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RE: Probably has a set of or heard a set of SOTA Time Domain 4's

Posted by Presto (A) on November 18, 2014 at 14:56:48

In Reply to: Probably has a set of or heard a set of SOTA Time Domain 4's posted by Edp on November 17, 2014 at 12:03:54:

The kevlar tweeters will be a tough find. I think in the 1998 driver catalogue they were discontinued, where the focal TC90TDX and TC120TDX2 were the only two tweets to remain. The TC120TDX2 was replaced with the TC120TD5 (bought two for spares, have never even tried them, and they went off with the speakers to the new owner).

He won't find a BK415S mid because it was a 5K415S mid with a soft dome.
It was replaced in the 1998 catalog with a 5K4411 with phase plug instead of the dome. Good driver. Also no longer available.

The 7K011DBL was also replaced in the 1998 catalog with the 7K4211DB. I think the 7K011 there *might* be a 7K011DBL, unless it's actually single voice coil.

Short answer: these are 80's vintage drivers which were replaced in the late nineties with newer models and most of those were replaced with newer models again in the mid 00's or thereabouts. I think it would be very unlikely to find all four drivers in good used condition.

Again, if he has the cabinets and he wants drivers to match the cabinet and crossover, that's one matter (it would be a tough find, but that would be the drivers he needs). If this is a new DIY build I would not waste my time with such antiquated drivers. They are hard to find, expensive, and can be easily outperformed by modern drivers costing half as much.

I do not think the Focal driver motors from this era had any magic to their motor design, such as copper shorting rings, etc.

I do not know of any distortion measurements for Focal drive units, but I don't think the old ones are a panacea by any means - despite having very good build quality and having unique cone materials and quality surround materials.

Good drivers in their day, but not something I would chase in 2014. If you do, go with their W-Cone technology at a minimum.

I would not use the TC90 or TC120 tweeters in a new design. I'd rather use a $30 Seas 27TDFC or even a comparable Vifa model. And Scan speak ring radiator air-circs will wipe the floor with the lot of them...

Cheers,
Presto

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