SEAS Unveils New W18NX003 Excel Nextel Woofer

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.

For this Test Bench, Vance Dickason characterizes the new WAN103.01 10" woofer from Italian OEM transducer manufacturer, LaVoce. All LaVoce products are designed at its headquarters in Potenza Picena, Italy, but with the logistic and price advantage of being manufactured at its purpose-built ISO 9001-certified production facility in China. The WAN103.01 is a high-sensitivity and high-power 10" driver, with a substantial feature set, which has been designed with line array and mid-bass applications in mind, using an elegant heavy duty die-cast basket and FEM optimized motor structure and suspensions.

BDNC Holding Ltd is now in production of its highly advanced flat glass-composite diaphragm woofer. Available through Digikey under the brand STAPEZ, this new innovative drivers use ultra-thin tempered glass as the diaphragm, combined in a low-profile woofer able to produce extended bass response. At present, the smallest size is 80 mm × 20 mm × 7.2 mm but BDNC is also working on smaller models and already launched a 40mm headphone driver using the glass-composite technology.

For this Test Bench, Dickason characterizes the PD.124NR1, a new high power 12” neodymium driver from Precision Devices. The PD.124NR1 finds applications as a midbass driver in multiway systems or as a dedicated woofer bass reflex or horn-loaded designs. Its feature set is like most high performance pro sound drivers, fairly substantial. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, September 2019.

This month’s driver on Test Bench, from high-end OEM manufacturer Wavecor is the WF152BD03/04 6″ midwoofer. This is another characterization from the Voice Coil archives. This 6″ paper cone midbass woofer, like the previously reviewed Wavecor WF120, highlights Wavecor Balanced Drive system design, a proprietary distortion reducing motor technology, which results in a more symmetrical Bl curve. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, December 2010.

On this edition of Test Bench, Vance Dickason continues to measure one of the most anticipated driver designs launched in the market in 2019, from SEAS's new Excel Graphene line. Following the previous Test Bench on the W16NX003 5.25” midbass woofer, this one focuses on the W18EX003 6.5” midbass driver. This article was published in Voice Coil, August 2019.

This Test Bench focuses on the 14NA100-8, a new high power handling 14” pro sound woofer from B&C Speakers. This is the highest power handling in the brand's 14” group with a continuous power handling rating of 1.6 kW (800 W nominal). Applications range from two- and three-way PA speakers and compact two-way monitor designs for high SPL in limited spaces. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, April 2019.

Following the introduction of its completely new Excel Graphene Woofer Series with the W16NX003 (E0073-08), followed recently by the 19-series W19NX001 (E0076-08), SEAS Fabrikker announced the third product in the line, the W18EX003 (E0074-08). According to SEAS, the new line is designed for truthful high-res audio reproduction with outstanding clarity and dynamic capability in mind, and the new W18EX003 represents a successor to the famous W18EX001 (E0017-08) model. All Excel Graphene drivers feature a graphene-coated magnesium cone.

A new Danish audio company, founded by Bruno Putzeys, Lars Risbo, and Peter Lyngdorf was recently announced. The name is Purifi Audio, and as you can guess from the founders involved, the venture promises Class D amplifiers with record-breaking performance "unmatched by amplifiers of any operating class." But the new company will be doing more than amplifiers, since it also revealed a new 6.5" woofer with "magnitudes lower intermodulation distortion across frequency and SPL."

A new Danish company, founded by Bruno Putzeys, Lars Risbo, and Peter Lyngdorf will be making its first public presentation to the industry in Munich 9-12 May, concurrently with High End 2019. The name is Purifi Audio, and as you can guess from the founders involved, the venture promises Class D amplifiers with record-breaking performance "unmatched by amplifiers of any operating class." But the new company will be doing more than amplifiers, since it will also reveal a new 6.5" woofer with "magnitudes lower intermodulation distortion across frequency and SPL."