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.
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.
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.
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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 |
Pbnaudio: Thanks for the info. Im 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 Kestrels ScanSpeak. Do you think the woofer on eBay is as similar to the stock Kestrel woofer as I am going to find? I really dont know what Im 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 dont think I need pictures of the crossovers yet. If I cannot get the paper driver to integrate with the tweeter and crossovers, the most Im 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. Im 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 |
Not one to discourage experimentation...but the Kestral was "voiced" with the original driver...might seem marginal...but that was the intent of the original design...like I mentioned...I wouldn't mess with a good thing unless the original driver needs replacement...I wouldn't get too hung up on paper vs poly...there are good and bad examples of both ...hope this helps. |
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