Spectrastrip Cables

[4313B]

Nice system there! That's a whole lot of work you've done. I hope you like the 476Be's.

[KCCT82]

When I first powered up the TD-4003/TH4003 combo I was completely blown away. The detail was as fine as any electrostat I had ever heard, the ease at which they produced sounds exceeded anything I had heard and at any SPL from soft to thunderous...

...There is a downside to these drivers besides the obvious cost issues. Since they are so effortless and quick, it is very difficult to get them to mate well with a driver below their operating range. I had to go away from the 15" 1500AL to a light coned 10" driver and even that may not be the ultimate. Using a horn as you are doing should help immensely with this integration.
Widget

Hello Mr. Widget

I agree, there probably isn't anything better than the TAD 4003's... so good that even my 5-way horn system can't match with it. Everything image and sound good, but noticeably better in the mid-high region (I'm using 4003 between 1.5-12khz). Violin and female voices stick out a bit and I don't believe it's a spl/level matching problem, the mid-high octaves just sound much clearer.

On the other hand, with my limited experience and knowledge I can't be sure if 4003 is really the cause for what I'm experiencing. The tractrix horn might have something to do with it. I need to make a 150hz tractrix horn for my Goto driver (300-1.5khz) to see if they'll work together better.

The 476Be's are overall very nice mid-high drivers with slightly better extension (than 4003?). It's also more laid back, setting in nicely with my system. I do hate a slight "plastic" sound that it adds to the texture of violin strings. I also realized that I needed a supertweeter on top even though JBL crosses them at 20k :dont-know ... With 476Be's more laid back presentation, I pulled out my brighter/harder attacking ET-703's and they mated quite well. So all in all I didn't get more detail (already got tons of those) but a more coherent signature. Oh, and the 476Be's sound more "Hi-fi"... whatever that means... In absolute sense I think TAD 4003 is the winner between the two, but I definitely enjoyed 476Be's in my system more.

Please keep in mind I only spent 2 days with these new drivers and I probably didn't time align/eq/cross/placed these horns the best I could.

Regards,
Keith

[4313B]

In absolute sense I think TAD 4003 is the winner between the two, but I definitely enjoyed 476Be's in my system more.

The TAD's at a retail price of $3,570 each are actually quite a bit more expensive than the JBL's. JBL was fully aware of the 4003 and didn't seem all that fired up to build a compression driver to compete with it. We discussed it at one point.

[Mr. Widget]

The TAD's at a retail price of $3,570 each are actually quite a bit more expensive than the JBL's. JBL was fully aware of the 4003 and didn't seem all that fired up to build a compression driver to compete with it. We discussed it at one point.

I doubt they really cared... from my conversations with them it seems they no longer design drivers as generic devices but rather design a driver to suit a particular need in a given system... if they can repurpose it and use it more than once all the better.

As for the differences? The TAD does look like it costs more to make and is probably slightly better, but the differences are likely mostly academic. Having heard both of these unobtanium drivers, I think either could satisfy most people's SOTA driver needs... if they can afford them and if they can find them. Neither of these drivers are easily purchased.


Widget

[Don C]

Just in case anyone is still interested in the original topic.
Ribbon cable is a reasonable way way to get a lot of current capacity and it has the neat side benefit of laying flat under carpeting. I have tried it in the past, I don't believe that there is any audible benefit over other good cable, but it doesn't seem to cause any audible problems either. Regular ribbon can be a bit risky as all of the strands are the same color, so you could easily count the strands wrong and create a short circuit. Spectra strip color codes the individul wires in the ribbon, making it easier to terminate.
http://www.newark.com/amphenol-spect...ble/dp/78K6402