Speaker Measurements: Midrange/Fullrange |
Speaker Drivers 4" and smaller. |
Drivers are tested on a 1.2x0.9m quasi-infinite baffle, with a measurement mic placed close range. The baffle accepts flush 225x225mm inserts which are constructed specifically for each driver, allowing the baffle to be reused for drivers having vastly different mounting hole requirements. Drivers with thick baskets/frames are flush-mounted in their inserts while drivers with thin stamped steel frames are surface mounted. The rear opening is always chamfered to aid air airflow, masking tape is applied to cover any gaps such as between the insert and baffle and around imperfect driver cutouts. Technical details about the setup can be found in this article.
For each driver, at least three plots are produced: A Frequency response plot and two types of Harmonic distortion plots.
4 far-field (30cm) measurements (0°, 15°, 30°, 45° off-axis) are combined with a single near field (10cm) measurement to produce the frequency response plot. The near-field measurement is crossed over to the far-field at 3khz. All measurements are windowed (frequency-dependant windowing) to reject baffle and room effects, however unavoidable room effects are present in all plots below 500Hz. There are some effects from 2-4kHz that are probably diffraction effects from the back of the baffle where it is stepped at the edge of the baffle insert - some drivers seem more affected than others.
The amplifier output is set to 2.83Vrms into 8ohms (1Watt into 8ohm), regardless of the nominal impedance of the driver under test. Therefore in order to compare the sensitivity at 1Watt, subtract 3dB from 4ohm drivers and add 3dB to 16ohm drivers. Subtract about 10.5dB from the curves shown to get the SPL at 1 metre instead of 0.3 metres.
Harmonic distortion plots are produced from a single measurement at 30cm (0°), with the amplifier adjusted to achieve an average of 96dB SPL @ 30cm throughout the usable frequency range of the driver. This is equivalent to around 86dB SPL at 1metre. 96dB SPL at the mic is normalised to 0dB on the plots.
The 'raw' and 'relative' plots are produced from the exact same data, the difference being that the fundamental is normalised flat in the relative plot. The relative plot offers a more realistic representation for drivers that have large deviations in frequency response and would be filtered to near-flat response in practice. Be aware that the amplitude of harmonic distortion does not change linearly with the amplitude of the fundamental - i.e. after notching out a 10dB peak in frequency response, the harmonics of the filtered frequencies will drop more than 10dB in amplitude. Therefore the 'relative' plot is slightly biased against drivers that have large peaks in frequency response.
(From 2018 onwards) Additional HD measurements can be taken at differing levels as required. For drivers that perform exceptionally well at 30cm, the mic can be moved back to 60cm and the amplifier level adjusted to achieve 96dB SPL at the mic again, therefore achieving a level of 92dB SPL at 1metre or +6dB over the original measurement. Finally the mic can be moved back to 1.2m and the amplifier level adjusted to achieve 96dB SPL at the mic again, therefore achieving a level of 98dB SPL at 1metre or +12dB over the original measurement. When the mic is moved further away the curves become rougher/fuzzier as the measurement is more influenced by baffle edge diffraction and room reflections, however this is not important as we are only interested in seeing the average level of the harmonics and if there are any narrowband peaks at certain frequencies.
(From 2018 onwards) For smaller drivers which struggle at the default level, the mic can be moved to 10cm away and the amplifier level adjusted again, achieving around 76.5dB SPL at 1metre or -9.5dB compared to the original measurement.
It's important to maintain the same level at the microphone when doing harmonic distortion measurements as the microphone itself produces some distortion. When subjected to 96dB SPL the microphone I use produces a second harmonic at around -50dB. Higher order harmonics produced by the microphone are negligible in magnitude. I choose to measure at 96dB as it allows me to see high order harmonics closer to the noise floor, at the expense of 2nd order harmonic distortion of the mic.
It's been some time since I last did measurements - the last were done in 2013. I still have the same measurement hardware however I have moved house and no longer have the luxury of the large lounge room space that I used to measure in. I am currently measuring in a smaller space which degrades the measurements somewhat however they are still comparable to previous measurements. The frequency response has changed a bit and is slightly rougher due to increased room effects, and there is a bit more background noise, particularly around 400Hz. There is a source of noise at 20kHz in some measurements which I haven't been able to track down - it can be seen at -65 to -70dB 4th harmonic @ 5kHz and 5th harmonic @ 4kHz. MATLAB, which I use to produce the plots also changed their plot rendering engine in late 2014. Rest assured that although the plots may look a little different, it is only cosmetic. The way the recordings are processed has not changed. I have made sure that old and new plots are scaled the same so you can still flick back and forth between browser tabs to do an A-B comparison. Here are measurement plots of the exact same driver done previously (2013) and now (2018) so you can see the differences:
Fountek FR88EX Frequency Response (2013)
Fountek FR88EX Frequency Response (2018)
Fountek FR88EX Harmonic Distortion (2013)
Fountek FR88EX Harmonic Distortion (2018)
I've provided some subjective ratings as well as some commentary/interpretations of the measurement results below. I may choose to edit the ratings or comments over time as I re-evaluate the measurement results.
"Build/Construction" rates the overall build quality and mechanical construction of the driver. e.g. Add points for a sturdy cast frame designs that aids ventilation and is easy to mount into a baffle. Subtract points for messy glue applications, frames which require tight baffle machining tolerances, ugly stamped steel frames, poor ventilation, flimsy parts which will break easily.
"Performance" rates the linear and non-linear distortion measurements. It is a measure of how usable the driver is. To achieve a 10/10 rating would require a ruler flat frequency response from 50Hz to 20kHz, high sensitivity and non-existent harmonic distortion. Drivers lose more points for issues which severely restrict their usable bandwidth, and less points for issues that are benign or occur outside the usable frequency range. Large dips in frequency response or high harmonic distortion attract severe penalties as these are issues which cannot be easily fixed. A smoothly ramping response or benign peak in the frequency response does not attract a large penalty as these are issues which are easily fixed in the crossover. Small (<;2") drivers are generally subjectively evaluated differently to 3-4" "fullrange" drivers as are dedicated dome midrange drivers. <; 2" drivers are expected to perform better in the upper octaves. Larger "fullrange" drivers are expected to perform better down low (hundreds of Hz). Dedicated midrange drivers are expected to have high sensitivity and cover the frequency ranges where 6.5"+ woofers and dome tweeters typically struggle (~600Hz to 2.5kHz). Drivers may be penalised for manufacturing consistency issues which affect performance.
"Value for money" evaluates the performance versus price. Listed prices are in US Dollars at the time of purchase
Price: $95
Build/Construction: 7/10
Performance: 8/10
Value For Money: 4/10
Formerly the Vifa D75MX41-08, this classic dome midrange design continues to be manufactured by ScanSpeak. It uses an overhung inset magnet motor design with an unusually small amount of excursion (0.4mm one-way) given the voicecoil diameter. The pole piece is vented via a number of holes hidden by a layer of felt on the back of the motor - this driver therefore does require it's own small (<;1L) sealed chamber. The coating on the 3" textile dome is not tacky and shouldn't attract dust. There is a an internal grille sitting just behind the dome surface which prevents the dome being pushed in by curious fingers - nice touch that. Tested May 2018
This is a dedicated midrange driver so it's performance will be judged as such. The non-flat frequency response may initially seem a bit strange to the untrained eye but it is free of any narrowband raggedness and should not be too difficult to work into a textbook bandpass response. The raised shelf from 1-2kHz dictates crossing over just above and below this for minimal filter complexity. Non-linear distortion is very low above 1kHz however below this the driver runs out of linear excursion. At 98dB/1m, no reasonable highpass filter frequency is able to keep the non-linear distortion under strict control. As a compromise I would probably target an acoustical high pass around 800Hz LR4 and accept that distortion will begin to be audible above about 95dB/1m. This is a bit of a shame as you would expect a dome mid of this diameter to be paired with a large woofer (8"+), demanding a low crossover point (~500Hz) and high SPL capability. Due to the large diameter of the faceplate (as big as a 6" woofer), I would not cross to the tweeter any higher than 2.5kHz to avoid nulls in the off-axis response.
Price: $85
Build/Construction: 8.5/10
Performance: 8.5/10
Value For Money: 5/10
7 cylindrical neo slugs and very thick front/back plates. The cone is paper with bamboo fibres like the W3-1364SA but with a shorter/flatter profile. The surround has a slightly larger roll than the other TB W3 drivers tested here and the cone area is therefore slightly smaller. The phase plug is two pieces - a blunt bullet shaped silver aluminium plug and a copper-coloured annodised aluminium 'cage' over the top (there is an air gap in between). Strange arrangement however doesn't appear to do anything detrimental.
Very good harmonic distortion figures, only a fraction behind the FR88EX. Frequency response is reasonably smooth with a slight recession around 4khz.
Price: $57
Build/Construction: 8.5/10
Performance: 6/10
Value For Money: 5/10
At 98mm overall diameter this is smaller than most 4" drivers but has a cone area larger than most 3/3.5". The cone and dust cap are woven polypropylene. Vented pole piece and excellent under spider ventilation.
There is a minor cone resonance about 1.5kHz which causes the frequency response to dip and even order harmonics to spike up considerably. Harmonic distortion is overall merely average. Other drivers around this price point represent better value for money.
Price: $51
Build/Construction: 7.5/10
Performance: 7/10
Value For Money: 6/10
Despite initial looks, this is not actually a concave cone (a la Aura NS3, HiVi M3N). The cone is actually a regular curved profile cone made of titanium, with a (black) thin concave dust cap (presumably also titanium) attached on top. The neo motor is bigger than the W3-1364SA and the pole piece is not vented. Just like the FR89EX the former is punched however the pole piece is so tall that it covers the punched holes almost completely.
Quite a sensitive driver with a fairly balanced frequency response apart from a textbook metal cone breakup. Peak/null combination in the top octave will be almost impossible to correct properly in order to use this driver fullrange. The breakup does also show up in the harmonic distortion, especially in the 5th order harmonic. The arrangement of the pole piece and punched former is almost identical to the FR89EX and the harmonic distortion shows very similar behaviour through the midrange, coincidence?
Price: --
Build/Construction: 6/10
Performance: 5.5/10
Value For Money: --
This is a car-audio specific midrange from DLS that was sold as part of a couple of 3-way component sets. It is a straight rebrand of the Morel CDM54. It uses a fabric dome material, with a sticky, dust-attracting coating. The motor is an inset neodymium magnet design. The pole piece is vented, with felt covering the opening at the rear. It is overall rather compact given the diameter of the dome. I believe the internals of this may be related to the Morel MDM55.
Tested with the grille removed. Good sensitivity, even accounting for the nominal 4ohm impedance. Harmonic distortion is only average, with more high order distortion than better dome midranges tested here.
Price: $49
Build/Construction: 7.5/10
Performance: 8/10
Value For Money: 7/10
This is supposed to be an evolution of the FR88EX. The neodymium motor is bigger, increasing xmax by 1mm and power handling up to 25W. The tinsel leads are now insulated and the spider has 4 square holes punched out of it. The pole piece is much taller than the FR88EX which causes the punched holes in the former to be obscured somewhat.
Harmonic distortion is a little disappointing compared to the FR88 especially around 400-500hz but this is still a high performing driver.
Price: $41
Build/Construction: 9/10
Performance: 8.5/10
Value For Money: 8/10
As far as i'm aware this driver is manufactured by Peerless India (unrelated to the Peerless company founded in Denmark). Aluminium dome with a coated fabric surround. Sturdy Aluminium faceplate and excellent build quality all around. Cannot be opened non-destructively however we can see from the cutaway picture (above, not taken by me) that it is an inset magnet neo motor design with a copper pole cap, vented aluminium former and well damped rear chamber. It is my understanding that production moved from India to China at some point, I'm not sure if there are performance differences because of this. The drivers I have tested are marked "Made in India" and were purchased late 2014. Tested May 2018.
This is a dedicated midrange driver so it's performance will be judged as such. There is a sharp breakup around 13kHz (easily notched out) and a very mild recession centred around 4kHz however it otherwise has a very smooth frequency response. The sensitivity is pretty standard for a dome mid of this size.
Harmonic distortion is excellent above 800Hz with almost a complete absence of anything above 3rd order. Interestingly, the 3rd order harmonic became lower above 1kHz when swept at a high output level - although unusual, this can happen if there is a 'kink' in the transfer function of the driver and it is not necessarily a bad thing. The breakup induced spike on the 3rd order occurring at around 4.3kHz is sufficiently outside the frequency range where I would use this driver.
The lower crossover point will be limited by how loud you want the system to play and how much 3rd order harmonic you can tolerate. Applying an 3rd order Butterworth electrical high pass filter at 800Hz achieves an effective 4th order Linkwitz-Riley acoustic high pass at around 700Hz while keeping distortion well under control up to a high listening level (98dB/1m). I have provided additional measurements above with BW3 filters implemented by a MiniDSP 2x4. The upper crossover point will be limited by the achievable centre-to-centre spacing with the tweeter. I'd recommend no higher than 3kHz to avoid lobing/combing off-axis.
Price: $41
Build/Construction: 8/10
Performance: 6.5/10
Value For Money: 5.5/10
Concave aluminium cone, inverted rubber surround. The former is punched above the spider. Excellent ventilation all around. Copper shorting ring.
Severe breakup at 11KHz but otherwise smooth response. Probably only useful as a dedicated midrange driver.
Price: $39
Build/Construction: 8.5/10
Performance: 6/10
Value For Money: 6/10
This new driver from Dayton Audio appears to be the same as the RS52AN-8 but with a fabric dome instead of aluminium. I'll assume the construction is the same apart from the dome material. Minus half a point for build quality because mine had some light glue smears on the faceplate and mesh grille. Purchased early 2018, made in China. Tested May 2018.
The frequency response is devoid from the 13kHz breakup that the aluminium version experiences however now there is a moderate dip centred around 1.5kHz. Given the frequency range you'll want to use this driver over, the dip significantly reduces the driver's effective sensitivity.
The harmonic distortion is higher than the aluminium version and the 5th harmonic reaches high levels between 1 and 2kHz even at low volumes. Narrow band HD spikes like these can be indicative of a cone/dome resonance or a consistency problem with manufacturing resulting in voicecoil rub/buzz issues. I don't think it is the voice coil rubbing as higher order harmonics (not shown in published plots) remained low. I put a 2nd driver sample on my test baffle and found a similar problem - one of the 5th order spikes disappeared altogether however the other remained and now was even larger in amplitude. The 2nd sample showed an overall increase in distortion at lower frequencies too.
It's hard to say if the differences between these drivers and the aluminium ones I have can be put down to the dome material or the difference in manufacturing facility (China vs. India). Assuming my results are indicative of the current crop of drivers, I'd recommend the aluminium RS52 over this.
Price: $40
Build/Construction: 7.5/10
Performance: 9/10
Value For Money: 8/10
Formed Aluminium cone/dustcap, reasonably compact underhung neodymium motor. The pole piece is not ventilated but the aluminium voicecoil former is punched. Doping compound applied to the rear of the surround. The cast aluminium basket is adequate but speaker box baffles will need careful machining and chamfering on the rear of the hole to not compromise airflow. There is also a tight tolerance between the mounting holes and the cutout, so M3 screws and t-nuts are a must if you intend to remove and reinstall the drivers more than once.
Very low Harmonic distortion. If I had to nitpick, there is a couple dB shelf from 2khz upwards and some mild breakup in the top octave.
Price: $38
Build/Construction: 6.5/10
Performance: 6/10
Value For Money: 5/10
The cone is made from two different papers sandwiched together. On the back is a coarse fibre paper and on the front is a fine fibre paper. The dust cap is formed aluminium, surround is foam. The motor is slightly larger than the FE83En, xmax and power handling are marginally improved (but still poor).
This is a lot better than Fostex's other 3" offering. Frequency response is smooth other than a peak around 9.5khz. Off-axis performance is also smooth. Harmonic distortion is a bit high compared to others around this price. If you need a high sensitivity (but not high excursion) fullrange driver then this is a reasonable buy.
Price: $38
Build/Construction: 7.5/10
Performance: 7/10
Value For Money: 6.5/10
This driver uses a paper cone reinforced with bamboo fibres and an aluminium phase plug. The voice coil is copper on an aluminium former. Same aluminium basket as the other TB W3 drivers. Xmax is only 0.5mm, but the arrangement is close to even-hung so harmonic distortion shouldn't blow up too quickly as xmax is exceeded.
Not too much to complain about here. The top octave will need some filtering to be used fullrange and harmonic distortion comes up a fair bit (esp 5th order) around 2khz.
Price: $35
Build/Construction: 6/10
Performance: 3.5/10
Value For Money: 1/10
Thin paper cone allegedly made from Banana pulp, inverted half roll coated fabric surround. The basket is stamped steel but of decent thickness and feels reasonable quality. Large unvented ferrite motor. Very low xmax (0.15mm) and a paper former equals abysmal power handling if used fullrange.
A massive null around 2khz is not what you want to see on a $35 midrange driver, almost as severe as the $9 flat HiWave driver made from cardboard! That by itself almost completely writes off this driver in my opinion. Frequency response above the null is extended, but fairly rough. Harmonic performance is average to poor. The only good thing about this driver is the high sensitivity.
Price: $33
Build/Construction: 8/10
Performance: 7/10
Value For Money: 7/10
This uses the same cone as the W3-1878 however just about everything else is different. Same basket as the rest of the W3s, an interesting neoprene surround with a hexagonal mesh pattern embossed into it, big ferrite motor. It has under spider venting but no pole piece vent. There is a sticky doping compound applied to both the front and back of the surround where it meets the cone. QC is excellent apart from a slight discontinuity in the embossed pattern on the surround. Tested May 2018.
The frequency response is a bit of a rollercoaster however the harmonic distortion is amongst the best tested here. Super clean at lower frequencies for a 3". If you are prepared to hammer the response into something flatter (and/or cross to a small tweeter) then this is excellent value for money.
Price: $28
Build/Construction: 8/10
Performance: 7.5/10
Value For Money: 7.5/10
The cone is aluminium with 5 beads/grooves pressed into it. Plastic basket, however with excellent ventilation. The former is punched/vented underneath the spider. Build quality is overall excellent. Tested June 2018.
Respectively flat frequency response with a slightly rising top end and almost ultrasonic breakup. Harmonic distortion is unrivalled above 1kHz however there was some significant rise in distortion from 400-900Hz when the level was increased - perhaps related to venting the air trapped behind the dust cap. Good sensitivity.
Price: $27
Build/Construction: 7.5/10
Performance: 6/10
Value For Money: 5.5/10
Tang Bands usual excellent build quality. This uses a paper cone, with concave aluminium cone bonded on top. The paper cone is punched for ventilation. Small spider due to the large voicecoil diameter. There are no mounting holes in the round plastic frame - I used screws with large button/pan heads which held the driver onto the baffle by clamping the edge of the frame down. There is a sticky doping compound applied to both the front and back of the surround where it meets the cone. Tested May 2018.
Rising response with a narrow dip in the top octave that is unlikely to be overly audible. Very low distortion above 1kHz however rising distortion below. Good sensitivity for the size.
Price: $25
Build/Construction: 7/10
Performance: 6/10
Value For Money: 5.5/10
This is one of Tang Band's cheaper offerings in their 'W3' line of drivers. It uses an aluminium/magnesium cone with a matte finish, cast aluminium basket, copper-clad aluminium voicecoil with a kapton former. Under-spider venting is adequate but could be improved. Comically small pole piece vent. There is a sticky doping compound applied to both the front and back of the surround where it meets the cone. QC seems a tad sloppier than the other W3 drivers tested - mine had a non-centered dust cap.
Good sensitivity and reasonably flat response, other than the 10dB shelf in the top octave. The motor however is a relatively simple design and this leads to rising distortion through the treble. This, combined with trending from the frequency response limits its usability by raising F3 and F5 to unacceptable levels above 2kHz. Useful only as a dedicated midrange.
Price: $22
Build/Construction: 8/10
Performance: 8.5/10
Value For Money: 8.5/10
Dayton call this a 3", but it has a smaller cone with a wide frame. Aluminium basket, cone, phase plug and former. Excellent build quality. Tested May 2018.
Reasonably smooth frequency response up to a roll off (due to the voicecoil inductance) starting around 6kHz followed by a typical RS-series metal cone breakup in the top octave. This is more useful as a midrange driver than as a fullrange and I have judged it as such. Harmonic distortion is exceptionally low from about 500Hz to 3kHz. Would make a world class dedicated midrange driver that can handle high listening levels crossed around 700Hz LR4. Small frame size opens up the possibility for an MTM configuration for even lower distortion and crossover point of around 500Hz LR4.
Price: $20
Build/Construction: 6/10
Performance: 5/10
Value For Money: 4/10
Aluminium cone/dustcap/former with an inset neo magnet motor. The basket is plastic and a really annoying shape to recess into a baffle. It may have 1.7mm xmax but the suspension is very stiff and locks up hard with about 1mm excursion. Tested May 2018.
The response is smooth enough with a huge ultrasonic peak. Harmonic distortion is clean above 1kHz but poor below it. Only at very low listening levels is the distortion below 1kHz acceptable. Value is low.
Price: $19
Build/Construction: 7/10
Performance: 8/10
Value For Money: 7.5/10
Basically the same driver as the TC9 but with a woven fibreglass cone.
Slightly better performance just about everywhere compared to the paper cone variant (TC9). Overall still good value for money.
Price: $18
Build/Construction: 8/10
Performance: 9/10
Value For Money: 10/10
A natural coloured paper cone with a very thin and fragile black paper 'whizzer cone'. Coated fabric surround. The 'phase plug' is actually a hollow plastic dust cap which moves with the cone - not the best arrangement in theory. Quality aluminium frame with good ventilation. Very large ferrite motor for this diameter driver. Vented pole piece. Tested June 2018.
Very flat frequency response apart from the near-ultrasonic breakup. The 'whizzer' cone arrangement does not appear to improve off-axis response as is usually seen on larger full range drivers. Excellent non-linear distortion. Probably the most appropriate driver here for full-range duty. Superb value for money.
Price: $17
Build/Construction: 8/10
Performance: 8/10
Value For Money: 8.5/10
Paper cone with a rubber surround and large aluminium phase plug. Same nice aluminium frame as the Dynavox LY302F but with a round face. Good overall build quality. Tested June 2018.
Frequency response features a step-down in the response at 2kHz followed by a large breakup peak centred on 12kHz. The lower frequencies are respectably clean up to uncomfortably loud listening levels. Would make a fine midrange driver used from 500Hz to 2kHz. Good value for money when utilised as a dedicated midrange.
Price: $16
Build/Construction: 6/10
Performance: 5.5/10
Value For Money: 5.5/10
This driver has a coated paper cone with a glossy black finish, rubber surround (with a sticky coating applied where it meets the cone on the front side), large vented motor and a stamped steel basket. The steel faceplate is rolled at the edges like the HiVi drivers but they have added a cardboard gasket to the rear side to add extra support.
Another driver that shows potential but is ruined by cone breakup causing high harmonic distortion. The midrange however is fairly clean.
Price: $15
Build/Construction: 5/10
Performance: 6.5/10
Value For Money: 7/10
Just like the TC6FD00-04 but with a neodymium motor. Quoted sensitivity is higher than the ferrite version, xmax and power handling remain unchanged. The Neo motor does not have a vented pole piece nor copper shorting ring.
Excursion capability is improved and harmonic distortion is overall a bit lower than the ferrite version of this driver. Frequency response is very smooth. Sensitivity is excellent for a driver of this size.
Price: $14
Build/Construction: 5/10
Performance: 7/10
Value For Money: 7/10
Just like the TA6FD00-04 but with a neodymium motor. Tested June 2018.
More or less the same performance as the ferrite version. Value for money is therefore lower due to the higher price.
Price: $13
Build/Construction: 4/10
Performance: 5/10
Value For Money: 5.5/10
Basically the same as the C3N-III but with a concave aluminium/magnesium cone.
Very low 2nd order harmonic distortion but pretty average everywhere else. Top octave freq response is also a bit messy but does extend to 20khz.
Price: $13
Build/Construction: 6/10
Performance: 3/10
Value For Money: 3/10
Similar construction and build quality to the Peerless TC series apart from using a concave aluminium cone. Tested May 2018
Sensitivity is extremely low. The response is smooth apart from large twin breakup peaks in the top octave. Harmonic distortion of all orders is high above 2kHz. There is a resonance issue at 500Hz showing as a peak-dip combination in the frequency response and a raised level of harmonic distortion.
Price: $13
Build/Construction: 4/10
Performance: 5/10
Value For Money: 5/10
Same formed Aluminium cone and surround as the FR88EX but adapted to a smaller voice coil. Stamped steel basket and ferrite magnet.
Frequency response is quite rough, harmonic distortion is average.
Price: $12
Build/Construction: 3.5/10
Performance: 3/10
Value For Money: 3/10
A concave aluminium cone bonded directly to a paper/kapton neck/former. The stamped steel basket has poor ventilation and makes baffle chamfering a requirement. Neo motor with vented pole piece. The Dayton Audio ND90-8 appears to be the same driver with a slightly more open basket. Tested May 2018.
A +10dB peak at 6.5kHz could be easily notched out to give this a very flat response, however the harmonic distortion is unacceptable. Bass is reasonably clean for a 3" however the entire midrange and treble suffer grating high order distortion.
Price: $11
Build/Construction: 6.5/10
Performance: 7.5/10
Value For Money: 8/10
This is another low cost fullrange driver from Vifa. The basket is plastic but is well designed with excellent under-spider venting. Coated paper cone and the pole piece is ventilated. Contrary to the above image, mine came with a foam gasket glued to the front of the faceplate.
Response is reasonably smooth with some mild breakup above 5khz. Could be used as a high performance fullrange driver if a slight shelf was applied above 5khz. Low harmonic distortion.
Price: $11
Build/Construction: 4/10
Performance: 4.5/10
Value For Money: 6/10
Paper cone, rubber surround, stamped steel basket and shielded ferrite magnet. The edge of the basket is rolled which makes it look like a cast basket when installed.
It doesn't do anything particularly badly, but doesn't do anything particularly well either. Sharp breakup at 10k and subsequent roll off in response make this unusable fullrange.
Price: $10
Build/Construction: 5/10
Performance: 7/10
Value For Money: 9/10
Similar to TC6FD00 and TC7FD00 but with an aluminium cone. The basket is a little larger than a TC6. Tested May 2018.
Reasonably smooth response, not quite as sensitive as the paper cone drivers. Low Harmonic distortion - better than TC7 above 1kHz, slightly worse below. Excellent value for money.
Price: $10
Build/Construction: 5/10
Performance: 6.5/10
Value For Money: 7/10
Like the TC7FD00-04, but a fabric surround and larger motor. Tested May 2018.
Very high sensitivity. Rougher frequency response and higher HD compared to the TC7FD00-04.
Price: $10
Build/Construction: 5/10
Performance: 8/10
Value For Money: 10/10
Just like the TC6FD00-04, but a larger basket/cone.
Incredibly smooth response. Very low Harmonic distortion. Excellent value for money if you don't mind the industrial appearance.
Price: $10
Build/Construction: 6/10
Performance: 7/10
Value For Money: 9/10
The smallest of the TC series, these are tiny! Like a TC6FD00 but smaller in every way. The lack of the rolled edge on the basket makes these look nicer when surface mounted but easier to bend the basket if you overtighten the screws. The baffle needs to be chamfered to a knife edge otherwise you will restrict airflow and hamper it's performance. Tested May 2018.
Smooth response out to 20kHz and tweeter-like off-axis performance due to the size. Low Harmonic distortion for it's size. Use of this 8ohm version (which I ordered by accident) is limited due to it's low sensitivity. It can't play loudly full range without gross distortion below 500Hz and it's too insensitive to cross passively to a larger woofer. Many of these used in a line array could perhaps get usability down to a few hundred Hz at high listening levels.
Price: $9
Build/Construction: 5/10
Performance: 6/10
Value For Money: 7.5/10
This is a low cost driver from Vifa, intended to be used fullrange. The magnet is almost as large as the basket diameter so it is probably intended to be reverse mounted but you can get away with surface mounting it if you are careful. The basket is stamped steel but offers acceptable ventilation while the motor has a vented pole piece, punched aluminium former and copper shorting ring.
Very well behaved apart from a slight peak in response around 3KHz. Has problems with excursion down low which is to be expected from such a small driver.
Price: $8
Build/Construction: 6/10
Performance: 7/10
Value For Money: 9/10
Same as TC5FD00-08 but with a 4ohm coil. Tested May 2018.
Slight frequency response variation compared to the 8ohm version, similar HD.
Price: $8
Build/Construction: 6/10
Performance: 7.5/10
Value For Money: 9.5/10
This FC00 version of the TC5 uses a small neo motor and a slightly taller basket which allows the former to be extended above the spider where it is vented. Tested May 2018.
Slightly smoother frequency response and more sensitive than the FB00 versions. Similar magnitude low order HD and slightly better high order.
Price: $7
Build/Construction: 4.5/10
Performance: 4.5/10
Value For Money: 5/10
The 'cone' is a flat piece of honeycomb cardboard, bonded directly to the former. There are rubber strips attached to the rear of the cone and the edge of the rubber surround where it attaches to the cone is also very thick presumably to also help with damping. The tinsel leads may be able to contact the cone under very high excursion. The basket is a rather chunky plastic construction and provides adequate ventilation. Voicecoil former is aluminium, punched above the spider.
Sharp null just before 2khz which is probably a resonant mode of the flat cone - makes sense as a half wave at 2khz corresponds to about the width of the cone. Strange peak around 240Hz that may be a trait of my measurement setup. Extends high enough to be used full range but only on-axis. Harmonic distortion is suprisingly low apart from some peaking around the flat cone resonance.
Price: $2.50
Build/Construction: 2.5/10
Performance: 2/10
Value For Money: 7/10
Cheap paper cone, coated fabric half roll surround, thin stamped steel basket. The motor is under-hung with a neodymium magnet and a (small) vented pole piece.
You could do a lot worse for $2.50
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