What's the best 7" & 8" woofers available?


I'm thinking of trying the DIY route for a pair of full-range speakers. In your opinion, what is the BEST 7" AND 8" woofer available and the best place to buy it?
Thanks all for the tweeter & mid-range comments.
Thanks and happy listening!
myraj

Showing 8 responses by tweekerman

Ehider i'm sure you already know this site ..http://members.chello.se/jpo/diy.html..clik on active filters LINKWITZ labs..possible the most learned guy in speaker tech
Mike please explain your post a little further.."sick"??? the 4 1/2 inch is the one i may buy or the Skaaning 4 can you tell me about these 2 drivers..i've heard that the Skaans are of "old" tech and are way overpriced. Then i heard they are well worth it.??? Are the Skaans that much better than the Seas W12CY
Ehider the thread did say "best" which the scanning are but they are very pricey (400 EACH!!) so between the 3 practical contenders FOCAL SCANSPEAK SEAS..i'll have to vote big on the SEAS as top..for 2nd place its a close call..the revelator may be better in the lower bass but the SEAS will overtake it in the upper midbass..which is better for my listening of classical music...there are hundreds of manufacturers of midwoofers..most are not audiophile quality
Ehider i've got a spectatular 3 way in the possible making..i'm waiting word from the designer..its a biamp..SEAS 8 inch(30!!hz to say 500hz)EX22 + SEAS 4.5 midwoofer (500hz to 3.5hz)W12CY + PHILIPS RT8 isodynamic..what ya think?..doable?
Mr Ehider your post is THE best post for the year on audiogon...points of the UTMOST importance..and yes ain't nobody listening...and could care less..but like you i'm after a SUPERIOR balanced system..and that means superior drivers + SUPERIOR xovers...which i'm afraid if the commercials did use both..their prices would be even higher...and they are already over priced..the xovers you mention sound excellent...i'm very green on the tech info of speakers..so the xovers you mention i'll have to discuss with my designer...my jadis has an out so i may be in luck to biamp the 3 way SEAS W22 + SEAS W12CY + PHILIPS RT8P..if the out RCA jack is for biamping then i'll look into a used ELECTROCOMPANIET AW series stero amp to drive the 8 inch SEAS woofer and let the jadis take care of the 4.5 inch SEAS midwoofer and the RT8 isodynamic tweeter...BTW go to the LINWITZ (spelling) web page ..this master of speaker engineering talks about active xovers allowing the amps to perform at a much greater efficiency than your basic passiver xovers..yes a skanning woofer on a poor design xover and inferior quality xover parts is a defeating objective..and the ETONS do not rank with the top 4 SEAS SCANSPEAK FOCAL PHL..these 4 offer superior technology..and if you can afford..go SKANNING..yes the folks are spending $$! and some $$$..$! on interconnects..and totally ignoring the drivers and xovers in their speakers..i've got a story to tell about MEADOWLARK's web page..i'll save for later..keep me informed about your researches in the xover tech..thanks tweekerman out
Mr Ehider once again your post tops the chart..i can tell from your post that you've tried to sum up in 500 words or less "things that need to be said"..your playing the flute but i doubt if you'll have many followers...the mags ads, the "professional" reviewers ,the commercial labs, the "hi-fi" shops are all in cohoots and the amount of hype generated by the previous cohooters have the masses "hype-ta-mized"..i've got more to say about your post but gotta run..i got my PHILIPS RT8P isodynamic "ribbon" tweets in today..SUPER!!!
Rbj..Stehno may know your answer..i can't help you..your question is a good one for madisound.com chat page..over there you'll get very accurate answers..i'm green on the tech stuff..i just ask alot of questions to the designers about certain drivers qualities and then i choose from my top picks..the xover and speaker design i leave up to the designer..i tell him to use premium parts..choosing the "best" drivers is barely half the equation..the easiest part..the many xover options is not an easy task..i'm glad i found a designer with all the measurements for the drivers i like
Mike do you think the Scanspeak W18 will challenge the bass produced by a Seas W22? I just got my Seas W22 in. They seem to be super high tech. The midrange of this solid copper phase plug driver is supposed to be outstanding.