Air core coil for the wd25tex coil anyone.

[VantheMan]

Has anyone, by any chance ever tried a 0.76H air core coil for the Seas mid bass driver on their wd25tex speakers instead of the ferrite cored one in the original kit ? How did it go ? If no one has, do any of the more learned here think it might be worth trying ?

[Richard]

Hi Van,
Ideally you'd keep inductance and DCR the same so an air cored inductor would have to be bigger than a ferrite cored inductor for the same inductance and resistance.
In this case the supplied ferrite coil is only 0.2R DCR and, as long as the core isn't saturating, I wouldn't expect much/any difference in sound going to an air core.
I haven't looked but it may be that you might not even be able to get 0.76mH 0.2DCR in an air core but you could perhaps wind your own.

[VantheMan]

Hi Richard, there are Jansen wax foil coils with exactly the same values as the original ferrites: 0.76H and 0.2 DCR. Not too large for my external xovers. Guess I’m after a bit more snap and thought I might try.

[Richard]

Maybe give them a go then Van but check the power rating so they don't overheat and melt the wax in your lovely climate. Perhaps the 13 gauge enamelled wire version would be safer.

[VantheMan]

Lovely climate ? 9 months a year maybe. I’ll swap mine for yours June - August anyday.

[Richard]

Hi Van, we only went once at Christmas - surreal lounging by the pool on Christmas day - and Feb and Oct half terms with the kids when they were young. I take it the summer is a bit warm then!

I had a look at Hifi Collective site and see this waxcoil 0.75mH 0.16DCR,
https://www.hificollective.co.uk/con...mm-width-12awg
and this air core enamelled wire 0.76mH 0.17DCR,
https://www.hificollective.co.uk/cat...wire-coil.html
I'm not sure if they'd fit or you had others in mind. There's no real indication about power handling of the coils that I can see.
(Probably the power rating isn't the issue with the wire gauge but it seems you'll need to use heavier gauge to keep similar DCR as the wire will be longer for similar inductance.)

[VantheMan]

Hi,
Yes, according to the Jantzen page the power handling in 14awg is 500w. and the values I chose are 0.76 and 0.21 DCR. Whatever that means. The consensus would seem to be that I shouldn’t expect miracles but still, we shall see. The trouble with diy audio is that it’s not really for technical Nonoes. Ah well.

[Richard]

Yes found it,
https://www.hificollective.co.uk/cat...-wax-coil.html
Good choice I reckon if you want to try the waxcoils. The only thing I'd be wary about is melting the wax (if that is the insulator) as you may not notice it had happened if some coils were shorted inside the cabinet.

[A Stuart]

"The bare foil is insulated by a special 60μm thick quality paper. Once wound, each coil is impregnated with a..." implies to me that not relying solely on the wax for insulation. https://www.hificollective.co.uk/ind..._wax_coil.html

[VantheMan]

I had checked with a mate in Barcelona and he reassures me they don´t have a soft waxy feel to them on the outside at least as explained by the paper you quote.
Just in case I´ll keep my external crossover boxes on a different shelf to my Suggie A21SE.