SB Acoustics Tweeter Measurements!

December 8, 2013 Posted by gornir

SB26STAC-C000-4_1SB26STCN-C000-4_1

These two SB Acoustics tweeters are the first in a series of new driver measurements I will publish on the website. I will probably use some of them in future moderately priced loudspeaker designs.

Detailed measurement data:

SB Acoustics SB26STAC-C000-4
SB Acoustics SB26STCN-C000-4

SB26STAC vs. SB26STCN comparison:

 

Build quality and looks:

The SB26STAC with its aluminium faceplates both looks and feels more robust than the SB26STCN plastic faceplate and its small Neodymium magnet. At this price level, 44$ for the SB26STAC and 35$ for the SB26STCN, they both seem to be very nicely built.

Impedance:

 

Imp 1L SB26STAC vs SB26STCN

(click on picture to zoom)

Green = SB26STAC
Blue = SB26STCN

The SB26STAC has a resonance frequency of 750Hz and the SB26STCN about 170Hz at 920Hz. Both are very close to the manufacturer specification. The Impedance profile is very similar from 2.5kHz and up.

Frequency:

 

Freq 0deg 2R SB26STAC vs SB26STCNFreq 15deg 2R SB26STAC vs SB26STCN

(click on picture to zoom)

Left: On-axis
Right: 15deg off-axis

Blue = SB26STAC
Red = SB26STCN

Note! SPL is normalized to roughly the same sensitivity

The tweeters have almost identical frequency response curves. The SB26STCN has about 0.5-1dB higher sensitivity than the SB26STAC.

Distortion:

 

SB26STAC-C000-4-2R -- 10cm 95dbSB26STCN-C000-4-2R -- 10cm 95db

(click on picture to zoom)

95dB @ 1m

Left = SB26STAC
Right = SB26STCN

The SB26STAC has lower distortion than the SB26STCN. A qualified guess is that the SB26STAC can be crossed over lower, at least 500Hz or more than the SB26STCN.

Summary:

 

The SB26STAC would fit nicely with mid-woofers up to 6.5” and the SB26STCN would fit nicely in M-T-M configurations or in small compact mini monitors with a mid-woofer size up to 5”

Based on the measurements performance I consider both these tweeters to be of high value and with a high performance/price ratio. It will be interesting to see if they also sonically turn out to be as good as the measurements.

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