• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Crazy PA Coaxials for Hifi

fpitas

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jul 7, 2022
Messages
9,885
Likes
14,212
Location
Northern Virginia, USA

fpitas

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jul 7, 2022
Messages
9,885
Likes
14,212
Location
Northern Virginia, USA
Go for it! :)
Pretty sure with a cherry picker I could get a pair into mine if I took out the windows on the east end...
Restoring old ones would be even more work than massaging 511s. But they are super cool :)
 

mhardy6647

Grand Contributor
Joined
Dec 12, 2019
Messages
11,405
Likes
24,747
Restoring old ones would be even more work than massaging 511s. But they are super cool :)
I am sure they are -- I've never run across either in the field... and even though I know some folks who are big into such arcana. ;)
 

fpitas

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jul 7, 2022
Messages
9,885
Likes
14,212
Location
Northern Virginia, USA
I am sure they are -- I've never run across either in the field... and even though I know some folks who are big into such arcana. ;)
I played with 1803s in my misspent youth, with 288s on them of course. Very nice :)

I now know that the polar pattern of a 511 may just be a little better, although some judicious EQ is required. And you know I think the 802 is an also-ran at best. The old multicells needed damping too, being fairly thin sheet metal. Unfortunately, the tar-filled examples are super expensive, and in any event the tar has turned to hard chunks. I imagine them needing a trip to the hot tank at the local automotive machinist, followed by a new coating. These days I'd use truck bed liner.
 

Jukka

Active Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2019
Messages
250
Likes
172
Can I buy a new KEF coaxial driver anywhere? Or is it only online used ones?
I've seen an online web shop for new Kef drivers, sorry I don't have the link. The UniQ is a very nice sounding driver, you can make crazy coax of it by adding proper woofers
 

fineMen

Major Contributor
Joined
Oct 31, 2021
Messages
1,504
Likes
680
I've seen an online web shop for new Kef drivers, sorry I don't have the link. The UniQ is a very nice sounding driver, you can make crazy coax of it by adding proper woofers
Setelec? It's shut down forever, they say :facepalm:
 

Plcamp

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Jul 6, 2020
Messages
860
Likes
1,318
Location
Ottawa
The UniQ is a very nice sounding driver, you can make crazy coax of it by adding proper woofers
Exactly. I would be looking for it to take over at about 500 hz as a fullrange ‘point source’ supported by big woofers. But it seems they are unobtainable as new units.
 

HarmonicTHD

Major Contributor
Joined
Mar 18, 2022
Messages
3,326
Likes
4,835
I've seen an online web shop for new Kef drivers, sorry I don't have the link. The UniQ is a very nice sounding driver, you can make crazy coax of it by adding proper woofers
I think it is “only” the drivers for the Q series, none for the R series or above. I faintly remember it was a France based online shop but not entirely sure.
 

fineMen

Major Contributor
Joined
Oct 31, 2021
Messages
1,504
Likes
680
I think it is “only” the drivers for the Q series, none for the R series or above. I faintly remember it was a France based online shop but not entirely sure.
Setelec is closed, see post #187. (Ignore list? Well done, guys, so wise.)
 

HarmonicTHD

Major Contributor
Joined
Mar 18, 2022
Messages
3,326
Likes
4,835

Attachments

  • 1680956395280.png
    1680956395280.png
    735.4 KB · Views: 39
Last edited:

fineMen

Major Contributor
Joined
Oct 31, 2021
Messages
1,504
Likes
680
Works for me

But didn’t check if they still carry the Q UniQs.

Edit. You are right that either is a different company and or they indeed discontinued the UniQ spares. Sorry to hear.
I see, may be the mothership of French' repair shop. Anyway, when addressing my bookmark setelec-shop.fr I'm redirected to the 909 page. As they refer to pending orders, well, that's quite an indication for the address to be real. They didn't carry the meta version anyway, only up to I think the plain Q's, but not R's. Delivery time was counted in months, and so again, the closure is plausible.
 

fineMen

Major Contributor
Joined
Oct 31, 2021
Messages
1,504
Likes
680
Can I buy a new KEF coaxial driver anywhere? Or is it only online used ones?
As this is about pro/ p/a targeted drivers, what about .Kartesian (watch the dot)? They have a 6,5" incher that is pretty loud but expells some hifi virtues too.

It is discussed there: https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/kartesian-cox165_vpa-reviews.374689/

Alas, those guys don't understand the *very* wide directivity of the tweeter part. So they get severe interference from the chassis perimeter, not countersunk. They take it for a resonance in the tweeters waveguide LOL why does it disappear at angles?

My only caveat against the specimen I had was the "cone edge" resonance @800Hz or so, wich is the surround's resonance actually. Very strong IM generator, but then it is very narrow; I couldn't decide for keeping it.
 

Jukka

Active Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2019
Messages
250
Likes
172
Sad to see that. But if you want, you can buy smallest Q-series, which is quite cheap or maybe LS50 Meta, which is still somewhat within most budgets.
If I was to make a new PA coax, I'd look into these BMS speakers.
 
OP
voodooless

voodooless

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jun 16, 2020
Messages
10,403
Likes
18,363
Location
Netherlands
Looks like we may have a new contender for the top crown of Crazy PA Coaxials:


View attachment 277422

They will set you back € 809/piece if you buy two. Not to bad if you consider the cost of the coaxial tweeter and the horn alone.
So, yeah, these things still fascinate me :) Seems like you could just combine this with an 18" PR with enough excursion, making it much easier to build vs a long reflex path. The Dayton 18" PR seems to do the trick. Also get's to 110 dB max at 20 Hz with 400gr of added mass to the PR. Surprisingly a single PR seems to be enough to tame the beast, making it even economically not even that bad of a choice either :) I've also tried to sim a PSICarAudio 18" PR, which has a bit more excursion, but it looks hideous and you don't really gain that much performance. It's also hard to get to the EU probably.

Also, you can probably get away with the stock passive crossover for the horn (or a cheaper clone), and then just have it work as a 2-way DSP solution.
 
Top Bottom