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I have been out of the speaker building loop for a little while but have decided to start a project utilizing a single full range driver per channel (no super tweeter) but I'm having some difficulty finding good info on the current crop of full range drivers out there. I see that John K favors the Hi-vi B3's now but they and the TB 871's have been around for a while now, and I have noticed TB has quite a few newer full range drivers out like the w3-1335s,1285sb,1231sh & W4-1337s. Some of these guys aren't exactly cheap so I would really appreciate some advice before pulling the trigger, thanks in advance.
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Hi,
I'd be a bit extra careful about what Tang Band calls a "Full range driver". I have the W4-871s and the W4-1337s (plus I used the bamboo TB's - I forget the part number). Out of all of them, only the bamboos were truly full range drivers: The other ones had huge break-ups, like any metal dome.
The bamboos were very nice, though.
Another idea... a friend of mine has the Fostex drivers with banana pulp cones. They sounded much better in the mids and highs than the Tang Bands, although they do not have any sort of low bass whatsoever, and he blew one of them while he was breaking them in with a SS amp...Javier Huerta -
There are any number of 3" drivers with solid extended top end, though they'll all beam as frequency wavelength gets shorter than diameter.
The bottom end is going to be THE trouble. None have all that much to speak of. You can get somewhat decent bass stepping up into some of the larger excursion 4" drivers but you'll lose a touch on the top end.
I've not ever met a "single driver" solution that didn't require at least a little contouring to get the best out of it.
CdiVine Sound - my DIY speaker designs at diVine AudioComment
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I don't mind using a notch filter to smooth the upper end out a little, I just don't want to get stuck trying to make a flawed or inappropriate driver do something it can't. How about the HI-VI B3n(s), can it convincingly pull off full range duty?Comment
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I ordered the HI-VI B3 with the square flange from PE, but they sent me the round flange version. I sent it back but they were out of stock on my model, and I never got to try it. I had a design in mind that required the use of that particular version. I thought it might be a good choice for some bathroom speakers, paired up with a little t-amp. I wish I could give you an answer, but this is of interest to me, as well.Comment
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full range drivers
It may be more than you want to spend but I have been experimenting with a Visaton B200. I have it in one of their recommended designs with a high frequency contour network. I like it very much for acoustic music and low volume listening.
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The B3N/S is good on the top but not as good as the 3" Aura drivers that Madisound stocks on the bottom. Gain a little here, lose a little there.
CdiVine Sound - my DIY speaker designs at diVine AudioComment
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I built Zaph's Hi-Vi B3. IMHO, it's an outstanding little speaker in the mids and highs. I was really surprised at its sound.
Unfortunately, it's quite limited down low, and I bet (I never measured it) that it distorts far too much to be useful. It's also very inefficient, which may or may not matter to you (I thought about using it with a 3 watt SET amp).Javier HuertaComment
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AudioExpress this month has a full range TL design using the TB 3".Comment
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Wow, those Visatons aren't cheap, US $ would be less but still beyound my means. The B3n is still a good candidate as I will be limiting the signal to >~150hz or so but I'm still a little concerned about distortion at moderate to high levels. Do you think the B3n's would benefit much from a tweeter crossing below some of that breakup?Comment
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What do you call moderate/high levels?
If you go tweeter, consider a 4"
A tweeter will bring you more gain from the lack of beaming at high frequencies than any top end issues in the B3S IMHOdiVine Sound - my DIY speaker designs at diVine AudioComment
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