Scanspeak 10" driver replacement - blown woofer


Hi, I have to replace 2 10" drivers on a pair of Vandersteen 3a's. The drivers are 25w aluminum cone, and the voice coils are fried. Vandersteen will rebuild for 289 each.

Question: Is there a comparable replacement on the market that would be cheaper then the rebuild, and close in performance? I found a company, Madisound speaker components, which sells many 10" drivers from 37.00 - 355.00

I have hooked the speakers back up and have found the bass to be insane with the big 10" hole in the back, apparently in the design the 10" drivers act as acoustic couplers, part passive radiator and part driver. I placed a large book over the holes and the bass is instantly tighter, but not as deep as they used to be.

How important is the quality of these acoustic couplers?
Would a SEAS presitige aluminum woofer be as good at 165.00?
Would I hear the difference?

I know it's impossible for you guys to answer all these questions, I am just trying to paint a picture of where my head is at. Have any of you had to replace your woofers with aftermarket products? What brand did you choose? and how did it work out?

Thanks again,
Mike
hanaleimike
In other words, he changed the Thiele/Small parameters of the driver completely, which thereby negated the designer's alignment and response goals. Exactly what I said would happen if OEM(ie: Vandersteen) parts were not used in the repair. That does not make everyone happy, especially if the owner enjoyed the way the speaker was designed to perform initially.
Rodman99999, my question to you is, have you seen and/or heard any of his work?

Yes, Bill changes the T/S parameters of the driver. Completely? Every situation is different, and warrants a different solution. Negating the designer's alignment and response goals is an assertion that seems to cross the line of what can be inferred in the effort to dismiss his work out of hand. It also ignores the fact that most OEM drivers are not nearly as close to meeting their specification sheets as we hope. Beyond that, there are parameters Bill optimizes the vast majority of people have never encountered, are not captured in a specification, and that OEM driver and loudspeaker manufacturers do not take into account.

Bill Legall, doesn't advertise it, but more than a few high-end audio loudspeaker manufacturers turn to him when they have a driver issue themselves.

As I said earlier, Vandersteen loudspeakers are a specialty of his. To hear the improvements he has made for many people over the years in the Model 2 and 3, which actually transcend the drivers themselves, shines a lot more light on the subject that my words can. Suffice it to say that a lot of people have changed their minds about purchasing a new pair of loudspeakers after their Vandersteens were modified by Bill.
In prior communications; I've recommended to Mike that he contact Bill regarding his speakers. I've purchased cones and surrounds from Bill in the past, but I'm not intimately familiar with his work. Our conversations HAVE always shown him to be knowledgeable. You stated that he changed the sensitivity and excursion of the drivers mentioned. If the changes were audible: That would not only change the Fs, Qes and Qms(which will change all the other system Q's yielded in the T/S formulas and the Vas), but would also cause a rise and overlap in the frequency response at the designer's crossover point. Like I said, changing the designer's original performance goals is not everyone's desire. Most of the higher end speaker builders(especially those that have their drivers custom made), hold the manufacturers to more stringent tolerances than you obviously think. Otherwise there could be no unit to unit consistancy in reproduction.
if i knew which driver i can build or rebuild drivers. Everybody who are talking about change of T/S after rebuilding driver can relax and chill out. Noithing will cange if the same VC, the same weight/qty glue, the same VC height in gap adjusted and of course the same original surround and spider are used if needed to replace. after rebuilding spider can be softened mechanicaly to speed up burn in.