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UHF driver selection suggestions and thoughts?
My current system uses an Eminence Kappa 12 woofer and a P. Audio BM-D440 (1 inch, titanium diaphragm) on a B&C ME45 exponential horn. Despite top octave compensation I still find the sound somewhat lacking in the HF range above 10 kHz. Not really the "sparkling" sound i happen to enjoy. (But they do sound good). So I added a pair of KSN-1005 crossed in at 10 kHz which helped a lot. (Yes, you heard me right, the KSN-1005! They do not sound all that horrible above 10 kHz...) However, I am looking for higher quality drivers. Here is a list of different drivers I have been eyeballing so far: "Bullet" Beyma CP16 Beyma CP22 Fane HF250 P. Audio PST-555 JBL 2402 (WAY too expensive...) "Slot" Beyma CP21/F JBL 2405 (again, out of the question.) Experience with any particular driver, other suggestions or general thoughts are welcome!
Re: UHF driver selection suggestions and thoughts?
I've used the JBL 2405 a lot, and I really like it. That's the one that gets my vote.
Wayne, I have no reasons to doubt that the JBL 2405 is a great part, but at the moment JBL parts are just way too expensive for my budget. Do you like diffraction slot drivers because of their wider dispersion or simply because they sound better? /Magnus
I like the JBL 2405 first and foremost simply because it is a great sounding driver. The fact that it has a wide horizontal pattern and narrow vertical is a bonus, since that's where the energy is most useful. But to be honest, the pattern is a little wider than I'd like and its frequency range makes it impossible to use with the speakers I make these days. I'm more into uniform directivity and these require too high a crossover point for that philosophy, making the vertical null angles too narrow. But the driver itself is very good sounding to me, and for speakers that aren't designed for a uniform 90x40 pattern, this is an excellent choice. When compared with a bullet driver that has a round pattern, at least the 2405 has limmited vertical dispersion, which is a good thing in my opinion. One surely doesn't want celing slap from a tweeter with a tall vertical coverage angle.
Check out fostex as well. Dan
Eminence makes their APT driver with three different horn types. They list from $50 to $80. The response curve they publish goes out to 20KHz. I haven't tried them. Maybe someone else has and can comment. Chris
I've used the APT80 with the Eminence Alpha10. Replaced the KSN1038 piezo in my 2PI Towers and I like them a lot. But I'm comparing them to the piezo, which was not to my taste. Gar.