Test Bench: The Faital Pro 5HX140 5" Pro Sound Coaxial Driver

The 5HX140 5" coaxial driver from Faital Pro is built on a cast-aluminum frame, with a water-resistant coated paper cone and pleated M-type fabric surround, and an acoustically transparent cloth dust cap over the compression driver conical horn. The high-frequency compression driver has its own neodymium ring magnet motor system that drives the 25mm Kapton dome shaped diaphragm, with a voice coil also wound with aluminum wire on a Kapton former. This diaphragm fires into a short 90° aluminum conical-shaped horn.

Before computers were broadly available for loudspeaker bass reflex box simulations, engineers relied on "Alignments" for their designs - typically named after equivalent filter functions that the high-pass response of the box was aligned after — for example, Butterworth (B4) and Bessel (BL4) — to name a few. In this article, Claus Futtrup now focuses on the Linkwitz-Riley (LR4) Bass Reflex Alignment.

This valuable tutorial on speaker lead-out flex wire by Mike Klasco revisits the fundamentals, from the trailing ends of the voice coil winding to speaker terminals. How to avoid flex wire whipping, fracturing of lead-out conductors, thermal issues, and corrosion of the solder joints. What types of flex wire and wire gauges are available, what are the advantages of textile fibers and wire testing, are some of the topics addressed. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, April 2024.

This Test Bench explores the exciting SEAS W16NX005 5.25" Metamodal TPCD Midbass Woofer. Part of the SEAS high-end Excel line of transducers, the W16NX005 is the first commercial product available that combines the latest Composite Sound metamodal TPCD diaphragm technology with the typical SEAS high-performance Excel woofer motor design. This midbass woofer includes a metamodal diaphragm and 2" convex dustcap, along with an optimized NBR surround and black cloth flat profile spider for compliance.

Another exciting driver from Neotera, the UF 295 CBS is a new ultra-thin 10" subwoofer primarily intended for high-quality applications in home audio or automotive systems. The UF 295 CBS impresses immediately with its single piece black anodized concave cone assembly suspended by two large rubber surrounds, one on each side, not using a spider for compliance. The cone is driven at its perimeter by a large aluminum voice coil and a unique motor structure of 72 neodymium bar magnets, covered by no less than 10 international patents. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, April 2024.

This Test Bench addresses the Stereo Integrity TM65 mkIV High-Performance 6.5” woofer. Stereo Integrity is an interesting new company that is aiming at both home audio and automotive/mobility applications. Features for the unique TM65 mkIV include a black anodized aluminum cone and black anodized dust cap. Suspension is provided by a tall NBR surround plus a flat 105mm diameter Nomex spider with a linear roll configuration. Total depth of this driver with its proprietary frame and motor structure is a mere 58mm (2.28”).

Dayton Audio’s SIG180-4 is part of a woofer series with five cost-effective, high-performance models, ranging from 4” to 10”. All drivers include single-piece concave aluminum cones, polyimide vented voice coil formers, open cast-aluminum frames, plus indexed shallow transition NBR surrounds. Rated for 80W RMS power handling capacity, the SIG180-4 woofer features a FEA-optimized ferrite motor design and a 1.25” voice coil wound with round copper wire.

With the increasing popularity of miniaturized systems, the application of the passive diaphragm radiator, as the acoustic mass component in a bass reflex enclosure, is becoming standard practice in the low-frequency portion of the system. And these systems have a few parameter demands that can exceed the capability of many conventional approaches to passive radiator design. In order to solve those challenges, including rocking modes, Bose proposed an effective design.

Eighteen Sound's latest 8NTLS2000 8" high-power handling woofer, designed for professional audio applications represents the latest Tetracoil technology from the brand. It maximizes benefits in terms of thermal dissipation and Bl symmetry, making the 8NTLS2000 ideal for small volume subwoofers, high-quality line arrays, and compact multi-way systems. The 8NTLS2000 benefits from its substantial cooling vents that allows air to move past the voice coil and across the front side of the neodymium motor assembly. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, February 2024.

This Test Bench characterizes an ultra-compact (under 60mm diameter) compression driver, along with the B&C Speakers ME10v2 90°x60° coverage horn. The really cool feature of the DE350-8 is the patent-pending phase plug. Inside, the DE350 has a round symmetrical outside channel, and an inside channel with a patent-pending twist for overall improved frequency response. Weighing in at a mere 275 gram, it is an ideal candidate for the new generation of lighter, more compact line array loudspeakers.