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Meadowlark Kestrel: Model Number of Woofer?

Hello,

I am considering buying some used Meadowlark Kestrels (Hot Rod version), and changing the woofers. A speaker builder friend once told me that Vifa made (and hopefully still does) a paper version of the Vifa polypropylene woofer used in the Kestrels, with nearly identical specs. (In my limited experience, paper drivers tend to sound more natural to me than polypropylene). However, I do not know if this woofer is still made, and I want to make sure before I purchase the Kestrels.

For those of you who have a pair of Kestrels, I would be very grateful if someone would unscrew the woofer and give me the model number of the Vifa woofer used on the Kestrels. (The woofers are the same in the regular and Hot Rod versions). This way I could find out if the paper equivalent is still made.

Also, I do not have experience modifying speakers, but, again, I think the paper Vifa woofer has almost identical specs to the polypropylene version. If I recall correctly, the new woofer may be a tad less sensitive. If, for example, I need to change the resistors on the tweeter to make the tweeter quieter, what would be a good forum for tips on how to do the modification?

Many thanks.
ripple7
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
I have owned 3 pairs of the Meadowlark Kestrels, the first pair was the Hot Rod version. I once started to remove one of the woofers, can't remember why, but I gave up as it seemed stuck to the baffle and I wasn't ambitious enough to rip it out.
If you are looking for a "natural" speaker, you should definitely check the Kestrels out. They are one of the most natural sounding speakers I have heard. I suggest you buy them, check them out, you may or may not feel a need to change the driver.
send me an email and I can send some pics of the crossovers, both hot rod and standard.
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
Have to agree...both the original and Hotrod Kestrals were extremely musical with exceptional bass...they also were a great value...personally, changing drivers may interupt the cohesion the speaker is known for.
pbnaudio's avatar
pbnaudio
1,613 posts
 
The Woofer in the Meadowlark is the ScanSpeak P17WJ-00

P17

I cannot recall any paper version made by Vifa in this basket and with the J magnet system, they made one with the smaller G magnet system but I don't think you will be able to find that anywhere

M17

Best of Luck

Peter
pbnaudio's avatar
pbnaudio
1,613 posts
 
Just did an ebay search, Hurry on this one, there is a pair of the Shielded Version available for $ 35 + shipping

Vifa M17

Best of luck

Peter
ripple7 OP
2 posts
 
Pbnaudio:
Thanks for the info. I’m not sure why I thought the woofer was made by Vifa. Maybe the speaker builder friend I knew at the time was referring to a paper woofer made by Vifa that had specs similar to the Kestrel’s ScanSpeak. Do you think the woofer on eBay is as similar to the stock Kestrel woofer as I am going to find? I really don’t know what I’m doing, and had thought I would take some time to educate myself a bit and get the help of folks on some speaker builder forum before going forward with buying the speakers and changing the drivers.

Timrhu: Thanks for the offer, but I don’t think I need pictures of the crossovers yet. If I cannot get the paper driver to integrate with the tweeter and crossovers, the most I’m willing to do is change the resisters. If it needs a change in the crossover point, I would just scratch the project.

Phasecorrect: Thanks for the advice. I’m prepared to scratch the project and reinstall the stock woofers if the paper woofer sounds worse.

BTW, does anyone know how to set up preferences so that I am e-mailed when someone replies to a my thread?

Thanks,
Chris
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