# Tang Band W4-1757SB flat cone mid/full range



## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Disclaimer: This review is completely subjective, and will have no real data supporting any outlandish claims that may or may not be contained herewithin. These are just my initial impressions after connecting and listening to the drivers. Your results may vary. That being said, on with the review! 

*This review is for the new model from Tang Band, the W4-1757SB*

The W4-1757SB is a new 4" mid/fullrange driver from Tang Band that sports a flat aluminum "honeycomb" sandwich cone, foam surround, neo magnet and a combo cast and polymer frame. The basket is two sections bolted together. The flange section appears to be cast steel, while the lower basket is a thick polymer. Overall, the build quality appears to be very good which seems typical of what Tang Band is putting out these days. It has the positive and negative inputs split, one on either side.

*Testing Environment:*
The drivers were installed into PVC test enclosures (appx 1.25 liter volume)which were sealed and placed on the dash of my 2003 Lancer aimed on axis to my drivers seat position, slightly lower than ear level. They were placed as close to the edges of the dash (A-Pillars) as possible to simulate the prospective mounting locations.


*Testing Equipment:*
The W4's were powered by an Xtant 404m amplifier, bridged down to 2 channels, providing appx 150 watts @ 6ohms per driver. A second Xtant 
404m amplifier was bridged to 2 channels providing 100 watts @ 8ohms per driver to a pair of Peerless SLS 8" midbasses which were installed in the doors. Gains were adjusted for L/R to provide audibly equal output from the drivers position. Signal and processing duties are handled by a Clarion DRZ-9255 source unit. The DRZ output gains for the W4's and SLS drivers were adjusted by ear to match levels appropriately. Time alignment was used as well. Further tuning could be done in addition to really dial in this setup, however, since these are test enclosures (not permanently mounted) I wanted to just get a feel for how the drivers would be able to perform.


*Testing Material: *
Various discs and tracks were used including the Focal "The Speed of Sound" Demo cd and other Focal reference cd's. (Search for "Focal Demo Discs" on the site...)

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*Here is a link to the pdf data sheet on the W4-1757SB:*
http://www.parts-express.com/pdf/264-881s.pdf

Also of note are these off-axis and harmonic distortion plots that are for the W4-1757S model which has 1 less mm xmax but appears pretty much identical to this driver.



















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*Pics:*














































Next to the Tang Band W3-1364SA


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

W4 crossover settings: HPF 315hz -18db, LPF: THROUGH
SLS crossover settings: HPF 50hz -18db, LPF 250hz -12db

Focal "Speed of Sound" reference disc

"Dick Tracy"- Lively hihat and wind instruments. The piano sounded great and the guitar was warm and jazzy and articulated well. Very nice.

"Everything Must Change"- More depth on this track than I had noticed before. Very good dynamics in the vocals and these played this very well. Great sounding hi-hats and the rimshots had a nice crack to them. Heard the singers breath at the 4:01 mark.

"Raoui"- Extremely detailed and natural sounding here. This performance was very real with the sound of the lips touching being heard and the singer drawing in breath in spots. The image was tight and centered, guitar plucking was delicate and rounded.

"Dat Dere"- the finger snaps at the beginnning stood out, sounding more realistic than I had heard before on this track. Hand drums sounded correct and snappy. The brushes on the drums at right stage were smooth and natural as were the vocals. Nice and detailed.

"The Ghetto"- Clear cowbell and accent percussion. There was good depth and reverb fo mthe recording and the W4's portrayed that very well here. A tad bright in spots but very detailed and controlled (no harshness).

"I've Seen That Face Before"- Digital effects at the beginning sounded pretty cool. The singer sounded damn near the end of my dash. Good integration with the midbass here too. Nice rounded pop of the snare rimshots.


From John Mayer's album "Continuum"

"I Don't Trust Myself"- You could hear the strands on the snare rattle clearly after a snare hit. Thats the first time I ntoiced that on this track. Hi-hats were bright and crisp.

"The Heart of Life"- Extremely lively and realistic in the vocals. John's voice was dead center and sounded like he was singing through the windshield- nice!


Other tracks

In a drum only track titled "Improvisation" by Ron Tutt on Focal reference disc 1, the kick drum was sharp with good attack and decay. Plenty of detail with the realistic crash, ride cymbals and splash. The ride on left stage was washy with a great tone (I need one of those!). The toms had a good full tone and nice sustain.



I also listened to some tracks from Green Day, Silverchair, Busta Rhymes and other artists to give me an idea of how these would fair on various styles and recordings.


Overall Impressions:
The W4-1757SB is a very nice full range driver. If I had to characterize their sound, I would say they have that typical metal cone sound- lots of detail and a little brightness. These are not harsh at all, but have a more lively up front sound. They are not on the darker end of the spectrum. If you prefer a laid back sounding driver like DynAudio these would not be your preference. But if you prefer smooth, crisp detail and a more in your face sound...these are a very nice choice.

Sensitivity is pretty good with these W4's as well. I was able to back down the gains a bit with these which is always a plus. Also, with their very good off-axis response and good top end extension I could see these being a very nice option for those that need to mount them off axis in pillars or doors. They have a very nice shallow mounting depth (1.75 inches )which will help to offset the slightly large diameter if used in pillars or on the dash. I played them wide open on the top end and ended up preferring them at 20K -12db. They are definitely capable of reaching those uper frequencies and do not require a tweeter at all. In fact, I would probably do a little light eqing to smooth out the top end for my listening preferences. 

These looked like very intriguing drivers and they certainly did not disapoint. Im glad I got the chance to test them out.


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Wow, impressive that they actually hit the highs that well. I'd like to hear a pair one day. Have you seen the new full range that Tang Band has out? I think it's an 8" driver and it's the most beautiful speaker I've ever seen. I want a pair BAD!


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

ItalynStylion said:


> Wow, impressive that they actually hit the highs that well. I'd like to hear a pair one day. Have you seen the new full range that Tang Band has out? I think it's an 8" driver and it's the most beautiful speaker I've ever seen. I want a pair BAD!


Yep I saw the Tang Band 8" Fullrange drivers that look very much like these two company drivers.

Lowther Fullrange Speakers For Sale. Single Voicecoil, Super Efficient, Pointsource Speakers with no crossover.

Now least talk Beautiful!

Products

*Great review captainobvious*


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

ItalynStylion said:


> Wow, impressive that they actually hit the highs that well. I'd like to hear a pair one day. Have you seen the new full range that Tang Band has out? I think it's an 8" driver and it's the most beautiful speaker I've ever seen. I want a pair BAD!



I was actually surprised myself. Definitely no need for a seperate tweeter here. They play up to 20k with no problem.

These W4 drivers are now out on loan to OldSchoolNewbie (Dennis) who has been wanting to try them out. We'll see what he thinks of them soon enough and (hopefully) get another opinion of them here.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Got an email response back from Tang Band. They provided me with the HD plots and off axis response for this specifc driver (The "SB" model) W4-1757SB, which is what this thread was for. Here are the charts for your review. Excellent results.

*Tang Band W4-1757SB Off Axis response*









*Tang Band W4-1757SB Harmonic Distortion*


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## AAAAAAA (Oct 5, 2007)

I had been really curious about these guys. Thanks.


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

As soon as time allows, I have a pair of these waiting to replace some POS Infinity Kappas in my Rustang. Maybe tomorrow.


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## Patrick Bateman (Sep 11, 2006)

When you put a woofer in a PVC pipe, like what was done here, you get a big ol' baffle step in the frequency response. A circular baffle is the worst possible baffle there is. That's why the speakers sounded bright; it's the baffle step.

Here's some info on this, in case anyone is interested:

http://sound.westhost.com/bafflestep.htm

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/diffraction.htm

The way to fix this is to use a big fat roundover. Or better yet, put the woofers in a sphere, like B&W does in their Nautilus 801:










The difference in the frequency response is tremendous. The roundover makes the speakers "disappear." It's eerie. If anyone is interested in learning how to fabricate a spherical enclosure, just let me know, and I'll start a thread.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Thanks for the info Patrick. A bit challenging to do that on the dash in a vehicle though with such limited spacial constraints. Admittedly, I knew little about Baffle Step, but learned alot from that link. Thanks for posting it. I guess at the very least when mounting the speakers, you would want distances from the center point of the driver to the sides of the enclosure to be different lengths is what I got from that. So in my typical mounting environment in the vehicle A-pillar region, that shouldn't be a problem. Spherical enclosures however would be very difficult to make happen in my application.


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## pirrimarin (Jul 22, 2009)

Patrick Bateman said:


> When you put a woofer in a PVC pipe, like what was done here, you get a big ol' baffle step in the frequency response. A circular baffle is the worst possible baffle there is. That's why the speakers sounded bright; it's the baffle step.
> 
> Here's some info on this, in case anyone is interested:
> 
> ...



Hell, I'm interested... go ahead and start the thread


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## Boostedrex (Apr 4, 2007)

+1 I'd be VERY interested to read a thread on spherical enclosure construction Patrick. A big thanks in advance for taking the time to do the write up.

Zach


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## Patrick Bateman (Sep 11, 2006)

Boostedrex said:


> +1 I'd be VERY interested to read a thread on spherical enclosure construction Patrick. A big thanks in advance for taking the time to do the write up.
> 
> Zach


Here ya go!

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/diy-mobile-audio/65061-improve-your-soundstage-2-a.html


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## zacjones99 (May 11, 2009)

These look like great speakers to complement the SLS8 in a 2-way. Why did you choose these over the W4-1757S?


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

zacjones99 said:


> These look like great speakers to complement the SLS8 in a 2-way. Why did you choose these over the W4-1757S?


They have slightly more xmax IIRC. Looking at the response plots, they also seem the have a smoother off-axis response.


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## kt10r (May 16, 2009)

hey capt. how would you compare them to the fr88's?


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

kt10r said:


> hey capt. how would you compare them to the fr88's?



These have a little more lower midrange, but arent quite as smooth up top as the fr88. They are also considerably larger if that is a concern. The W4 flat cones have better of axis response than the FR88 so if you will be mounting off axis, they may work better for you.


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## 3fish (Jul 12, 2009)

Many many thanks for taking time to write about these drivers and answer follow-up questions


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

I finally have these in my Rustang via some ugly abs baffles that i used to get them into the factory 6x8 locations. They sound pretty good taking from 400 Hz on up in an infinite baffle arrangement. I am toying with adding a tweeter to cover from 10,000 Hz on up but I am going to wait for my final door build before I decide if I need more high frequencies or not.

Sadly, I flip flopped between purchasing an 8" driver for the door pods or using the Mach5 Audio MLI-65 drives that I currently have on hand to cover 80 to 400 Hz, that I still don't know what I am going to run with these Tang Band drivers. I think I will try the Mach5 Audio drivers, since I have them on hand.


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## spork (Jul 1, 2008)

Those look similar to the accuton speakers.


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## de hero (Jun 20, 2008)

Hi Captain - if these were to be mounted in a door which already housed a 6.5 inch mid bass driver - would it require some attempt to 

a) Isolate it from the other driver, by trying to enclose it somehow

b) is there an ideal type of enclosure for this driver, and how severe are the effects of moving away from the ideal?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to reply


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

de hero said:


> Hi Captain - if these were to be mounted in a door which already housed a 6.5 inch mid bass driver - would it require some attempt to
> 
> a) Isolate it from the other driver, by trying to enclose it somehow
> 
> ...


You will want to isolate the enclosures for the 2 drivers. Ive tried these in both sealed and (simulated)IB arrangements. They perform well in both scenarios. You will need to adjust your gains/crossover setting if you choose to run them IB, but its not a huge deal as they have a good amount of xmax for a driver this size. Just be sensible with the HPF. No playing down to 
100hz


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## mb2452 (Nov 7, 2009)

How is your "rustang" installation progressing?

Why are you considering a separate tweeter for above 10KHz?


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

mb2452 said:


> How is your "rustang" installation progressing?
> 
> Why are you considering a separate tweeter for above 10KHz?


Between work and being sick, not much has gone on with the Rustang.

I was considering adding an additional tweeter mainly to help with the stereo image. Although I tried to mount the Tang Bands as low as possible, I still think they are reflecting off the dash. I will probably forgo the additional tweeter due to the fact that the effort to add them outweighs the reward of adding them.


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