# Tale of Scan 7100s ....



## JAG (May 6, 2006)

After reading Nguyen's review of these , I just had to get my hands on some. Ended up making tweeter pods and installing them over this weekend. First impressions are very promising , but more listening is in order. 

OK : Here's my initial impression review of the Scan 7100s ....

Nguyen called them his " favorite " tweeter. I expected them to be special , and in most ways they indeed are. I first noticed how smooth they are. Literally NOTHING in a recording ever has more sizzle or bite than is normal. At the same time however , they are not dull in any way. They have a very full and robust sound , with literally amazing lower treble output. Cymbals have a VERY realistic fundamental sound to them , and guitars and vocals are about as neutral as I have ever heard from a tweeter. About the only slight shortcoming is their very slight lack of airyness. To my ears , the Hiqs have the upper hand here. They don't really seem rolled off , but they are ever so slightly dry sounding when played flat. I found that boosting 20k by about 1.5 db improves this considerably. One of their most endearing features , is their seemingly non-existant distortion ... ever. They will play stupid loud , and never ever start to sound strained , or even change tonality. 
These tweeters are somewhat of a mystery to me in one way .... They seem to have an insanely smooth sound , which some people would almost even call warm ( can a tweeter be called warm ??? ) , *and yet I am hearing minute details that I have ONLY heard on well designed 7,000 and up home speakers , set up just right. * This is truly an amazing feat. 
I'm currently listening to these using the Rainbow passive x-overs , but will be set up fully active by next weekend. I will add more to this review after listening to them active ...



*From birth to near completion :*


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## Ga foo 88 (Dec 18, 2005)

What'd you cover them with? and howd you do it?


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## kimokalihi (May 27, 2007)

Yeah,that looks amazing! Is it vinyl? I think you should have used a grill but that's just me, I don't really like the look of the tweeters with the huge mounting flange.


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## 60ndown (Feb 8, 2007)

very tight squeeze, nice work


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## FoxPro5 (Feb 14, 2006)

Maybe it's just the angle, but it looks like the driver's side is blasting right into the gauge cluster thing?

Nice job on those pods though.


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## JAG (May 6, 2006)

B-Squad said:


> Maybe it's just the angle, but it looks like the driver's side is blasting right into the gauge cluster thing?
> 
> Nice job on those pods though.


It's the camera angle. Seen from the side , the pod is actually aiming up at a slight angle. They are covered in vinyl. I didn't use a grill , because in their location they should never be damaged.


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## DonovanM (Nov 1, 2006)

Those pods look awesome. Looking forward to the review


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## JAG (May 6, 2006)

DonovanM said:


> Those pods look awesome. Looking forward to the review


Everyone , please see the original post again ... I have started the review there. .... Thanks


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## Oliver (Jun 25, 2007)

That is some incredibly nice skill and a very deft touch you've exhibted there AVI ! 

Looking forward to the review.


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## technobug (Mar 15, 2005)

B-Squad said:


> Maybe it's just the angle, but it looks like the driver's side is blasting right into the gauge cluster thing?
> 
> Nice job on those pods though.


X2. I'm wondering if that's where the 20k disappeared to?

Nice work none the less, and a great review to boot. Keep us posted.


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## JAG (May 6, 2006)

technobug said:


> X2. I'm wondering if that's where the 20k disappeared to?
> 
> Nice work none the less, and a great review to boot. Keep us posted.


No chance .... The photo angle creates an optical illusion. The tweeter does indeed fire somwhat into the cluster bump , but is angled up at about a 38 degree angle. The Rainbows that were just in there , at exactly the same place , and exactly the same angle did not have a problem , so I don't believe the Scans do either.


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## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

Nice work. Have you thought of putting them in the A-pillars? At 3x1 inches without the faceplate you could probably fabricate something that will hold them angle toward the listening area and act as faceplate also to mount them to from behind? If you molded it all into the pillar with that vinyl you used I bet it would look very OEM.


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## JAG (May 6, 2006)

t3sn4f2 said:


> Nice work. Have you thought of putting them in the A-pillars? At 3x1 inches without the faceplate you could probably fabricate something that will hold them angle toward the listening area and act as faceplate also to mount them to from behind? If you molded it all into the pillar with that vinyl you used I bet it would look very OEM.


Yep ... I temporarily mounted them there , as well as about 1000 other places. My car just happens to sound it's best when the tweets are mounted just where I placed them ....


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## Fozz (Dec 16, 2005)

Are they a little too off axis? By the looks of things, your going to lose the top end on one side. Might just be the pic?


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## technobug (Mar 15, 2005)

Fozz said:


> Are they a little too off axis? By the looks of things, your going to lose the top end on one side. Might just be the pic?


X2 For sure that will play some part.

But AVI stated that he had his previous tweeters installed in the same location.

Possible though that the previous tweets had a better dispersion characteristic. I dunno. EZ tell though with an RTA. Run pink noise L/R independant tweeter only and it will show. If the anomally is limited to the left side, then you know it has something to do with the placement of the driver or aiming.


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## JAG (May 6, 2006)

Fozz said:


> Are they a little too off axis? By the looks of things, your going to lose the top end on one side. Might just be the pic?


Of course I will have some high freq loss on the left side. That is why I use the DRZ-9255 , which allows me to EQ each channel independantly , as well as adjust the gains for each speaker. I've been tuning tweeters in this same position for several years in my car. I completely understand what I am facing , and how to adjust it to be right. However , my original observation takes ALL of that in to consideration , and although it is VERY , VERY minor , there is a slight lack of air when compared to some other top notch tweeters.


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## Rbsarve (Aug 26, 2005)

Firstly I'm really amazed that you can hear the difference of 1.5 dB at 20k kHz. Me and most people I know can't hear that small a difference above 14 k...

Secondly I do love "air" very much aswell. Find myself using ribbons a lot these days. Even if they are not really as good as this and some other high-end domes.


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## JAG (May 6, 2006)

Rbsarve said:


> Firstly I'm really amazed that you can hear the difference of 1.5 dB at 20k kHz. Me and most people I know can't hear that small a difference above 14 k...
> 
> Secondly I do love "air" very much aswell. Find myself using ribbons a lot these days. Even if they are not really as good as this and some other high-end domes.


He he he .... I can hear the difference it makes on the entire treble range , as far down as into the vocal range. See the update to the original post as well ....


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## JAG (May 6, 2006)

OK ... For some reason , I have NOT the ability to edit my first post from my work computer ... 
Here is the new skinny .... something strange started happening to the tweeters .... They started changing. Opening up if you will , with NO extra tuning. So I contacted Newtitan , and sure enough , these tweeters only had about 10 hrs playing time on them. THIS is why they sounded a little dull. They are JUST NOW starting to fully break in , and damn .... they are going to be GREAT ! I'll report back once they are active , and fully broken in


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## forty5cal1911 (Sep 11, 2006)

Any update on the break in process? I'm sure they've had ample playing time by now. Comparison to the Hiqs?


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## bobditts (Jul 19, 2006)

looks good. Anyone know if you can remoce the mounting plate from the tweeter without any ill side effects?


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## JAG (May 6, 2006)

I've had a few requests for updates on the Scan 7100 tweeters I'm using. Here is a link to a separate thread that most probably missed .... My feelings are still the same as posted here :

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18170&highlight=7100


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