Full Range 12 inch Speakers?

[RetroSmith]

I'm thinking or purchasing a pair of old Tannoy cabinets because I can get them cheaply. no speakers inside. No hole cut for a tweeter.

What would be my best best for a full range 12 inch speaker to put inside them for home listening? Is anything modern acailable thats in the same league as the Tannoys?


Any help is appreciated.

Mikey

[Cafe Jeff]

There is actually, if you want to go two way.
There's a neat Brasilian company named Selenium, or something very close, that sells 12 inch dual concentrics with integrated crossovers. I was quite impressed by the 15" as a Tannoy substitute.

http://www.selenium.com.br/sitenovo/index.asp?page=default_us.asp

For a full ranger, I am not sure, but the rat shack ones aren't two bad, but I don't know if there is a 12 incher. But you'd want something made of a very light material like paper. Also, you could try 12" woofers and mount the tweeters seperately or on top. No one says they have to be in the same cab. All the best. Jeff

[RetroSmith]

Thanks Jeff!!

[RetroSmith]

Actually, someone ELSEdid tell me that Rat Shack had seriously upgraded their Speaker manufacturer and that some "audiophile" companies were using the Rs speakers in their enclosures.

[Taurus]

PartsExpress sells some large coaxial speakers, including the Selenium brand:

SELENIUM 12CO1P 12" COAXIAL DRIVER (http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&PartNumber=264-390&DID=7)

Here's one from Eminence:

EMINENCE BETA-12CX 12" COAXIAL DRIVER (http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7)

Here's two JBL coaxials, but they seem pretty industrial looking:

JBL Professional Series: Coaxial Transducers - 2142H, 2152H (http://www.jblpro.com/pages/components/coaxtrans.htm#2142H)

[T]

[RetroSmith]

Thanks Taurus!!

They both look nice but they both say Power handling is 250 watts.....I'm only pushing 80 WPC out of my Denon.
Think thats enough power to drive these?


Also,the Eminence needs an additional driver....so I guess this isnt full range. The Seleniumlooks really nice and if I did this, I'd probably go that route.

[Gary]

Does anyone know what these sound like? Is Eminence in a branded speaker and are there reviews for them?

Just curious....

[-=Rudy=-]

Originally posted by mikey5967

They both look nice but they both say Power handling is 250 watts.....I'm only pushing 80 WPC out of my Denon.
Think thats enough power to drive these?


More important than power handling, what is the efficiency rating of the speakers? Speakers these days overall seem to average 90dB/watt @ 1 meter. If it's within a few dB of that you should be cool. Just because you can push 250W into them doesn't mean you have to. ;) Heck, even my little Realistic Minimus 7's are relatively inefficient at 83dB/w/m but they can still be driven to decent levels with modest power. Rule of thumb: every 3dB increase in speaker efficiency is like a doubling of amplifier power. Or in other words, a speaker rated at 87dB/w/m will need twice as much power as a 90dB/w/m speaker to play at the same volume level.

[-=Rudy=-]

Originally posted by Gary
Does anyone know what these sound like? Is Eminence in a branded speaker and are there reviews for them?

Just curious....

Eminence, Celestion, Selenium, and some of the JBL pro sound models are designed more for professional sound reinforcement (sound systems at concert venues, discotheques, nightclubs), musical instrument (guitar, bass) and public address systems. Can't vouch for their sound, but they are made more rugged due to the environment they'll be used in, and the large amounts of power they'll be driven with. Except in very rare circumstances, chances are you won't find them in gear for in-home use.

Reviews? I'd say you'd have to look for one of the professional audio magazines. Maybe someone else here knows of a few that would review these units.

[RetroSmith]

Anybody ever heard of "Utah" speakers? seems to be a 50s brand.

[Cafe Jeff]

I've listened closely to the 15" Selenium Dual-Concentric in a reproduction Tannoy GRF cab with a slightly modified crossover. I thought it sounded rather good actually. I have heard the exact same cabs with modern Tannoy 15" dcs, and it was closer than I would have guessed. Jeff

[Drew]

A 10 inch Eminence is used in my Pi Series 2. You can read about Pi Speakers here:

http://www.pispeakers.com

I'm very happy with whats there but the 10 inch doesn't go down much below 40 hz.

[Steve Hoffman]

Guyz, you're yakking about PA speakers here. Are you sure this is what you want?

[Cafe Jeff]

True enough Steve.
I was just suggesting a relatively inexpensive driver that would fit in a Tannoy cab without a lot of cutting that I had some experience. Of course, a pair of Reds I am sure would go nicely too! Jeff
How's baby life treating you anyway?

[Steve Hoffman]

Baby life is good!

I think Mikey is trying to squeeze some fidelity in an empty Tannoy Cabinet. Why, I don't know...

[Cafe Jeff]

I am glad to hear Baby Life is good.
If it wasn't, there's not a lot you can do....
Not to thread hijack, but our babies just came down with terrible fevers. Baby 1's temperature reached 106 and we had to go to hospital. Very scary stuff. Baby 2's temp spiked last night. We don't want a repeat. Keep your baby warm and post some more pics!

Is ours to reason why? Jeff

[RetroSmith]

Well, it was just an idea, thats all.

Actually, today I decided to just buy a pair of new Tannoys for the living room, since like the sound of the one I have in my studio.

[Gary]

Well, it's either that or trying to find original drivers, Mikey!

[RetroSmith]

Yea, I know, but its just a whole lot easier to order a pair of nice Tannoy Studio monitors and I'm done.

[Gary]

What model are you going to get?

[RetroSmith]

I'm not sure Gary. I have apair of PBM 5 II's in the studio, and they are great but I think I need something just a little bigger for the Living room. Maybe the next model up. I cant do too crazy as I live in an apartment and the upstairs couple hate me now.

[Taurus]

Mikey: that Selenium 12" coaxial has a sensitivity rating of 96dB--i.e. it needs very little power in order to get very loud.

Though I'll have to admit, I'm not sure what any of these would sound like in a home situation. I was theorizing they might sound fine there because for example Klipsch La Scalas are sold in a black finish w/handles for club use & AFAIK have the same drivers inside as the home version.

And also, Altec/Lansing made some coaxials that certain people seem to get all mushy about when discussing vintage studio speakers.

You could always use them for backyard get-togethers anyway! :)

[T]

[ArneW]

How about using the cabinets for a very "individual" pair of Hammer Dynamics (http://www.hammerdynamics.com/) speakers? They are well regarded among DIY audiophiles. In fact, I was tempted to order a pair more than once...

Their 12" woofer should fit nicely into the Tannoy cabinets.

[Henry Love]

Thanks for the link,Arne.Sounds interesting.I've got a pair of Dahlquist M907's that are not efficient enough for my Fisher 400 receiver.Does anybody have any other suggestions for a high efficiency speaker replacement?