Diamond Tweeter?

[diesel79]

Take my money please. Lol. Well maybe I should find out just how much first.

New crossover and everything else required to plop one in a S2?

[Mag_Neato]

Take my money please. Lol. Well maybe I should find out just how much first.

New crossover and everything else required to plop one in a S2?

Definitely a new crossover. At this stage it seems a bit premature to expect any upgrade kit as Dave mentioned these woofers are very custom and sort of pricey at this point. We can always keep our fingers crossed!

[diesel79]

Definitely a new crossover. At this stage it seems a bit premature to expect any upgrade kit as Dave mentioned these woofers are very custom and sort of pricey at this point. We can always keep our fingers crossed!

I was mostly joking. Those woofers might be in a different income bracket than I’m in.

[Mag_Neato]

Now that we have seen what the new woofer looks like from that rendering (which, by the way, is really nicely done!), it brings a few questions to my mind.

Dave, if the new woofer ever becomes a viable upgrade option for the Sierra-2, I'm trying to get an idea of what it would bring to the table other than, possibly, improved bass? I cross my -2's at 80Hz to my Rythmik and would do so even if it had the new woofer. Would there be noticeable benefits in the midrange and treble?

Food for thought, hopefully tasty!

[davef]

Now that we have seen what the new woofer looks like from that rendering (which, by the way, is really nicely done!), it brings a few questions to my mind.

Dave, if the new woofer ever becomes a viable upgrade option for the Sierra-2, I'm trying to get an idea of what it would bring to the table other than, possibly, improved bass? I cross my -2's at 80Hz to my Rythmik and would do so even if it had the new woofer. Would there be noticeable benefits in the midrange and treble?

Food for thought, hopefully tasty!

This woofer brings a few things to the table...

The Excel motor systems are known for having extremely low inductance (this woofer has less than half the inductance of the standard S2 woofer, which is already low), and this combined with a lower mass cone and more powerful magnet system provides exceptionally deep bass and much improved transients and dynamics.

This woofer hits hard - there is more punch and bass extends lower than much larger woofers. Even with an 80Hz crossover, you will sense the greater impact.

The extremely low inductance combined with the new damping treatment being used on the Curv cone provides improved self-damping (which is already superb with the S2 woofer and why I chose the Curv cone in the first place) and greater high frequency extension and detail.

The huge copper phase plug improves off-axis dispersion, greatly reduces any beaming, works in conjunction with the pure copper upper and lower Faraday rings to reduce distortion, linearize magnetic flux and improve power handling and thermal compression by acting as a massive heat sink...

In simpler terms, mids are cleaner - smoother sounding with more weight to them (they sound warmer, fuller with more detail). Because of the upper end improvements, we can use a steeper high pass filter slope on the tweeter, easing the workload on the ribbon tweeter which in turn increases power handling, lowers distortion and provides for an even better overall blend between the woofer and tweeter.

Overall, an S2 with this woofer still sounds like our Sierra-2, but warmer/fuller, cleaner (especially at louder volume levels), more musical and with rather shocking dynamics. And, if run full range - the bass response seems to defy the laws of physics -- it is tower-like! In direct A/B comparisons with speakers using very high quality larger woofers, the EX woofer hit harder and deeper. I have never actually heard a bookshelf speaker with this kind of bass response before...

I should mention that our EX woofer is about ~ 1.2dB lower in efficiency than the S2 woofer due to losing radiating area because of the very large phase plug.

[SunByrne]

Overall, an S2 with this woofer still sounds like our Sierra-2, but warmer/fuller, cleaner (especially at louder volume levels), more musical and with rather shocking dynamics. And, if run full range - the bass response seems to defy the laws of physics -- it is tower-like! In direct A/B comparisons with speakers using very high quality larger woofers, the EX woofer hit harder and deeper. I have never actually heard a bookshelf speaker with this kind of bass response before...

Yes, please.

My offer to beta test still stands.

[Mag_Neato]

Dave, you really know how to make my wallet twitch!!
Is this nearing reality? I haven’t opened up my Sierras since doing the -2 upgrade when you released that......it’s just about time to see the innards again!

[davef]

Dave, you really know how to make my wallet twitch!!
Is this nearing reality? I haven’t opened up my Sierras since doing the -2 upgrade when you released that......it’s just about time to see the innards again!

I am doing my very best - I promise!

[Mag_Neato]

I am doing my very best - I promise!

No worries Dave! I know if/when this becomes the real deal it will be due to your insane level of commitment and long work hours. Everyone here appreciates your hard work!

I am still enjoying my "standard" Sierra-2's very much so I am really in a good place even without the EX woofer!

[Beave]

I think this new speaker should be named the Sierra-EX, or S-EX for short.

But I'm concerned because I think it might be illegal to sell S-EX over the internet.

Dave might have to move his business to Nevada.