Over the past 2-3 years I have experimented with a few 8" drivers in various projects. While the results were good, none of them will be purveyed as a kit or completed speakers. This is simply because I don't think any of them proved worthy of the time necessary for me to build cabinets around them.
My first project was the SEAS CA21REX and SEAS 27TFFC. I was very impressed by the paper coned CA21, but not so impressed with the 27TFFC. The CA21 is a very light paper cone midwoofer that has some cone flex, but sounds very natural/normal to my ear. For some reason I prefer the sound of a good coated paper cone over a poly cone in the midrange. In this regard, I found the CA21 very pleasant, smooth, and had respectable bass and dynamics. In the realm of T/S parameters, the compromise of the CA21 was toward high sensitivity and away from a small cabinet. For a target system project, the CA21 would provide a great foundation when driven with a simple El84 push pull tube amp.
I found the SEAS 27TFFC a bit gritty and harsh. I didn't really care for the tweeter. This was my 2nd SEAS tweeter @$25, and I actaully found the H400 more pleasant to the ear - smoother. I don't know how this could be true, but this is the way I remember it.
Next was the Focal 8k dual voice coil driver and OW1F. During this project I learned a couple of things. First, the stiff cone of the Focal 8K sounded cleaner than the CA21 from the first pulse of my gated time response. This proved true during futher listening and construction. Second, Bud Fried was right.
Many years ago Bud Fried use the Hiquphon OW2F with a VERY simple crossover in his Studio IV speakers. Upon first exposure to this application I thought Bud was nuts for applying that much stress to the humble 3/4" ferro fluid tweeter. Bud wasn't nuts. I managed to cross the OW1F around 1600hz with a very steep 4th order slope. Upon completion I cranked up the volume and the OW1F didn't wince. Wow! It was with this crossover that I really began to feel confident. I killed the 8K resonance, and had very good power handling in the tweeter. The impedance and phase were good too. I later learned that I wouldn't really "target" this project at anything. Sure, it was detailed, but for the same $, a guy could purchase some SEAS W22 drivers. These proved much cleaner in the midrange (more to follow).
Next, however, came the Meniscus 8" 838 driver and SEAS H1212 tweeter. I chose the Meniscus 8" driver because it is one of 2 8" drivers having a 2" diameter voice coil. Theoretically, a 2" voice coil has a larger heat radiating area and will suffer less thermal compression. This proved very true
The Meniscus 838 has the best bass of any 8" driver in this group. It might be better than the Scanspeak 8" drivers, but I have not spent quality time with a Scanspeak 8" driver. Surely in the sane price realm, the 8" meniscus is an extremely good bass driver - the best I have heard in a hifi speaker. This is THE driver for bass. If I wanted to build a "fun" speaker for recreational listening, it would use the Meniscus 838. If I wanted to build a good sounding speaker for my teenage kid, it would use the Meniscus 838. If I didn't care much for symphony/jazz, I'd use the Meniscus 838. In short, the Meniscus 838 is, IMO, the driver of choice for 99% of non-audiophile folks, and probably 50% of folks who call themselves audiophiles. The bass from the 838 is extremely good, and the midrange is very acceptable.
During this project I also learned about the SEAS H1212. This is a dandy tweeter! I think this might be my new favorite tweeter around $25. Previously the Vifa D25, and Danny Richie's silk dome tweeter were the winners, but the H1212 is very decent. The wide polymer surround really damps the dome nicely and creates a very smooth sound. It doesn't have the detail of the OW1, but the H1212 also doesn't commit many of the sins common to aluminum dome tweeters. It is very well damped. In this regard, I find sins of omission much more tolerable than sins of admission. I like the SEAS H1212 .
My next experiment was the SEAS W22 and OW1F. This was a serious project that I really wanted to work well. It came out okay, but was nothing to be truly excited about. My wife and I both thought it sounded a bit different than the 1801, but not enough different to warrant another product. The W22 easily had the cleanest midrange of any 8" drive unit tested, but the bass was nothing special. This surprised me. I really thought the bass from the W22 would be better. The Meniscus 838 had better bass (bigger voice coil), an the smaller SS8545 also had better bass. Please don't infer that the W22 bass was bad. The W22 bass was good/acceptable, but not excellent, and only marginally better than the W18E001 to my ears.
My very last experiment was the SEAS P21RF/P and H1212 (again). The bass quality from the SEAS P21 from the 2" voice coil was very good, but not very deep. I figured this would be true. The bass was also very tight. Unfortunately, ya' can't have everything. The bass was not very deep. I expected this. The P21 is a low Q drive unit. I suppose the bass rolloed off about 50hz. What really surprised me about the P21 was the quality of the midrange. It had very good midrange - possibly equal to the Focal 8k. The SEAS H1212 continued to perform very well.
I wanted to experiment with these drivers for my personal eduction and because I truly thought something special might come out of these projects. IMO, the only thing(s) almost special was the performance of the Meniscus 838 woofer and the SEAS H1212 tweeter. This is a dandy driver combination that has some slam. I could listen to these drivers for days with pop music. They are very fun drivers and have a reasonably good amount of resolution. The sounded very good on my workshop stereo in the basement.
However, after all of this, I plugged the 1801s into that familiar setup... Dang they sounded good and clean. But I learned something subjective. This will follow in another post.
Sincerely,
