Test Bench: SEAS’ W15CH001 5.25” Excel Hexadym Motor Midwoofer

This SEAS Excel Midwoofer is one the most highly inventive and innovative out-of-box Hexadym Motor designs from the Norwegian company. In this article, Vance Dickason details all that is unique in this midwoofer design and its historical motivations, helping to solve the problem of reflections off the motor system and frame of a woofer back into the cone. A fascinating exploration with complete measurements. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, July 2022.

For many decades, manufacturers and speaker designers have learned to admire the quality, consistency and innovations coming from SEAS of Norway. Today, the speaker manufacturer is part of a much larger organization within Merry Electronics and the new SEAS Orbit Series features drivers developed in cooperation with the Taiwan-based company, aiming to address the requirements of OEMs looking for high-quality speakers for smart speakers, soundbars and videoconference systems.

The July 2022 issue of Voice Coil offers important resources for the industry with a focus on Adhesives, Coatings and Treatments. Mike Klasco writes about New Thin-Film Technologies for Coatings and Treatments. James Croft returns with a fresh review of a Mayht patent. And Vance Dickason characterizes the recent 38WE/8582T00 15” Ellipticor woofer from Scan-Speak, and explores the historical relevance of the SEAS W15CH001 5.25" Excel Midwoofer and its Hexadym Motor design.

We looked at the most-read articles of 2021 in audioXpress.com (including selected articles from Voice Coil magazine), and we created this Top 10 list of news stories and online articles. 2021 expanded slightly on the record-breaking year that was 2020 for audioXpress.com, in terms of number of visits and regular users of the website. Visitors from all over the world returned more often to read the more than 7,700 stories available. Which of the topics and stories published online in 2021 were the most popular? Here are the results!

A New Must-Read Loudspeaker History Book. SEAS: The History of SEAS Fabrikker is an engaging story about the Norwegian manufacturer and its place in the Nordic speaker industry. The book about Scandinavian Electro Acoustic Systems (SEAS) was written by Danish loudspeaker engineer Claus Futtrup and jointly published by SEAS and Futtrup. Mike Klasco reviews the book for The Audio Voice newsletter and audioXpress.

SEAS continues hard at work, expanding its Excel Graphene driver series with new models that fully explore the benefits of its proven magnesium cones enhanced with graphene coating that effectively eliminates resonances and makes them more resistant. SEAS now introduced the Excel Graphene W12CY004 (E0070-08), a very compact (4" cone) driver featuring a state-of-the-art FEA optimized motor-design that can be used both as a dedicated midrange and as a woofer in a small compact speaker.

I frequently learn about new products from brands large and small, which sometimes remain unnoticed for multiple reasons (and I don't mean by the press) regardless of how innovative they are. That's a topic in itself to be addressed in a separate editorial one of these days... This week, I spent some time looking at a few speakers that I think deserve a spotlight. Please note that I have not heard those speakers. I just think they are interesting products that deserve a mention.

The February 2021 edition of Voice Coil offers an overview of the Cone Industry in 2021, with an updated directory of loudspeaker cone, diaphragms and suppliers of relevant materials and components. Next up, James Croft reviews an interesting patent for a "Directional Loudspeaker," claimed by Dutch & Dutch BV, and Vance Dickason focuses his measurements on two small-sized drivers, typical of today's most popular consumer products. The first in Test Bench is the Wavecor FR070WA05, a 2.75" aluminum cone full-range driver, and the second is the AUGWL0006-JN01, a new 2.25" woofer from Eastech’s Punktkilde lineup.

The new W12CY006 (E0091-08) is the second product recently launched into SEAS' updated Nextel Excel series, which brings the newly updated linear low-distortion magnet system design with titanium voice coil former into this series. The new driver is a successor to the famous W12CY003 (E0044-08S) and continues the brand's high-end paper cone heritage with the 2-layer Nextel coating technology and - as a special feature - adding a new edge coating. With the resulting smooth frequency response, it is suitable as a dedicated midrange in a 3-way design.

SEAS had a busy 2020, signaling the company's 70th Anniversary and fulfilling on its anticipated plan of updating the existing product line with new improved models, as well as refreshing old industry favorites carefully crafted by its Norwegian engineering team. The new W18NX003 (E0096-08) continues SEAS' high-end paper cone heritage with the 2-layer Nextel coating technology, combined with an improved magnet system design and titanium voice coil formers.