# Several Scan-Speak mid reviews



## npdang (Jul 29, 2005)

The infamous Scan-Speak 18w/5535A autosound woofer with carbon fiber cone, the 18w/8546 kevlar cone 7", and a Revelator 5.5" mid/bass.

Out of the three, the 5535A had the best bass. Very clean, and the un-equalized response in my car doors was just about perfect. Output was excellent as well, definitely top of the class although perhaps slightly less than the newer Seas L18/CA18/G18RNX/P. The 8546 suffered in the low end, due to the very low q and the fact that this driver was intended for ported applications. The Revelator had surprisingly good bass for such a small driver, but couldn't keep up with the larger drivers. Also, it's response in my car door required a bit of eq to add some punch and snap. Scan-Speak is known for it's bass, and I have to say all three drivers were at the very top for overall displacement.

Midrange wise, I thought the 8546 was best overall. Clarity was very good, and the Kevlar breakup wasn't so noticeable especially if used below 2khz. The 5535A was dark, and velvety by comparison. Not big on detail, but overly warm and "soft". It didn't confuse details so much as just soften them, and when driven hard it held its composure very well. The revelator on the other hand, is a very wideband driver capable of much greater top end extension than either of the other drivers. Although it didn't have the sheer dynamic, effortless quality of the 8546 or it's raw clarity, it sounded very natural and open in it's presentation. A good balance between the dark tonal qualities of the 5535a, and the lively more detailed presentation of the 8546.

Build quality on all these drivers were superb. Only the revelator however had the new open cast basket with ventilation under the spider. However all 3 drivers had the very low distortion sd-1 motor with dual copper rings.


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## capslock (Sep 20, 2005)

At least the 21W8555 has huge venting windows underneath the spider. They are covered with some black paper / felt stuff, so they are easiliy overlooked.


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## daitrong (May 12, 2005)

npdang said:


> dark, and velvety


sounds like my kind of driver.


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## Raptor (Mar 3, 2007)

I have coveted these drivers for a while, once i saw 4 of there big brothers, the eight inchers sold on ebay for $90 I found it a week after the end of the auction. It made me sad.

Why would somebody use Kevlar over paper, poly, or fiberglass? I see certain drivers that are identical except for kevlar material, IYO, is it more desireable over other fibers?


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## SQ_Bronco (Jul 31, 2005)

Raptor said:


> I have coveted these drivers for a while, once i saw 4 of there big brothers, the eight inchers sold on ebay for $90 I found it a week after the end of the auction. It made me sad.


LOL, I think I'm the one who bought them  Glad you didn't run the price up. If it makes you feel any better, the previous owner was a heavy smoker and they arrived smelling absolutely terrible...

As far as why to use kevlar, it is very light and stiff, providing many of the benefits of a metal cone without the same nasty breakup. They do usually still have a mild breakup node, but it isn't nearly as pronounced, especially with a well-damped cone like the 21W/8554's.


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## Raptor (Mar 3, 2007)

SQ_Bronco said:


> LOL, I think I'm the one who bought them  Glad you didn't run the price up. If it makes you feel any better, the previous owner was a heavy smoker and they arrived smelling absolutely terrible...
> 
> As far as why to use kevlar, it is very light and stiff, providing many of the benefits of a metal cone without the same nasty breakup. They do usually still have a mild breakup node, but it isn't nearly as pronounced, especially with a well-damped cone like the 21W/8554's.


Ohhh! you've got to be kidding me! how are you using them? the smoke isn't enough to offset that good of a deal. how do they sound?


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## SQ_Bronco (Jul 31, 2005)

Raptor said:


> Ohhh! you've got to be kidding me! how are you using them? the smoke isn't enough to offset that good of a deal. how do they sound?


When I get the time to do it I'm going to build a new set of home towers. Right now I have 4 rs180's and 2 mdt-33's in an unsatisfying MTM. I'm going to do a TMWW with Human -002 tweets, morel mdm-55 dome mids, and the scan woofers.


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## boy.kroy (Nov 19, 2008)

I know that this is a very old thread but I would like to know if that scanspeak 18w/5535a is the same as the scanspeak classic 18w/8535 with the carbon/paper cone?


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

18w/8535 is for closed boxes, you sure thats the one you are talking about?


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## boy.kroy (Nov 19, 2008)

Yeah That is the only one i could find other than the revelator on madisound


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

you sure you dont mean the 8545 which is the same as the 8535 but not for closed boxes, whats your app?


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## boy.kroy (Nov 19, 2008)

MidBass for the doors i modeled it and it was like 27-29 liters sealed qtc-0.707, so i figured it would be good for a door just as long as i seal it off as much as possible and beef up the baffle


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

well your door will never act as a sealed enclosure, there is just to many leaks, and doors usually are more than 30liters is 1.0266 cubic feet which is way small for a door, you need to model your door as like 10 cubes, a door is gonna be a IB situation not sealed


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## tspence73 (Oct 14, 2008)

Assuming the metal part of the doo on a normal car. I figure a height of 20", a length of 25"-28", a depth of 6"-8". For a volume of 1.7 cuft to 2.5 cuft. And that's for an 'average' car door. I know it doesn't look big because of the depth but it has some good volume to it. Until I did the math myself I had my doubts it was much more than 1 cuft.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

BeatsDownLow said:


> well your door will never act as a sealed enclosure, there is just to many leaks,


ding ding ding.

unless you build an enclosure in the door it's NOT going to be sealed. no matter how much deadener and void filling you do.


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## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

bikinpunk said:


> ding ding ding.
> 
> unless you build an enclosure in the door it's NOT going to be sealed. no matter how much deadener and void filling you do.


x2 and if you are going to build an enclosure you need to make sure that you take into account the extra depth needed for the pole piece to be able to breath in.


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