Well, I wouldn't SAY THAT...
Give 'em a listen. Depending on what you had before, they might be the best thing you've ever heard!
There is no perfect driver; believe me I know. You just gotta know how to work 'em. Zilch knows these drivers too; start reading his related threads from the last three years. More than you need to know right there.
How were you going to cross them over and EQ them? You can build a passive EQ/crossover- there are many, many JBL production models that use the 2447/2381 that you could use the internal xover schematic as a template. If you're a tweaker, you could go from there. Or, use something like a DBX DrivRack PA (about $500new or $300 used, add calibrated mic for another $100) or the Behringer auto EQ/crossover/delay/swiss army knife for under $300 new. Zilch has been using one for a couple years now.
To clarify, don't cross them over below about 1.2KHZ if you expect the 2381 to act like a horn instead of spreading out all over the room below that. And definitely don't run them down much below 800 Hz- the horn will not load the driver properly. While it's unlikey you could stand the SPL it would produce before damaging the driver in your home, the frequency response and dispersion down low like that would be crazy, especially when you factor in room reflections, unless the room is really "dead". But since you have them, try it out. If you stil have them in the factory cabinets with the 2226, hook 'em up! What do you have to lose? If the unit is biampable, try that too.That way you'll know what happens from crossong over higher or lower, and learn something about speaker design
Let's talk about the 2452H-SL
True that- less IS more. Less work, less transition problems between drivers at crossovers, all that.
RE: 2452-SL- what distinguishes it from the 2447, besides the diaphragm? I expect it is a Neo magnet, but is the phase plug different too? Can I expect nearly the same performance with the 2452H-SL diaphragm in my 2447 motor assy? If not, have you tested this combination and compared the two?
I'd love to find the one driver that could carry from 1.2 -1.6K and go all the way up without the ridiculous and complex EQ the 2447 would require -and the ugly sound above 8-10K that would be a part of the formula w/ 2447.
I cooled off on this project after getting burned on ebay last year for three 2435HPL's by the same seller that burned fellow German LHS member rs237. (You may recall my PM's to you about this) On paper, at least, it was much better than the 2447 or 2451, but still fell short of 20K.
RE: BMS- I was enlightened by the US importer of BMS to the licensing to JBL for their ring radiator. FWIW- He also said that JBL could never get the performance of their own driver quite up to the level of the German-made BMS model due to production problems in diaphragm manufacturing.
The 2452H-SL sounds alluring... please post any links to threads or posts of your "R&D", particularly compared to 2447 w/2450 dia and especially a 2447 w/2452H-SL dia.
Thanks!