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Geez, who the hell needs TAD
Hi All, I spend the day listening to several different horns using the TAD 4001 and JBL 2445 with the TrueXtent Beryllium diaphragms. WOW is all I can say. We got the TrueXtents from Black Swamp Audio and in every instance I thought the 2445s with the Beryllium diaphragm sounded better. Not by very much mind you: and I am JBL biased, but for the price of the diaphragms and the 2445 that is readily available, it is a no brainer which one I am buying.
Here is a shot of all the horns we brought together at Brad's (Black Swamp Audio) for critical listening. It was me, Dan (Cosmos), Rick (Tubino), and Brad. We had 2 sets of Yuichi horns, Smith horns, 2 pairs of Edgar horns, and Matinelli horns. All but the Martinellis took 2" compression drivers. We had 2 pairs of TAD 4001s and a pair of JBL 2445 with TrueXtent Beryllium diaphragms. My favorite combo was Rick's Yuichi horns with Dan's JBL 2445 drivers. There are not enough words to discribe the sound....if was wonderful.
DIY Diaphragm Users are Few
I really doubt Brush-Wellman's business plan is counting on DIYers. I think they are after the pro market for replacement diaphragms, and that's why they emphasize durability as much or more than extreme fidelity.
There are a bazillion pro sound guys blowing up diaphragms on a regular basis, and then there is a handful of home audio fanatics who can live off a pair of diaphragms for the rest of their natural lives. As a consumer group we're not even the tail on the pro audio dog. We might be the pimple on the flea on the tail of the dog. I bet 90% of the people who use 2" compression drivers in their homes in the US are in the cumulative contacts lists of readers of this and maybe 2 other forums. Add one more degree of separation and we'd get most of the rest of the world too.
Pro audio is an industry. We're a little club. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I just don't think we are in the marketing equation for the manufacturers.
Further on what tubino said...
Would T/S testing using WT2 or WT3 show the possible tired drivers?
Ron asks.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by
originaltubino
Amen to that. Mine keeps asking why I don't implement a proper gain structure with the bi-amping, and questions my use of damper diodes for a preamp power supply. She still loves me though, and I'm saving some 5AR4's for her for Mother's Day.
More on topic, maybe, how would I ascertain if my TADs have tired diaphragms? The point was made above that most of us only get to hear TD-4001's that have been through the pro sound wringer. I don't *think* mine have been abused, but how would I know? Would this show up on FR response, or maybe it's a hard-to-measure transient response thing?
I'm not curious enough to buy a new pair.
I should be able to see these speakers Saturday
I made a last minute decision to travel up to Detroit Saturday for a quick one-day trip with Joe who lives nearby.
See you then Dan!
Ron
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The almost finished product:
Here they are, as they appeared at AKFest 2010. They sounded great and I think they looked pretty nice too. They aren't quite done yet.. feet yet to come.
2445 -2450 & non-Ribbed Ti Diaphragm
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Elac310
In my 2445 core (5 slit metal core) I have tried NOS D16R2445 (original Ti diaph), NOS D16R2441 (aluminium), Non-JBL Be diaphs, and some aftermarket stuff (ribbed Ti). The non-JBL Be had indeed extremely smooth sound (great on classical music, opera, violin etc) and more HF extension in the area 8-12kHz but then dropped dramatically in a way which I did not manage to compensate with a passive crossover using HF boost circuitry. Aftermarket ribbed Ti diaphs gave a similar sound (no joke). 2441 Al diaphs were very smooth indeed, but lacked UHF extension and impact in the 2445 core with my horns.
For the time being, I've decided to stay with the NOS 2445 Ti diaphs due to their UHF extension capabilities with the UHF boost circuit, general sound impact and resolution etc. , and tried to get the best and most out of them with appropriate horn and equalising. I'm still working on it: Russian NOS capacitors in the mid and the HF/UHF crossover paths give a harmonically rich and milder yet very resolved sound (I discovered that the 2445 shows the limits of classical MKP caps) , adjusting cap/coil values and boost level carefully, adding a serial 30 ohm cap etc. have helped a lot smoothing reasonably the 2445 diaph, without loosing attack and the "bite" of this diaph which is so extraordinary on pop rock, jazz and good recordings generally etc.
2445 Ti diaphs do not forgive bad recordings, any saturation in the mikes and recording preamps etc...This is noticeable on good recordings made for instance in natural ambiance with mikes run at high power supply levels with tube preamps. The Ti diaphs can be a pain in the neck but also a fantastic magnifying glass of recording defects... In contrast, the Be and aftermarket ribbed Ti diaphs allow you to forget about the system on most recordings and classical music but still...Tweeter is needed and something is missing in terms of impact to my taste.
Hi Elac310,
I have got almost the same conclusion with the measurements
http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...l=1#post353522
Regards
ivica