experiences gained over the last
eight years, not least the
Jenzen speakers. This also means
that there will be lesser-budget versions with the R2604/833000 and
D2604/833000 tweeters.
MUN-17-3W
Discontinued from Jantzen Audio,
kit instruction can be
bought from me: mail
troels.gravesen@hotmail.com
I'm really sorry having to retire this speaker, but apparently a little
to expensive and complex for any kit sales to continue.
Ekta
2D
Discontinued,
kit instruction can be
bought from me: mail
troels.gravesen@hotmail.com
Experience a fully digital 2-way speaker with the options of 1st,
2nd and 4th filters from three presets. An unique opportunity to
compare crossover topology - and not as clear-cut as you may think!
The drivers used here are the same used in my STUDIO 101 mkII, but
here with the Hypex DSP we can manage the time delays electronically, thus a
flat front panel.
Feed it directly from your pre-amplifier or streamer/preamp. Kit only
available as a whole kit with/without drivers. The Hypex program can be
bought directly from me, 75 EUR.
Click image to go to Ekta 2D website.
ATELL-3
Discontinued
Careful selection of drivers allow simplest possible crossover.
As for the Ellipticor-3, not having a high-pass filter on the midrange
pays off. The coherence in upper-bass/lower-middle is hard to ignore,
although is does not have quite the same fullness and bottom weight of
the Ell-3. It can't - and it shouldn't. We have a significant smaller
cabinet and we have saved 2.5 k€ on drivers. Yet, the ATELL-3 has
qualities that made me go through record after record to hear yet
another way of telling me what I may have overlooked before. Any new
speaker will do things differently and hopefully give you new insight
into your record collection. The ATELL, like the Ell-3, has a
naturalness to the overall presentation, a transparency only limited by
the source material and for the size, surprisingly dynamic. On top of
this, deep dynamic bass from the 10C77 sandwich cone driver. I don't
know of any 10" bass driver that comes even close to the 10C77. Not
cheap, but I can't find alternatives unless we go to 12" bass drivers,
but then we need a bigger sized cabinet and here the objective was to
make the best of a smaller cabinet with higher WAF. And BTW, my wife
loves it!
Compact Studio Monitor speaker
Project 2008-14
Compact Studio Monitor
ScanSpeak 18W/8545-K00 + R2604/832000
Discontinued, open kit, buy
components locally.
Why build small speakers
when we can have bigger sound for the same money from a
bigger cabinet? Well, the answer is simple: Because
sometimes they must to be small due to how they
will fit in with a given idea about how our living rooms
are going to look. WAF is high from small speakers. Even
if a slim floorstander doesn't not take more floor space
compared to a mini on a stand, the WAF is higher for the
latter. Not much we can do about it.
"Sliced
Paper" SP38/13
ScanSpeak
18W/8531G00 + ScanSpeak D3806/8200 + ScanSpeak D2010/8513
Construction
made 2004-5
Discontinued, open kit, buy
components locally.
Why yet another 18W/8531G00 sliced paper
construction? Didn't the SP95 and the SP98 do well? Why
possibly a reduced cabinet volume? And why does USXX
predict an optimum 22 litre cab for the 18W driver? Who
is USXX and what has LspCAD to do with this? Well, first
of all, this construction dates back to the SP95 where I
tried the Scan-Speak D3806/8200 mid-dome from 1600 Hz and
the HIQUPHON OWI on top from 13 kHz. Click heading to
read more.
Ekta
Discontinued, open kit, buy
components locally.
Go
to mkII version
Scan-Speak
18W/8531-G00 + 12M/4631-G00 + D2904/7000
Project
2005-14
The sliced paper driver 18W/8531-G00 is a
driver you don't easily get over with. It's got the best
bass from any 6-7" midbass I have ever experienced.
It did great in the SP95 set-up. It did even better in
the SP38 construction and here's the best I have ever
heard from this driver and probably due to the cabinet
made from curved and laminated side panels producing the
most rigid enclosure I have tested. Thanks to Jesper who
came along with this construction.
Un-coated paper cones will always leave a fingerprint on
the reproduced sound and the sliced paper drivers are no
exception from this rule. Having a 6-7" un-treated
paper cone handling a very wide frequency range in a
two-way construction is tough. It helped a lot taking the
first point of crossover down to 1600 Hz by the
D3806/8200 tweeter and here we have the option 2 again
from my thoughts about various ways of designing 2- and
3-way speakers with regard to the chosen points of
crossover:
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Design_criteria.htm
After doing the 3½-way Zahra:
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/8543.htm, I was happy
repeating this approach and in particular with drivers I
knew from other constructions. I've made a crossover for
a construction including the coated version of the 12M
middriver (not published - and shall not) and it did very
well here despite having to mate two dedicated 8"
bass drivers at around 450 Hz. Not my favourite set-up,
but this was how the cards were played from the
constructor.
STUDIO 101
ScanSpeak
18W/8542-00 + SEAS 27TFFC tweeter
Discontinued, open kit, buy
components locally
or go to
STUDIO 101 mkII
What makes a "studio
monitor"
different to any other
"hifi" loudspeaker? Well, a true studio monitor
is supposed to have a reasonably flat on-axis response
combined with an even power response, allowing studio
engineers to make the best possible mix of the recording
before the final master. But shouldn't all speakers be
suitable for this? I guess the term "studio
monitor" was derived from well engineered speakers
in contrast to most home audio speakers a few decades
ago, when domestic speakers certainly was a mixed
blessing of drivers balanced by a few measurements and or
by the ear alone.
I had great expectations from this
monitor
due to the long-fibre paper pulp cone
and I wasn't disappointed. Click heading or image to read
more.
SP44
ScanSpeak
18W/8531-G00 + Accuton C244-8 + HIQUPHON OWI
Discontinued, see
Ekta mkII
I always liked
the
SP38/13 and seeing the
large ScanSpeak D3806/8200 dome getting out of stock here
and there, John/US came in handy with a pair of Accuton C244-8 inverted
domes and a pair of HIQUPHON OWI tweeters as well, thus
the SP44 project was on track. We could also call it
Ekta-Accu, but SP44 it will be. Comparing SP44 to the
Ekta is obvious and despite not having them side by side,
I'm afraid the SP44 will beat the Ekta from a less
coloured upper mid/lower treble. These ceramic domes are
something.
Now, what can the C44 do
the D3806 can't? Well, it goes deeper and it goes higher
and it has a remarkable flat response all up to 20 kHz
where a serious cone break-up occurs. 20 kHz is really
high and nothing to worry about in a 3-way system. The
C44 is not particularly sensitive, around 85-86 dB/2.8
volts - but all the same a good match to the 18W/8531
driver that usually can be tuned to a system sensitivity
of 86 dB/2.8 volts. Looking at C44 horizontal dispersion,
6 kHz seems like a good starting point for crossing over
to the tweeter, thus the C44 is really able to handle all
of the important treble range, because we can go
even lower compared to the D3806. From simulation 900 Hz
looks ideal, but no guarantee this will also sonically
make the best transition to the 18W midbass. Has to be
tried.
ScanSpeak Micros: Discovery 12W
Discontinued, open kit, buy
components locally.
This speaker must be small to suit desk top application and small sound
systems. Why not make your kids get used to good sound from an e.g.
NAD 3020D amp, being fed from a laptop or other digital sources? The
DISC-12W may be a way to better sound culture.
System sensitivity: 85
dB/2.8V, 1 meter. Impedance: 8 Ohms. Amplifier requirement: Minimum 5-10
watts.
Illuminator Monitor
18WU/8741T00 + D2904/710003
Discontinued, go to
Illuminator-71
Explore the world of
ScanSpeak Illuminator series and a fancy crossover design providing
smooth mid/tweeter integration. Don't expect earthquake levels from a 20
liter monitor but be prepared to enjoyable hours with your favorite
music played at sensible levels. The best small "6+1" I've
made so far. Not cheap, but far less than a similar commercial design
would cost.
Ellam
Discovery 15
Discontinued, open kit, buy
components locally.
Great small speaker - but unfortunately no one builds it...
This small 5" doesn't go particularly low, but what it does, it does
very well indeed. Very articulate (high Qm) and it doesn't die out at
low levels as experienced many times before with overly damped drivers.
The midbass' coated glass fiber cone is fairly rigid and has en
excellent midrange transparency and the minor equalisation around 5 kHz
provides a perfect LR2 roll-off profile. The midbass will play well up
into the treble area and it's better be good not to add any harshness to
the treble range. And it doesn't.
As always, the ScanSpeak ring
radiator delivers a smooth treble with lots of detail and low
distortion. Connected to my main system, this small 2-way may seriously
challenge much more expensive speakers.
|
