www.audioexcite.com

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year!

Thank you all for your donations, interesting e-mails and the encouraging support of the AudioExcite Loudspeaker Design website.

I will try to publish more measurements, loudspeaker designs and other related stuff the next year, but with a regular full time job besides AudioExcite, it’s a challenge to find the time to do it all.

I will try my best!

Best regards

/Göran

This time on the test bench we have the ScanSpeak 18W/8545 mid-woofer from the ”Classic” series.

The two tested driver units are the 18W/8545-01 and the 18W/8545-00. The -01 version replaces the soon to be discontinued -00 version.

Measurement details for the two different mid-woofer versions can be found here:

18W/8545-00

18W/8545-01

(click on picture to zoom)

Left driver in picture: 18W/8545-00 (old version)

Right driver in picture: 18W/8545-01 (new version)

What’s the difference between them?

The new version claims to be an improved version of the old 18W/8545 and even though the measurements shows slightly better frequency response and distortion profile they are more similar than different from each other.

The -01 version has a new chassis that allows larger screw fasteners to be used. The old -00 version only allowed screws of 3mm in size.

(click on picture to zoom)

Left driver in picture: 18W/8545-00 (old version)

Right driver in picture: 18W/8545-01 (new version)

The new -01 version has a new spider material compared to the -00 version, but the magnet size chassis shape etc. are the same.

The -01 version has about 8% higher resonance frequency compared to the -00 version and slightly higher Qts. Both will work satisfactory in the same enclosure volume and bass-reflex tuning.

Impedance:

Blue: 18W/8545-00 (old version)

Green: 18W/8545-01 (new version)

Besides the difference in resonance frequency the impedance plot is virtually identical.

Frequency:

(click on picture to zoom)

Left: Frequency response on-axis (Blue= -00 version, Red= -01 version).
Right: Frequency response 15deg off-axis (Blue= -00 version, Red= -01 version).

Slightly higher sensitivity and extended frequency response for the -01 version compared to the -00 version.

Depending on the cross-over design, the new -01 version can most likely be a drop-in replacement for the -00 version.

Measurement details for the two different mid-woofer versions can be found here:

18W/8545-00

18W/8545-01

It has been a while since the last published loudspeaker design. The reason for that isn’t the lack of designs; it’s the lack of time to publish them!

The new Revelation Two – Monitor WG loudspeaker uses one of my absolute favorite mid-woofers, the ScanSpeak 15W/4531G00. With its smooth frequency response it’s very easy to work with and it sounds wonderful in shallow sloped cross-over designs.

This time I use a WG148R waveguide from Visaton in combination with the Dayton Audio RS28F-4 tweeter and the ScanSpeak 15W/4531G00 mid-woofer.

By using a waveguide it isn’t necessary to use a stepped or sloped baffle to time align the drivers in order to compensate for the drivers “relative acoustic center off-set”. This is important when using a shallow sloped cross-over topology like the second-order Linkwitz-Riley type of cross-over used in this loudspeaker design.

The waveguide also have the benefit of improving the dispersion and to give a smoother power response compared to a conventional mid-woofer + dome tweeter setup.

There are three versions of the cross-over, the Simplistic, the Perfectionist and something in between, the Intermediate.

Each of them is a valid option and can be chosen according to personal taste and e.g. room placement. In my opinion each extra step to the Perfectionist cross-over adds additional sonic qualities, but for the cross-over purists the Simplistic version is nice.

For further details see: Revelation Two – Monitor WG

I’ve measured and tested the inexpensively priced Monacor DT-300 soft dome tweeter and WG-300 waveguide. It has a plastic tweeter face plate, but feels robust and nicely built. The tweeter has a high performance/cost ratio.

For measurement details see: Monacor DT-300 + WG-300

I’ve measured and tested the very nice “Classic” ScanSpeak D2905/950000 soft dome tweeter. It has a very robust and nice build quality. The price tag is rather high, but this tweeter is well worth the money.

For measurement details see: ScanSpeak D2905/950000

 
The final part of the review can be found here:

Wharfedale Diamond 10.2 review part 4

Regards

/Göran

 
Here´s a picture and review update of Rafal’s beautiful creation of the “Revelation Two – Monitor” design inspired by the “Sonus Faber Guarneri Memento” loudspeaker.

For further details see:

“Revelation Two – Monitor” built by Rafal (Poland) Update!

 
Part 3 of the review can be found here:

Wharfedale Diamond 10.2 review part 3

Regards

/Göran

I described in part 2 of my Wharfedale 10.2 review that my right loudspeaker didn’t sound and measure the same as the left loudspeaker.

The reason for this is:

1. The mid-woofer had a mechanical creaky sound from the surround/suspension and even though it measured almost identical as the mid-woofer in the left loudspeaker the creaky sound could be heard in bass heavy recordings.
2. The tweeter in the right loudspeaker had significant lower sensitivity which gave about 1.5-2dB lower output in the tweeter’s frequency response.

I contacted my local HiFi shop and supplier which immediately supplied me a new tweeter and mid-woofer.

I have now updated the part 2 review with some new measurements for the replacement drivers.

Wharfedale Diamond 10.2 review part 2

Regards

/Göran

 
Part 2 of the review can be found here:

Wharfedale Diamond 10.2 review part 2

Regards

/Göran