| Re-Coneing These companies or individuals will repare and replace damaged speker cones and supension parts of loudspeakers and in most cases do other driver repair work Great Britain RMJ Loudspeakers Specialise in professional speakers (eg. high power speakers) but will work on most things. Tel : +07774 428670 Speaker Design Software Acoutic Software Nempee Makes the Acoustic software that is designed to help you in determinig the acousisital properties of a room Speaker Data Thiele-Small Database (USA) A database Thiele-Small measurements of loudspeaker Please send any factual corrections, dead links, information and/or links that you feel that should be on this page to the page maintainer but please note that I do not have an Internet access at the moment so there may be some time before I can answer.
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Althoug we are aware that there is a thriving trade in used and vintage driver units it was decided that we will not list info on them at the present time. Note also that we do not list drivers intended for car audio usage (except perhaps as a sidenote).
Currently Active Driver Manufacturers
AER
Makes a full range driver that is ideal for horn loading. Although the drivers are based around the old Lowther units and can thus function as a drop in replacements, they are much better thought out technically (or rather take advantage of much more modern design and production techniques) and produce a much more "even" sound.
Alcone Acoustics
Has a range of drivers, aluminium coned as the name implies.
ALE
Makes a big range of drivers, but of special interest are their tweeters and horns and most of their drivers are AlNiCo based.
Altec Lansing
The professional division of the company has a range of drivers mostly intended for PA applications, these include a couple of high power low frequency drive units, a modern version of their famous 604 monitor driver, that unit has both a low frequency speaker and a compression driver mounted in the same frame with a built in crossower, there is also a few high frequency compression drivers and horns available. More info on their product line here.
ATC
Manufactures a range of units both for PA and for hi-fi/monitoring applications, these are mostly low frequency units, a couple of mid frequency units are available but no high frequency drivers/tweeters are apparently available from the company.
Audax
This manufacturer has a huge range of drivers of any type ranging from budget models up to high end hi-fi units, very popular with some makers of home theatre loudspeakers esp. in France, UK and USA.
Audio Technology
High end driver units.
Aura Sound
The consumer division of the company (ie the products that they will sell to end users) has a range of NRT long throw subwoofer units and a range of small high quality full range speakers with neodymium magnets and aluminium cones along with a 18" monster very low frequency woofer derived from their subwoofer designs (it's actually somewhere between a a subwoofer and a bass woofer, it's frequency range is 20 to 200 Hz). The OEM division of the company in addition makes a large range of mostly low power/low end full range speakers intended for integration into TV's etc.
Aurum Cantus
Has a range of tweeters and mid range woofers, their most interesting product by far are the Aluminium Ribbon Tweeters which are quality units shipping at much lower prices than the equivalent western made products, these appear to have been designed by Alain Benard.
Babb Loudspeakers
Makes full range drivers.
Bandor
Makes high quality mini drivers (around 2" or so), these are often used in micro monitors and such and should not be confused with low budget drivers intended for portable radios etc., some of their drivers are close to being full range (and actually nearer to true full range models than some that are sold as such).
Beyma
Makes a lage range of drivers for both industrial use, hi-fi and sound reinforcement usage and for DIY constructors, note that their homepage has a really good downloadable booklet of cabinet designs (geared towards PA applications but interesting for any speaker builder), the booklet is in English even though the rest of the site is in Spanish.
Bohlender-Graebener (BG)
Makes planar magnetic and ribbon drivers and sells them to OEM customers and they have started to pop up for sale in a few specialist shops as well. They also supply at the least one sub-bass woofer designed to mate with their ribbon designs, but that can be a bit misleading, while their ribbon drivers have a wider usable range than most others and it would be a disservice to call the tweeters, they are not quite wide ranging enough to need only a sub to form a complete loudspeaker, they loose strength pretty fast under 2k.
Cabasse
Makes a variety of mostly high end drivers.
Celestion
Traditonally very strong in the sound reinforcement and musical instument sectors, but the company has long been a supplier of drivers for the cash strapped European DIY hi-fi enthusiasts, their driver units often underrated.
Ciare
Manufacture a large range of drivers including models that are suitable for home audio use, but are best known however for supplying drivers capable of handling high volume/high wattage such as needed by the sound reinforcement industry.
Coles Electroacoustics
Makes a small range of drivers including a few tweeters and an old fashioned 5" bass/mid drive unit.
CUI-Stack
Makes a range of drivers mostly low budget full range units intended for portable audio and such but interestingly has also some units that use Alnico magnets.
D.A.S. Audio
Has a large range of compression drivers, horns, loudspeakers and tweeters. Most of their range is designed with PA and other sound reinforcement usage in mind but includes quite a few products suitable for hi-fi use.
Dynaudio
Not many seem to be aware of the fact that they sell drivers, but you should at the very least take a look at their range especially if you are building a monitor system.
E. J. Jordan
Classic English high end drivers.
ELAC
Are a large supplier of drivers to the OEM industry but it's unclear if they sell direct or to DIY shops.
ElectroVoice
Has a large range of drivers mostly intended for sound reinfocement speakers, but sometimes a huge drivers is just what you need to annoy the neighbours in a proper fashion so let's not say that their drivers are not suitable for home speaker use.
Eminence
Makes drivers, more oriented towards PA and sound reinforcement amplification than home /hi-fi applications.
Estec
Although mostly in the OEM market, this company does make some very cost effective drivers.
Eton
High end driver units.
Expolinear
Does not seem to supply their normal drivers to third parties, they do however supply the lovely Philips derived ribbon leaf tweeters to anyone that asks.
Fane Acoustics
British company that specialises in making drivers with a fairly large power handling capabilities per size, and thus popular in sound reinforcement and musical amplification, they have however recently introduced NXT based flat panels with much higher power output capabilities than people have come to expect from that technology.
Foremost Audio
Huge manufacturer of OEM drivers, but getting information on actual models has been difficult.
Forgings
Has a massive range of drivers, but sells mostly to OEM's.
Fostex
Makes high end drivers, famous for their AlNiCo magnet full range models, but have a large line-up inc. tweeters.
Furuyama Audio Lab (FAL)
Makes high end ribbon units based on the principles set forward by Oscar Heil, unlike many current such designs most of their products are full range or mid/high drivers rather than just tweeters. models include Air-S, the Great Heil, the Neodyium Heil and the Small Heil, you can also find more info in English on their woldwide distributors homepage.
Gem Sound
Makes and sells a range of drivers for sound reinforcement use mostly.
GP Industries
A large OEM supplier of drivers especially to the automotive industry but some of their products sometimes find their way into the DIY market and are often quite respectable for the price.
Humdinger Loudspeaker Group
Manufacture and sell drivers intended for hi-fi, automotive and PA applications.
Illusion Audio
Has a small range of drivers intended for car audio installations but are sometimes seen used in sound reinforcement applications, not really suitable for home hi-fi though. Best known for their subwoofer models but they also make more conventional bass drivers and an interesting looking compression drivers with a horn. More information on this page.
IVEDIA
Makes an interesting small full range driver called MAM 137, althoug apparently mostly intended for sound reinforcement purposes, if your Auratone needs replacement (ha!), those drivers should be one of things you look at.
Kef
The company does indeed supply driver units to both manufacturers and to stores, however this is something of a by-product and thus they do not have any info on those models on their homepage, this page does list some models however and I would welcome links to other sites that have more info. As a sidenote I saw a long discussion on one DIY loudspeaker discussion group concerning the "classic" KEF drivers from the years of ca. 1978 - 84, but at that time the company "owned" the British hi-fi press, so to speak, and there seems to be considerable nostalgia towards some of their older products and interest in obtaining updated versions of the drivers used in them, the discussion ended in speculation of what current models from the company where closest to those "classics". Actually the drivers used by KEF at that time where built for them by ELAC and they have closed the London factory and product line down so searching for them will be a bit pointless, ELAC does however supply spare drivers for their post 1980 products, but not in quantities.
Korea Toptone
OEM drivers.
Lambda Acoustics
Makes drivers.
Lewon
Budget driver manufacturer.
Lowther
Makes a full range drivers much beloved by horn fanatics, available in a variety sizues and all fairly sensitive at 93 to 99db.
LST Audio Lab
Mostly mid end drivers but some that can be used in high end speakers.
Lyeco
Taiwanese maker that has an unusually wide range of drivers from budget stuff upto drivers that are used in some very high end speakers.
Manger
Has a revolutionary driver out, is expensive but has to be auditioned if you are building monitors.
Menicus
Sells drivers, crossovers and other speaker parts to end customers, resellers and OEM's.
Metaxas
Makes loudspeaker panels and other parts for the construction of electrostatic or hybrid loudspeakers.
Monacor
Has an absolutely massive range of drivers, and while a large part of them are geared towards car audio or are budget models best left for consumer devises there are some real gems in there at quite agreeable prices, in fact their lineup is so big that the company has niche product lines that are bigger than the whole product catalogues of most suppliers listed here. Especially useful for those of you that are into repairing older speakers is that they have some unconventional sizes of woofers out there that conform to older standards often difficult to get hold of now. Also make sure you get hold of their Modern Speaker Building brochure, and the equivalent brochures for car audio and PA enclosures if you into that sort of thing.
Morel Acoustics USA
Sells mostly budget and mid price drivers, also under the Shabani name.
Motorola
Manufacture quite a range of piezo and ceramic tweeters including horn types and some that are surface mounted, it should be noted that these are more popular for PA, car audio and sound reinforcement applications than for home hi-fi use but are also very cost effective. Notably the company has no information on those product on their hompage but you can find some info on this page by an English reseller, on this page (in Swedish), on the Mark 1 Electronics homepage and on this page (in French).
Nempee
Has a range of drivers, including woofers and tweeters, these are mostly intended for PA applications and thus there is the usual horn tweeter amongs their products.
Newform Research
Makes ribbon drivers.
Omyang
Mostly low end drivers for OEM accounts but is slowly moving into the more home hi-fi reaches of the market, but still the biggest drivers from the company are only 250mm and have a power rating of 100W or so RMS.
Opera
Makes a small range of bass drivers and a variety of high end midrange horns, I was under the impression that they where only made for use in the company's (excellent) own loudspeaker designs but I see that a couple of German dealers are selling them separately, if you are interested in making your own horn speakers trying one of their dealers is worth a shot.
Panasonic
Has a large range of drivers, while most of their line is targeted towards consumer electronics there are a few units from them that are interesting in particular some of their tweeters, you should take a look at their Catalogue or their selection guide. You should also note that the company does not accept orders for anything less than 250.000 units a pop, so if you are thinking of anything less than that, find yourself a local distributor or a rep.
Panaudio
Makes drivers for both home and car audio loudspeakers and they have what can only be desctibed as a masive range, with anything from units intended for budget hi-fi systems to 12" speakers with power handling close to 500w/8o intended for high end audio applications.
PHY-HP
Manufactures a range of high end full range drivers or rather wide range ones (ca 35Hz to 10kHz usable), these are paper cone units with AlNiCo magnets and typically very sensitive, or upto 98db. But their most interesting product is the KM-30 , again a full range drive but this time a coaxial one and thus featuring a response well above 20kHz, the company claims that this unit is time aligned (i.e. the 2 elements should not disturb each other), they also manufacturer a piezo tweeter. All of their drivers with the exception of the tweeters are available in "Silk" versions which are wound with silver wire and insulated with silk (to minimise micro-static buildup).
Pioneer
Makes quite a range of drivers, including polymer dome models and horn tweeters, popular with USA and Japan based DIY builders, the Taiwanese branch of the company called Pioneer Electronic (PTW) is also a huge supplier of OEM drivers.
Peerless
This company makes a range of quality drivers that are very popular with the DIY crowd but interestingly they have recently released some NTX transducers that will make a very interesting kit for the experimenter.
Perigee
Makes ribbon leaf mid range drivers, both as replacement units for Apogee speakers and updated versions for general use.
Rocksonic
Has a range of low end tweeters.
Roiene
Japanese full range paper cone drivers that feature an AlNiCo magnet and indeed designed by an ex-Fostex designer, very efficient typically better that 93db.
Samay Electronics
Manufactures a range of drivers for automotive and PA usage along with the usual tweeters and HF horns in addition to having a small range of units designed for use in guitar amplifiers.
Sammi Sound Technology
Makes drivers mostly for the OEM markets, huge range, anything from buzzers right upto drivers for audiophile systems.
Selenium
This Brazilian company has a wide range of drivers at keen prices, they are a little geared towards PA and car audio applications but not only.
Shabani See --> Morel
Sinus
A long standing manufacturer of drivers, the walls of their driver units are made out of strands of carbon fibre and cellulose fibre woven together. Note that the company has no Internet presence but you can find more info on their range here or here here but both these pages are available in Swedish only, at the least it was when this was written.
Stage Accompany
When Philips stopped making their excellent and innovative ribbon leaf tweeters this USA based sound reinforcement company licensed the product and is the current manufacturer, they may also make more conventional dynamic voice coil drivers.
Supravox
Manufacturers horns, both mid/full range and the more in addition to quite a large rang of more usual drivers (and not all of them optimised for music applications). Some models are popular for use in high end bass applications.
Swan Speaker
Makes a wide variety of drivers ranging from budget stuff up to high end drivers.
Thiel & Partner
Make driver units with membranes made out of esoteric materials.
Toby Corp.
Manufacture a range of drivers, you can view the specifications and prices here. While the company claims they are well suited for hi-fi applications and indeed the company actually makes home hi-fi speakers most of their drivers are plastic coned products and appear at a glance to be better suited for sound reinforcement and car audio than home models.
Tonsil
One of the worlds biggest manufacturer of hi-fi drivers both by volume and by model numbers, homepage has a subset of their range.
Transparence
Makes a wide range of normal loudspeaker drivers but also some very interesting horn tweeters.
Triangle
Makes a range of drivers in the mid/high end range out of cellulose with aluminium baskets, more info here.
Visaton
Makes a big range of drivers.
Yoshimura Sound Labs (YL)
Makes ultra high end horn drivers mostly to order, also did at one time sell high end woofers units individually but we are unsure if they are available (they are certainly still being made, are found inside Audio Note speakers), almost no info on the company homepage so you should send them a e-mail query about availability and prices etc., nota bene these are serious units, the tweeters have a silver diaphragm and the woofers have AlNiCo magnets and silver windings.
Loudspeaker Enclosures
Forgings
Makes a range of cabinets in addition to all kinds of other hardware for speaker assembly and manufacture.
Grand East Ent.
Makes speaker enclosures both standard models and bespoke units (for large orders only). Unable to get any further info since their homepage is not viewable on my browser.
LST Audio Lab
Makes and sells infinite baffles made out of real wood.
Panaudio
Makes enclosures made out of real wood or MDF.
Pioneer Electronic (PTW)
Offers a small range of cabinets ostensibly intended for use with their own drivers.
Ross Custom Cabinets
Bespoke cabinet maker, enclosures made out of hardwood and intended for PA and sound reinforcement, not generic audio.
Transparence
Makes a range of enclosures including active ones.
Loudspeaker Kits and Plans
Acoustics Real
This company has a range of high end loudspeaker kits.
Adelaide Speakers
Has a range of loudspeaker kits, mostly home hi-fi and home theatre systems.
Black Dahlia Acoustics
Offers the Black Dahlia Acoustics BassZilla plans for USD 20, it's a high effiency speaker that utilises a full range driver and a sensitive bass driver as well, more info here.
Falcon Acoustics
Makes a small range of kits in addition to selling kits and components from other manufacturers.
Linkwitz Lab
Sells plans for the high end active design based around an open baffle concept, also sells PCB's for those of you interested in building your own active speakers.
the Loudspeaker Kit
Australian kit specialist that has a wide range of products.
Samadhi Acoustics
Offers their speaker designs as kits at a greatly reduced price, more info here.
Sound Center
My Swedish may not be up to scratch, but reading the pages by this company it appears that their range of speakers are only sold as kits, these are built up around Sinus Drivers.
Supravox
Makes a range of kits both using their well known horns and the more usual paper cone speakers along with a few hybrids.
Vaf Research
Aussie maker of high end loudspeaker kits.
Visaton
Makes a range of kits, mostly home audio speakers.
Wimslow Audio
Has a sizeable range of kits, primarily large floorstanders but also a few bookmounters and AV speakers, more info here.
Other Loudspeaker Components
Best Command
Manufacturers dampers, primarily for the local OEM industry though.
Ennemoser
Makes the expensive but highly regarded C37 lacquer that is mostly used on cones, although we have seen entire speakers painted with this. In the case of loudspeaker cones it adds mass to the cone but stiffens up the material at the same time (in particular if the material is rather soft i.e. paper), this is not always a good thing though so some care should be taken when deciding if to apply the lacquer, in particular in the case of some high efficiency full range speakers that utilise very thin cone materials, the heavy doses of lacquering recommended by the C37 makes are suspect, also be sure to order the 22° version if you intend to use it on a cone. Please remember that you will have to thin down this lacquer before using it on a light material such as a driver! Also note that a lacquer takes a long time to dry fully, at the least some four weeks regardless of thickness (this does not mean that you cannot use the driver, it just means that you cannot judge it's final effect on the sound until after that time).
Humdinger Loudspeaker Group
Manufacture and sell most loudspeaker parts on an OEM basis.
Kmaxima
This manufacturer makes all the basic ingredients of a loudspeaker except for the cones themselves, i.e. yokes, woofer plates, magnets etc. etc. etc.. so if you want to strike out at manufacturing your own driver this is the place to go to. Note that they are an OEM so they will probably not be interested in individual orders, but emailing them for information on local distributors and/or stockists won't hurt.
McKenzie Acoustical Design
Makes high quality corrective networks and crossovers that you can use in your own designs.
Makes audio amplifier modules intended to be used in high end televisons but are actually ideal for use in budget active loudspeaker designs, some info here.
Sound Source
Make parts for drivers, mostly supplying to the automotive sector.