Martin Poulin
After the good subjective result from the entry level Celestion CDX1-1445, I decided to buy a better compression driver. Initially, I was thinking of the Radian 475PB, but I've been recommended, with moderate enthusiasm, to get the CDX1-1425 instead. The CDX1-1425 also has a small diaphragm format (35mm) and handles high frequencies very well, while the Radian 475PB's 44mm diaphragm exhibits a higher mass. Obviously, the Radian can play lower, but I don’t need this advantage. So, I've gone ahead and ordered a pair of CDX1-1425’s.
The CDX1-1425 differs from the CDX1-1445 per the following:
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It uses a Neodymium magnet, which I’m hopeful is more powerful.
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Has a cooper inductance sleeve for reduced inductance and better highs.
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Has an aluminum diaphragm.
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Its 3x more expensive, but still not in TAD pricing territory.
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It has to be crossed higher as Celestion recommend 2500 Hz as a minimum. I'm aiming at 4 kHz - 5kHz and higher, so I'm good with this.
Measurements below (except DATS which is free air) are mounted on a Faital PRO STH100 Horn.
Subjectively, it's too early to say if they’re a keeper. I’ll let them play and burn-in.
With the house now sold, and less than two months before I hit the road, I'm using a make shift system in the kitchen, and await the move into the new house to do some serious set-up again. The system really looks good in the kitchen, but with no acoustic treatment at all, it isn’t the sound I'm used to.
Below is the system I'm using for the next two months, with no subwoofer, as they're boxed and ready for shipment.
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30-230 Hz Dual parallel Fane 15XS in bass reflex mode (box tuned at ~36hz)
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230-2.5 kHz Max Fidelity Pr65NEO in sealed enclosure
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2.5 KHz up CDX1-1425 on Faital STH100 horn
PR65 Neo is the bottleneck as it's only ~96 dB efficient. The B&C 8PE21 enclosure is being built.
MiniDSP 4x10HD and modded Krell Showcase 7 amplifier as always, and a modded Parasound T3 Tuner.
