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RE: SEAS A26 Woofer

Thar SEAS A26 woofer appears to be similar in design to 1960s drivers*. Take a look at it and you'll see that the voice coil is 1.5" or maybe 2" diameter - typical of those antique designs.

Now look at a top-drawer modern (21st century) driver of similar diameter. Take for example the 9" driver used by ATC

https://atc.audio/professional/loudspeakers/scm50a-pro/

Note that the voice coil is at least 4" diameter. Why is this so much better? The coil generates the movement of the cone requiring it to act as a piston, moving air at maybe a couple of thousand times per second. The laws of physics come into play and the distance between the coil and the cone surround becomes important here. The smaller this distance, the less "flabbiness" there will be in the cone's movement. The ATC driver will offer a much less distorted sound.

There's nothing wrong with using ancient driver designs, but you must appreciate that things have moved on in the last 50 years and this includes driver design. A modern driver with a much larger diameter voice coil should (if well constructed) offer a much better sound.

* PS - Just noticed since starting this post that this SEAS driver is in fact based on a 1968 design. Your consolation is that SEAS is a highly respected company that has been making drivers for decades. They build to high standards and even these old designs will be good compared with many other old designs and poorer-built modern ones that find their way into budget speakers.

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