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1. Focal 3W2 Be
2. Fountek FR88-EX
3. Scanspeak 10F-4424G Discovery
The results left me more then just a little surprised!
The setup
First of all lets make one thing clear - this was a VERY rough test.
The screw holes didn't match up with the originals so the Focal and Fountek were screwed in via only one screw to hold them in place (only one I could line up) while the scan wasn't screwed in at all - it was big enough that it fit the existing hole nice and tight. Even without screws, it actualy sat in tigher then the other two drivers did.
Next thing is that my Yamaha home theatre recieve shat itself a few months back, so I had to use my Cambridge Azure 540A stereo amplifier to test the drivers. The importance of this point is that the Cambridge does not have a subwoofer output, nor a high pass filter. This means that all three drivers were run full range for the purpose of this test. This is hardly optimal for a 3" - 4" driver, and so all drivers would have performed significantly cleaner in the distortion department if they were run high passed at 300hz or higher (as would typicallky e the case for these drivers).
Pics
Focal 3W2 Be:
Scanspeak 10F:
Fountek FR88-EX:
Test tacks
I'm not going to worry about listing all of the songs I listened too - I have my entire playlist of thousands of tracks on my PC, so there were too many to mention. For fairness amoung the 'competition' though, I picked some tracks which I used for all three drivers:
1. Fleetwood Mac - Rhiannon
2. Dire Straits - Tunnel of love
3. New York Blue - Fever
4. Entre Cada Palabra (not sure if title - from Chesky)
There were also other random tracks I throw on at times.
Listening impressions
1. Fountek FR88-EX (< $100/pair):
The Fountek FR88 is a simple enough design - it's a small and cheap 3" whith uses an aluminium cone, extremely good build quality, and a reputation for low distortion.
After much experimentation, I found the Fountek sounded it's best when I attached the Focal Be grill on top and sealed up the port.
First things first, one initial thing I noticed is that these Founteks are by far the quietest of the three drivers. There is clearly a major difference in sensitivity between these and the other two drivers, and this is confirmed by the spec sheets - they are a good 7dB down on the Scan's once you factor in both the lower 2.83V sensitivity and the higher impedance (which will suck ~3dB from the amp) and also about 5dB down on the Focals. You will mostly likely need to give your tweeters some major attenuation to match them up with these babies.
Now, moving on the sound - I really like these mids! A very neutral sounding driver with exceptionally low distortion and you can really hear it - the midrange is absolutely buttery smooth. In fact, these may possible be the smoothest, easiest to listen to mids I've heard. Very neutral, and I was pariticularly impressed with their ability to smoothly handle the deeper vocal notes on 'fever' - some really weight and character in those deep vocals. Very surprised to find such a clean and defined lower midrange on such a small (3") cone.
On the downside, they don't really have quite the top end extension I would probably want in a full range driver. While they do play quite high (probably up to about 8k-10k linear) they don't have quite the top end extension or 'air' about them to provide best results on their own - I feel that they would definately benefit from a tweeter crossed up high (maybe 4k or 5k) for absolute best results. Still, they could be used full range if need be, just better with a tweeter!
So, as a full range they are usable, but not perfect. As a dedicated wide-band midrange though (running from maybe 200hz - 5khz), these would be very, very nice. Average sensitivity is a negative, but hard to complain when they sound as nice as these do.
2. Scan-Speak 10F-4424G (~$200/pair):
This is a driver that has been getting a lot of attention on MEA lately, and also in some global publications. After checking out a Zaph audio review a few weeks back I decided to buy myself and see how they sound. These drivers are actually larger then the Fountek and Focal - the former two are pure 3" cones (7.5cm), while the Scan-Speak is (8cm) is about 3 1/". Doesn't seem like much, but becuase these are small drivers an extra 1/4" is actually quite significant, and gives the Scanspeak a 20% cone area advantage over the Focal (36cm^2 vs 30cm^2)and a 30% greater cone area over the Fountek (27.3cm^2). They use a fibreglass cone with a quite small surround, and are quite sexy in a 'simple but effective' kind of way.
I found these drivers sounded best with no grills and with the port open.
The first thing you notice from the Scan-Speak's greater cone area is the sensitivity - these babies REALLY rock. I had to turn the L/R balance control to about the 3:00 position in order to ballance out the levels of the Scan and Fountek. At around 89dB 1w/1m, it takes very little power to drive these mids extremely loudly - this is further assisted by the fact that they are 4ohm (double the amp power compared to an 8ohm driver). High senitivity would make them very easy to implement in a car, because you'd have no trouble getting them above the noise floor.
Next thing you notice is that these mids have exceptional top end extension - you could easilly use these drivers a a full-range application and not really miss a tweeter too much at all. Plenty of top end sparke and a nice flat response way out to probably 15k or higher...even off axis. In fact, these probably sound their best when mounted slighkly off axis (say 15-30 degrees), but even on axis they are still quite nice.
The high sensitivity compined with the very well extended top end give these a very 'dynamic' feel. They are a little more revealing in the top frequencies, and this can add to the impression of having more midrange detail as well - though this wouldn't be so much the case once you add a tweeter to the Fountek.
The Scan's play higher and louder then the Fountek's and they also sound as if they are a slight bit flatter in terms of FR as well - but they don't have quite the same clean low end as the Fountek's, and as a result they don't sound quite as smooth and mellow. On 'fever' when the vocals hit the really low notes, they seem to bring out some noticable resonance which almost creates a touch of mudiness - this is only really an issue when really low notes are hit. These probably need a HPF a little moreso then the Fountek's do.
After listening to these drivers on 'hobo' from chesky, I can't say enough how impressed I am with the top end ability of the Scan's. I used to often use this track to test top end detail and presence not only on my own car, but also on competitors cars (both casually, and when I was at times judging in CAASQ/MEASQ). I can honestly say that these mids (when ~15 deg off axis) present more top end detail then many competitors cars I had heard WITH tweeters. I put this down to the fact that many competitors mount tweeters far off axis which kills a lot of the extension - if you are considering doing this due to lack of mounting flexibility, i'd seriouly consider running a pair of these on axis instead to handle say 300hz upwards - they really do impress me that much in the top end!
3. Focal 3W2 Be ($580 / pair):
These Focal's are the drivers I've been planning on installing in my car, and were my most prized of the three midranges because I forked out around a good $600. They are considered as being on of the best car audio midranges around, so I was quite eager to see how they sounded. The Focal's reportedly use a very advanced motor design and a complex (and expensively) 'wafer' style cone design where multiple layers of different materials are layered together tightly for optimal damping and rigidity.
I tried a few configurations, and found that these drivers seemed to sound best without the supplied grills (which muffled them a LOT), with the ports sealed up, and on axis.
First of all, as far as sensitivity goes the Focal's were somewhere in between the Fountek and the Scans - the spec sheet says they are about 2dB down on the Scan's, and this sounds about right.
In terms of their outer limits, the Focal's are the most limited of the three drivers. They don't play as high as either of the other two drivers, but by midrange standards they still handle the upper midrange pretty well. After experimenting with different angles, I probably wouldn't recommend going any further then about 15 - 30 deg off axis with these mids - their off axis response is nothing to shout home about, but on axis they are much better.
On the low end, these definately play lower then the Scan's, and probably also a little lower then the Fountek's. On 'fever', there the entire bass guitar spectrum is more or less audible on the Focal's, whereas it fades out much more significantly on the Scan;s, which clearly don't play as low (despite the larger cone area). The Focal seem relatively clean down low also - they don't handle the low vocals as smoothly and naturally as the Fountek, but then they don't have the same 'muddy' resonance issue as the Scanspeak either.
Now for the key area - midrange. Sadly, this is where the Focal's dissapointed me. The upper midrange (>1k) is actually quite nice, especially on axis, but the lower midrange (400hz - 800hz) doesn't come close to either the Scan or the Fountek. While the Scan gets a little muddy in the upper midbass, the Focal gets muddy in the lower midrange and it leads to an artificial sounding midrange. On axis frequency response is very flat, but distortion is significantly (and audibly) higher then it is on the other two mids, and in this company the Focal is outclassed.
It really is a pity, because the 3W2 is actually a nice mid - a really nice mid. Frequency response is not far off the Scan for linearity, but only from 200hz - 4khz, and only when it is dead on axis. Upper midrange is very clean and smooth, and upper midbass extends nice and low, but the lower midrange really lets it down on lower female vocals and any male vocals.
Conclusion:
Now time to pick a winner.
First of all, lets start with the Focal. It's a nice mid and I'd have to say it's the best car audio midrange I've heard (outside of probably the Micro Precision 7 series and the Lotus Reference), but it's biggest weakness is it's lack of versatility: it didnt sound good with a grill, it didn't sound good with the port unplugged, it didn't sound good even remotely off-axis. It plays nice and low, but displayed noticably higher distortion in the lower midrange then the other two drivers - possible that it is more sensitive to low frequencies and more in need of a HPF. It's without a doubt that the other two drivers are more ballanced, more versatile and cleaner overall - and they are just generally more pleasant to listen to...so the Focal gets 3rd place.
The last two drivers is where it gets more difficult, because it really depends on your listening taste and your intended application. If you plan to use them full range without a tweeter, then there is no doubt to me that the Scan is the better driver due to it's far better top end extension...however it absolutely must be used with a subwoofer, because neitehr the low end extension nor the low end distortion are as impressive as they are on the Fountek. Where this driver really excel's is full range dynamics - throw some dance music or electro on these and they really come to life - you start foot-tapping without even realising it. Very 'fun' driver to listen to. Key factor here howeever, is that I am testing these drivers witht he assumption that they will be used along with a tweeter in a two-way front stage (or bookshelf) - when combined with a tweeter, the extra top end extension of the Scan's becomes a non factor, leaving their sensitivity as their core benefit over the Fountek. The extra sensitivity is definately nice, but for me it's all about sound quality as a first priority, then sensitivity comes as a tie breaker. The Scan's extremely good in this regard, and incredibly hard to fault...but they don't handle low frequencies as cleanly as the Founteks, and the overall sound is a tiny bit (and I mean a REAL tiny bit) more artificial.
So that leaves the Fountek's. They don't play as high as the Scan's, but they still play high enough to handle any midrange appliation you could possible throw at them. They also play down low better the either of the other two drivers, with an upper midbass and lower midrange that is absolutely squeaky clean - no noticable distortion at all to me. The midrange continues this trend, with the buttery smooth midrange continued here. They don't suffer too poorly off axis either, and even 30 deg or 60 deg of axis they should still have no problems crossing over at 4khz to a nice tweeter. While the Scan's are initially fun, the Foutek's are more relaxing to listen to, and you could easilly listen to these for hours on end and never experience any fatigue. Very close call, but I'm going to give top place to the Fountek - not bad for a 3" midrange that costs less then $100 a pair!!
Results:
1st: Fountek F88-EX
2nd: Scanspeak 10F-4424G
3rd: Focal 3W2 Be
Edited by muzzy66, 04 October 2010 - 10:46 PM.
Problem with that, is that I then won't be able to test the Scan's as they are too big to fit in the cutout.
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