With over 18 years in the business, what sets Tang Band apart from most other OEM companies is the amount of research and development behind every component. The W4-1720 is a good example of both the engineering and manufacturing diligence. It is a cost-effective high performance solution with a small footprint, featuring a 1.25" under-hung voice coil design, a very thick top plate mounted over a 3.5" diameter / 0.78125" tall ferrite stack, and a copper shorting ring to reduce the effects of the second and third order harmonic distortion.
The T/S parameters that I extracted from these drivers were actually very close to the LMS parameters included in the data sheets sent to me from Tang Band:
Re: 3.713 Ohms
Fs: 72Hz
Qms: 2.917
Qes: 0.7544
Qts: 0.5994
Le: 0.124mH
The above electro-mechanical characteristics make the W4-1720 quite cooperative in virtually any vented alignment (as gauged by an efficiency bandwidth product of 95.) For this review, the drivers are auditioned as part of the Sculpture 102.1 surround sound upgrade set along with a set of Vifa D19TD-05 tweeters crossed over at 3kHz.
The below graph isolates the midbass driver's on-axis 1W/1m response, illustrating it's ability to cover a wide bandwidth while maintaining reasonably consistent efficiency:
All of my listening tests confirm the response graph; for the majority of Jazz and classical music, these speakers perform flawlessly in the front stage position of my dedicated listening room. Every note, regardless of pitch, is represented with an equal degree of authority and accurate placement along the sound stage. From ~50Hz up, the sound is very transparent and doesn't show any signs of the "hooded" effect that is typically present in the upper mid-bass/mid-range region with most store-bought speakers.
Overall, the W4-1720 is an excellent driver that, with some care, can be implemented into just about any audiophile-grade stereo listening room or a home theater.
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