Test Bench: B&C Speakers 21DS115 21-Inch Woofer

The transducer I examined in this edition of Test Bench came from Italian Pro Sound OEM manufacturer B&C Speakers, who sent the neodymium motor 21DS115, a 21” high power handling woofer. The B&C 21DS115-8 is rated at 1,700 WRMS with a continuous power handling rated at 3,400 WRMS. The 21DS115-8 weighs in at a modest (for an 21” woofer!) 32.8 lb. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, August 2016.

The transducer I examined this month came from Italian Pro Sound OEM manufacturer B&C Speakers, who sent the DE1090TN, a 1.4” neodymium motor compression driver with a titanium diaphragm. The DE1090TN compression driver is coupled with B&C Speakers’ ME90 80° × 60° constant directivity horn. At this time, the DE1090TN, with a 36 mm (1.4”) throat diameter, is the highest power handling model (120 W) in the brand's line. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, August 2016.

The driver in this Test Bench is not so much an OEM product as an installer product, but it is a very interesting transducer: the Revolution Acoustics SSP6 actuator, which transforms nearly any panel structure into an audio speaker. As promised, I am doing a brief review of the this driver, primarily marketed to Custom Electronic Design & Installation (CEDIA)-type installers. However, that said, it is definitely an interesting transducer.

The 8” 8NSM64 is a rather unique new pro sound midrange driver from B&C Speakers. It’s a closed-back midrange! Closed-back midranges are often associated with cheap speakers because by using a frame with no relief holes in the back, you don’t have to build a midrange chamber. In this case, the 8NSM64 is a very high-power handling (500 W continuous) 8” midrange for professional PA applications, with a reasonable volume that can be damped with absorption material. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, July 2016.

The new Tang Band Speaker 25-2176S 1” dome tweeter features a 25 mm wide surround coated fabric diaphragm optimized for high-frequency cutoff above 20 kHz, a unique aluminum assembly that is both self-shielding and acts as a heatsink, a unique aluminum mounting ring for screw down mounting up to 0.5” mounting depth, ferrofluid voice coil cooling and resonance damping, plus gold-plated terminals. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, July 2016.

The transducer I characterized in this Test Bench is a high-end ribbon tweeter from a Shanghai, China-based company, Fountek Electronics Co., Ltd. Fountek was founded in April 2003 with a mission statement to supply strictly high-end two-channel products. We received its new third-generation ribbon tweeter, the NeoX 3.0, with an 80 mm × 12 mm × 0.15 mm thick reinforced sandwich (960 mm2 radiating area), closed-back injection-molded rear cavity with two aluminum heatsinks and a built-in transformer. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, July 2016.

This Test Bench characterizes the Scan-Speak 6.5” 18M/4631T00 Revelator midrange driver, nominally a midrange version of the Scan-Speak 18W/8531G00 with higher sensitivity and shorter XMAX. The original Scan-Speak 18W/8531G00 was a true high-end audio classic and probably one of the most visible high-end drivers ever used in high-end loudspeakers. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, June 2016.

In this edition of Voice Coil's Test Bench we review two beryllium dome tweeters from Scan-Speak. These two new beryllium diaphragm neodymium motor tweeters, the D3004/604010 and the D3004/604000, basically share the same platform, with the major difference being the D3004/604010 has a lower Fs due to the larger rear cavity. Both tweeters use a Materion 26-mm 99% pure beryllium dome. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, May 2016

This month brought an interesting high-frequency driver to Voice Coil’s Test Bench, a new high-end ribbon tweeter from a Shenzhen, China-based company, Bozhen New Audio Lab. From Bozhen, we received the CQ66, which is the next generation of its CQ76 ribbon tweeter (featured in Voice Coil’s April 2013 issue). This article was originally published in Voice Coil, May 2016.

In this edition of Test Bench, we characterize the SB42FHCL75-6, a 15” home audio subwoofer from OEM driver manufacturer SB Acoustics. The SB42FHCL75-6 has an impressive feature set, with a stiff 15” cone, NBR high-excursion surround, and 6.5” diameter flat cloth spider, driven by a 3” four layer voice coil. The motor system utilizes two stacked 20-mm thick ferrite magnets sandwiched between a polished 8-mm thick front plate. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, April 2016.