A gift from the Gods? Seas presents mythological speakers

By Lars Mytting
05 Mar 1996

The Excel kits

The magnesium drivers in the Odin and Froy kits rolls off steeply at the end of their frequency range. Thereby it is possible to achieve steep acoustical rolloff with just a few crossover components. Mr. Zeligman has designed elegant (and hopefully, good sounding) crossover solutions, and has used only one or two inductors in series, and the rest of the correction components in parallell. Different crossover topology is used in the D'Appolito designs with glass fibre and magnesium drivers, probably because the latter driver's steeper rolloff. The Odin is crossed at 2.200 hz, the Frøy at 2.500 Hz. According to Seas, both has Linkwitz-Riley response.

One smart trick used in the Excel kits is the shape of the bass reflex port. The port is made by two MDF boards, forming a open path into the cabinet, a solution wich also gives additional bracing. An idea which comes close when looking at the Odin drawings is to extend the cabinet to a height of ca. 100 cm., use sand fill in the extra volume, and create a slim, heavy floorstander.

The Njord and Embla
Both the Njord and the Embla use standard units, all well-known oldtimers from the Seas range. The Njord is a floor-standing speaker with the CA21REX 8" (H373) and the 25TFFC (H519) 1" tweeter. The CA21REX has a coated paper cone, and has many similarities to the Seas woofers used in the old Snell E and J. The 25TFFC is a very versatile fabric dome.

The Embla is a bookshelf-speaker with the 6,5" P17REX and the 25TAFC/D (H537) 1" aluminium tweeter. The P17 has a polyproplylene cone with smooth response. The 25TAFC/D has been used in expensive German high-end speakers.

Njord and Embla are bass-reflex designs with simple crossovers. They will probably fit the needs for those wanting a system that is cheaper and easier to build than those in the Excel range.

Why the old drivers?
Seas has released many interesting new drivers the last year, among them woofers with aluminium and TPX cones. Because of this, I personally find it somewhat strange that Seas in the new Njord and Embla kits have decided to use "old" drivers that has been around for several years. Of course, a good driver never turns bad as time passes. But from a "technical" view, I believe many people would be more interested in kits or building hints for the new, more "exciting" Seas drivers, like the small woofers with aluminium cones and the stunning 8" drivers with 2" voice coils. None of these are more expensive than the drivers used in Njord and Embla.

But we are in good hope that Seas are hammering together more kits, hopefully also some migthy three-way floorstanders. So go on; there are several interesting gods left in the Norse mythology. Odin of course needs his wife "Frigg" - the goddess of love and fertility. And we certainly hope there will be a "Tor" - the god of thunder...

Where to get parts
In Norway, kits and parts are sold by

Eltek
Boks 6244 Etterstad
0603 Oslo
Phone: 22 65 80 70
Fax: 22 64 58 08

The rest of the world should be able to get hold of the drivers at their local Seas dealer.

Lars Mytting

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