Diamond Tweeter?

[davef]

Don't we wish it was cheap! I love my Sierra-2, but this woofer has me drooling. :-)

You heard it when you demoed the S2di, I remember you being quite impressed with this woofer.

Dave, since this woofer has a phase plug, it must have a little less surface area than the Sierra-2 woofer, right? How does it achieve better bass? More excursion?

Longer excursion combined with a significantly more powerful motor. Also having much lower inductance greatly improves transient accuracy so the woofer has more punch.

On our visit to hear the 2di, Dave was telling us how the woofers he had on hand for the speaker were the only ones in existence, and the scare he had with them.

Yep, that was scary... SEAS has since built quite a few more for me since that time though.

Would there be any benefit to the S2di woofer when combined with either the standard Sierra-2 RAAL tweeter or the RAAL 70-20xr in the Sierra-2 cabinet?

Would the combination be any more/less efficient or is the RAAL the limiting factor there? What would the rough purchase cost be, if it even makes sense?

Efficiency is basically the same as the S2 woofer (a few tenths of a dB less) so using this woofer would not increase efficiency. As far as a rough cost, impossible to determine just yet. I am looking into large volume purchases to see what the absolute lowest pricing could be. This is really a $300+ woofer if mass produced. It is exclusive to us and there have only been 8 made so determining pricing is a bit complicated since there has never been a production run on these. All 8 have been hand made samples.

[mikesiskav]

You heard it when you demoed the S2di, I remember you being quite impressed with this woofer.

Oh yes, I remember! It sounded REALLY GOOD! Running the S2di full range with no sub and there was no lack of quality bass.

[Mag_Neato]

You heard it when you demoed the S2di, I remember you being quite impressed with this woofer.



Longer excursion combined with a significantly more powerful motor. Also having much lower inductance greatly improves transient accuracy so the woofer has more punch.



Yep, that was scary... SEAS has since built quite a few more for me since that time though.



Efficiency is basically the same as the S2 woofer (a few tenths of a dB less) so using this woofer would not increase efficiency. As far as a rough cost, impossible to determine just yet. I am looking into large volume purchases to see what the absolute lowest pricing could be. This is really a $300+ woofer if mass produced. It is exclusive to us and there have only been 8 made so determining pricing is a bit complicated since there has never been a production run on these. All 8 have been hand made samples.

So Dave, would this new woofer be a viable "upgrade" to the standard Sierra-2 woofer paired with the RAAL? I would assume a new crossover as well. If so, what parameters of sonic performance could be improved with it?

[Asliang]

So Dave, would this new woofer be a viable "upgrade" to the standard Sierra-2 woofer paired with the RAAL? I would assume a new crossover as well. If so, what parameters of sonic performance could be improved with it?

That would be a pretty compelling product I think, maybe with a 70-20XR.

The Salk Silk is $3600 and the Selah Tempesta is $3900. If priced under $3k I think it would be hard to beat as a reference monitor.

[davef]

So Dave, would this new woofer be a viable "upgrade" to the standard Sierra-2 woofer paired with the RAAL? I would assume a new crossover as well. If so, what parameters of sonic performance could be improved with it?

This woofer is incredible, biggest improvements would be punch, bass extension, midrange clarity, dynamics -- basically everything a woofer is expected to do. That said, I am currently in discussion with SEAS to determine what the best pricing would be with a very large volume purchase.

[Mag_Neato]

This woofer is incredible, biggest improvements would be punch, bass extension, midrange clarity, dynamics -- basically everything a woofer is expected to do. That said, I am currently in discussion with SEAS to determine what the best pricing would be with a very large volume purchase.

That sounds like a pretty nice upgrade for the regular Sierra-2 if you can manage to get the cost under control. I had originally envisioned the Sierra-2 having a phase plug so this would bring that old fantasy to reality!

I will watch as this develops and put my faith in your problem solving skills!

[SunByrne]

This woofer is incredible, biggest improvements would be punch, bass extension, midrange clarity, dynamics -- basically everything a woofer is expected to do. That said, I am currently in discussion with SEAS to determine what the best pricing would be with a very large volume purchase.

Wow. I have been planning to upgrade my S1 NrTs to S2s this summer, but if I could do it and get this new woofer, well, that'd be something else...

[shinny]

Dave,
Would the new improved woofer/technology also hold promise for upgrading the Sierra Towers?

[Mag_Neato]

This new woofer mated with the Sierra-2 RAAL would be a Sierra-2 Bullet Edition!

Dave, I'm willing to be a guinea pig for Beta testing!

[rifmon]

Wow. I passed by this discussion many times and finally decided to see what it was all about. While I have no expectations to buy diamond tweeters due to cost, this 6 inch woofer is very interesting to me since I expect to purchase a set of Sierra 2’s very soon. If this is a future upgrade path for the Sierra 2’s, I would be Very interested!