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Martin W8C drivers

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URL: https://forum.speakerplans.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=91358
Printed Date: 26 March 2026 at 4:26pm
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Topic: Martin W8C drivers
Posted By: muchroom
Subject: Martin W8C drivers
Date Posted: 30 March 2015 at 10:13am
I have recently acquired some w8c boxes and they appear to be fitted with original drivers. the numbers on some cannot be seen when opening up the box however resistance ratings can.

Original drivers are said to be:

DC D025 - 1" ... seems to be the same in mine
DLS 1050 - 6.5" ...which is a 16ohm driver...mine clearly says 8 ohm on the back
DLS 252 - 12" ... same as mine is

I'm a bit confused, on the martin spec sheet for the w8c the impedence ratings seem to be around the wrong way. This sheet says LF = 8, MF = 16, HF = 16, where as i find written on the back of my drivers LF = 16, MF = 8, HF = 8...

https://martin-audio.com/downloads/datasheets/W8Cdatasheet.pdf


Also does anyone know the equivilant RCF model numbers? 

DLS 252 seems to be the L12P520, but does anyone know the others?

Also does anyone know the resistance if these are run in passive crossover mode? if the 1" and 6.5" are both 8ohm, should i assume these are wired in siries and are 150 + 60 = 210 @ 16ohm...somehow i get the feeling this is not quite correct...

Any help with these issues would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance



Replies:
Posted By: brokenjoe
Date Posted: 30 March 2015 at 11:11pm
http://forum.speakerplans.com/ma-w8c-6_topic86784_post866657.html?KW=w8c#866657

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Posted By: muchroom
Date Posted: 31 March 2015 at 2:05am
sweet thanks man that was helpful, thanks for the quick reply.

I'm still at a loss as to whats going on with the resistance though. That PHL 6.5" has a 16r rating, and I can see mine has a 8ohm (it also has the martin audio markings on it so pretty confident its genuine).

also it seems weird they would use an RCF 12", PHL 6.5" and a B&C 1"...or is this often normal for companies to use drivers from different manufacturers?




Posted By: brokenjoe
Date Posted: 31 March 2015 at 9:22pm
are you measuring through the xover? 




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Posted By: brokenjoe
Date Posted: 31 March 2015 at 9:23pm
the phl is pretty bespoke as far as i can tell.. i ordered one and it took about 2 months to come 

if the different drivers sound good .. why not? 


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Posted By: muchroom
Date Posted: 01 April 2015 at 3:04am
I will measure in the next couple on the terminals to double check if my mid driver is actually the 8ohm it says it is. at the minute i was just reading the numbers off the back of the driver itself. 

As per the drivers, i have been in contact with Martin audio since and they still stock all of them. and they are as follows:

LF: DLS 252 – 8 ohm

MF: DLS 1050  - 16 ohm

HF: DCD 025 – 8 ohm.... + 8 ohm for the crossover making it a 16ohm circuit

as for why not use others? I want my whole system to be the same. if I were to change one i'd want to change them all otherwise my EQ settings in my DSP may have to be different for each cab and probably a whole other bunch of issues will pop up.

Cheers guys, been very helpful



Posted By: madboffin
Date Posted: 01 April 2015 at 1:44pm
The AC impedance varies with frequency, and the number quoted in the spec is only a nominal figure.

Measuring at the speaker terminals with a multimeter will only give you the DC resistance (Re). For example a typical 16 ohm driver will have an Re around 6 or 7 ohms.




Posted By: izzzzzz6
Date Posted: 16 August 2016 at 9:32am
Hi Did you ever find out why your 12" driver was marked 16 ohms?
  I have blown a 12" in a W8C and am looking at options for repairing/replacing it.
I don't see a L12P520 on the RCF website but there are some re-cones available on bluearan and on ebay.
  Does anyone have any spares?



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Sound


Posted By: izzzzzz6
Date Posted: 06 April 2018 at 3:07pm
I have blown 6x of the 6.5" drivers from my W8CT (after a DSP fault).
  Did anyone find any recone kits available? This is going to get quite pricey if i buy all new drivers (+shipping)!
Also on a side note i ended up replacing the 12" drivers in my W8C's with the RCF L12L750 (8Ω). Seem to work ok. 
  But i would probably want to know the exact driver if replacing any in my W8CM because i have 8 drivers in total and they work together in parallel.
  


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Sound


Posted By: re-production
Date Posted: 08 April 2018 at 2:37am
It could have been taken out of a W8 cab and out into the w8c, pretty sure they are 16 ohm mids?


Posted By: madboffin
Date Posted: 19 April 2018 at 11:08pm
Yes, the original W8 (later re-named W8T) used a PHL 1050-16.

The 1" was a B&C DE25 and, in the early ones, the 12" were a pair of ATC PA50-314-16-BASS. Later changed to RCF L12P520, can't remember if they were 8 or 16 ohms.

I'm not sure what was in the W8CT and CM but they would have been standard drivers supplied as OEM,  rather than true specials...




Posted By: brokenjoe
Date Posted: 20 April 2018 at 9:11am
you can't recone the 6.5".. 

new drivers i'm afraid 


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Posted By: cravings
Date Posted: 03 May 2018 at 6:46pm
madboffin: any idea which PHL the dls1738 in the W3 is? it says it's an E-17, and it's 16ohm..


Posted By: madboffin
Date Posted: 06 May 2018 at 10:34pm
Sorry, I don't know that one. The W3 was designed after I left.
On the older systems the Martin stores part number included some elements of the driver manufacturer's part number, but they stopped doing that eventually.


Posted By: izzzzzz6
Date Posted: 25 February 2020 at 12:05pm
Hi. I am on the verge of buying 7x PHL 1050 as a DSP fault blew 6x mids in my W8CT's and later a W8C also blew a mid trying to keep up with the bass because my CT's were not available or perhaps it was a DJ error, i was not able to be in the room all the time as we had two rooms at the time.
  I came close to getting someone to wind me new voice coils but it never worked out and PHL (THPL) do not want to get involved in spares or repairs.
  Really i want to upgrade to something with a higher power handling but apart form the PHL 1510 which s both v expensive and also does not have an inverted dust cap to help fit close to the phase bung the only other 6.5" drivers i can find with higher power handling are mid bass drivers. But do you think this could work, something like the B&C 6mbx44? After all i will be only using it between 794Hz and 3k24
  The PHL 1050 has the back of the chassis holes closed off with plastic shutters which are simply glued in place. If i replace with 1050's i only need 7 but if i replace all 6.5" drivers i will need 14x drivers so i don't really want to go crazy on price.

  I was just wondering if the W8C have a different impedance to the W8CT as the CT's have 3x 6.5" per cab and the W8 only 1x 6.5" per cab having 3x 16 ohm in parallel makes the mid channel around 5ohms per cab but should a W8 really have a 16ohm driver if you are say only using a few cabs rather than a load in parallel? 
  I am wondering what the OP had in his cabs and why they were 8ohm?
Any ideas or insights would be appreciated.


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Sound


Posted By: izzzzzz6
Date Posted: 28 May 2020 at 1:32am
Today i installed a pair of B&C MBX-4416's and had also installed a set of L12L750's
  I would like to see if there is a better more modern compression driver to keep up with the rest. I had to shorten the phase bung by around 1cm and cut almost 1cm out from the bracing behind to fit the slightly longer neodymium magnet. All the work was done with an angle grinder and cutting disc + a dremel tool.
  I'll be listening and comparing them over the next few days. 


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Sound


Posted By: brokenjoe
Date Posted: 29 May 2020 at 3:36pm
should've kept them original . 

one of the best sounding boxes by my ears - 




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Posted By: jacethebase
Date Posted: 30 May 2020 at 7:36am
Originally posted by brokenjoe brokenjoe wrote:

should've kept them original . 

one of the best sounding boxes by my ears - 



Agreed!

My only downfall with them is the compression runs out of steam before the rest of the box. Sound quality is fine just be nice if it were a bit louder :)


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www.wedding-production.co.uk

www.stage2sound.com


Posted By: brokenjoe
Date Posted: 04 June 2020 at 4:03pm
Originally posted by jacethebase jacethebase wrote:

Originally posted by brokenjoe brokenjoe wrote:

should've kept them original . 

one of the best sounding boxes by my ears - 



Agreed!

My only downfall with them is the compression runs out of steam before the rest of the box. Sound quality is fine just be nice if it were a bit louder :)

thing is, they sound so clean its hard to notice how lud the feckers are.

i've thought it was run quiet, and had my ears ringing the next day a few times 

i just hate stacking the buggers :) 


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Posted By: Digbethdave
Date Posted: 04 June 2020 at 8:59pm
Originally posted by brokenjoe brokenjoe wrote:

Originally posted by jacethebase jacethebase wrote:

Originally posted by brokenjoe brokenjoe wrote:

should've kept them original . 

one of the best sounding boxes by my ears - 



Agreed!

My only downfall with them is the compression runs out of steam before the rest of the box. Sound quality is fine just be nice if it were a bit louder :)

thing is, they sound so clean its hard to notice how lud the feckers are.

i've thought it was run quiet, and had my ears ringing the next day a few times 

i just hate stacking the buggers :) 
You miss stacking them!



Posted By: jacethebase
Date Posted: 05 June 2020 at 8:21am
Originally posted by Digbethdave Digbethdave wrote:

Originally posted by brokenjoe brokenjoe wrote:

Originally posted by jacethebase jacethebase wrote:

[QUOTE=brokenjoe]should've kept them original . 

one of the best sounding boxes by my ears - 



Agreed!

My only downfall with them is the compression runs out of steam before the rest of the box. Sound quality is fine just be nice if it were a bit louder :)

thing is, they sound so clean its hard to notice how lud the feckers are.

i've thought it was run quiet, and had my ears ringing the next day a few times 

i just hate stacking the buggers :) 

Love stacking wavefront in a draped cow shed with a disco light spinning for some sort of light.


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www.wedding-production.co.uk

www.stage2sound.com


Posted By: brokenjoe
Date Posted: 05 June 2020 at 12:45pm
Originally posted by jacethebase jacethebase wrote:

Originally posted by Digbethdave Digbethdave wrote:

Originally posted by brokenjoe brokenjoe wrote:

Originally posted by jacethebase jacethebase wrote:

[QUOTE=brokenjoe]should've kept them original . 

one of the best sounding boxes by my ears - 



Agreed!

My only downfall with them is the compression runs out of steam before the rest of the box. Sound quality is fine just be nice if it were a bit louder :)

thing is, they sound so clean its hard to notice how lud the feckers are.

i've thought it was run quiet, and had my ears ringing the next day a few times 

i just hate stacking the buggers :) 

Love stacking wavefront in a draped cow shed with a disco light spinning for some sort of light.

3 high? 

ratcheting them was always fun too 

but absolute fave is flying them on your own, when venue "forgot" to hire a genie


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Posted By: Digbethdave
Date Posted: 05 June 2020 at 5:59pm
Originally posted by brokenjoe brokenjoe wrote:

Originally posted by jacethebase jacethebase wrote:

Originally posted by Digbethdave Digbethdave wrote:

Originally posted by brokenjoe brokenjoe wrote:

Originally posted by jacethebase jacethebase wrote:

[QUOTE=brokenjoe]should've kept them original . 

one of the best sounding boxes by my ears - 



Agreed!

My only downfall with them is the compression runs out of steam before the rest of the box. Sound quality is fine just be nice if it were a bit louder :)

thing is, they sound so clean its hard to notice how lud the feckers are.

i've thought it was run quiet, and had my ears ringing the next day a few times 

i just hate stacking the buggers :) 

Love stacking wavefront in a draped cow shed with a disco light spinning for some sort of light.

3 high? 

ratcheting them was always fun too 

but absolute fave is flying them on your own, when venue "forgot" to hire a genie
You just balance them on your head and use ya arms to attach. 


Posted By: izzzzzz6
Date Posted: 08 June 2020 at 1:16am
   I just summarised the work i have done so far and lost the entire message. I'll try again to make a brief summery as that took over an hour to put everything together. Hopefully someone will find some of the info interesting or useful. Sorry to all the purists.
  
  W8CT's I'm leaving them as standard but i found they each contain 4 great big dirty lead weights for balancing when flying, i have 4x boxes which i never fly so i may consider removing the 16x weights at some point in the future. They use:
Martin DLS 1050 = PHL 1050 (16 ohm, although in my cabs i had found a mixture of 8 and 16 ohm)
Martin DCD 016 = B&C DE 16-8 (8 ohm)

  The compression drivers had different sound levels to them, i removed the diaphragms and found they had aluminium oxide dust which was stuck in the air gap of the magnet. I removed the dust with some stiff cardboard and cleaned up the voice coils a bit and now they sound balanced. I broke one diaphragm as they can be quite tricky to remove, they can get a bit stuck down, take care and use a thin blade to get right under and ease up the thin metallic ring that is glued to the plastic ring by lifting both the metallic and plastic ring away from the magnet at the same time. separate the diaphragm carefully and evenly as you lift it from the magnet. 

  The W8CT also have crossovers in the form of a MKP 6uF 400V capacitor and a large 10 Ohm resistor in series with each compression driver. I had been expecting the drivers to be 16ohm but i'm guessing that 8 ohm drivers with the 10 Ohm resistors worked out to be a better balance for the system whilst maintaining the ability to put many in parallel without stressing the amplifiers. I was wondering if i might be able to remove the capacitors and run them fully active but for the 10 ohm resistors but for now i'm leaving them there.

I will also leave the W8CM standard for now but might consider using similar 12" drivers to the ones that i put in the W8C's

  The W8C's have now been fitted with RCF L12-750's (8ohm) and B&C 6MBX44-16 (16 ohm). The compression drivers are still the Martin DCD-025 = B&C DE25. There were some mods necessary to fit the new B&C 6.5" mids such as modifying the phase bung and removing a few cm of wood from the cab behind the magnet. Also i decided not to glue the plastic backs on them as they have a larger excursion if i so wish to play around a bit and see if it's worth extending the frequency down a bit lower on the DSP. For now they are just running with the standard settings. The newer mid bass drivers are more forgiving and have more headroom so you can get them thumping a little if you wish to push them a bit.

  I'll be listening to these a bit more over the coming weeks since i have them setup at home. I'm tempted to go fetch some bass bins but i'll probably leave the WSX in the lockup and fetch some old converted double 18" Peavey concert hall subs which now have some fane colossus drivers in them. I find these sound great in smaller venues, i usually put my Tannoy V 15's on top, but the W8C's could also sound nice atop the double 18 bass reflex cabs.

  The 4x WSX have also been modified with LF18X451. These are around twice the power handling than the originals with a much larger potential excursion. I had to flip the hatches as the backs of the handles were touching the magnets. I also removed around 3mm from the cutout with a fein saw as the membrane measured a few mm larger in diameter and with the extra excursion i didn't want to risk the membrane destroying itself on the cutout.

   If you have some old WSX  and some large amps i would highly recommend this mod. I'm using the Lab Fp6400's to drive them. One amp is probably enough to drive all 4 but i usually use one to drive 2x WSX with 1800W nominal per side. The idea is to get 8x WSX so i can stack 4 per side laying on their sides mouth to mouth, eventually.

  So far, listening to the W8C's with the new drivers i must say that i'm very happy with the sound + i love the WSX with the newer drivers.

  I would love to get the 15" Mid bass cabs that go with the wavefront system but space and transportation limit the options a little however i sometimes use a double 15" Void W bin as a centre mounted kick sub.

   Can't remember if i included everything from the message i lost earlier but if you have any questions feel free to ask. 



 

  
   


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Posted By: Luca FMA soundsystem
Date Posted: 06 November 2025 at 4:50pm
Hello I have come into possession of 8 pieces of w8c and I'm thinking about changing the 12" you can send me the frequency response with RCF L12L750?


Posted By: Elliot Thompson
Date Posted: 06 November 2025 at 8:21pm
I was going to refer you to the RCF website until, I noticed, they do not offer frequency graphs anymore. Confused

Nevertheless, here is the frequency response graph from the 2008 Catalogue...



Best Regards, 


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Elliot Thompson


Posted By: APC321
Date Posted: 07 November 2025 at 11:21am
Did some searching on the net for some real photos.

Have combined a photo with the Martin Audio DLS252 at the top, and the RCF L12750 at the bottom, for comparison.

https://postimg.cc/34jHm9MH" rel="nofollow">


Posted By: BIVSII
Date Posted: 17 November 2025 at 2:20pm
Hi,

Does any one has experience with 6"comparison with Standard 6" and 18sound 6ND410 and B&C 6MDN44?

I have found a similar w8c mid and high hoorn from china. I want to make a delay and infill set. 



Posted By: Luca FMA soundsystem
Date Posted: 17 November 2025 at 2:44pm
I'd just take the original 6.5 and 1 inch driver (b&cDE25 and PHL 1050) and for the 12" Eighteen Sound 12w750



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