Goodmans Magnum K2 vs SL

[Musiciseverything]

Hi.

I’m wondering if any of you have any experience and opinions on the differences between these? I know the SL has lpads. The main letter difference I can see is the driver units used for the tweeting. does anyone know which tweeters perform better?

best regards, and happy new year!

 

[ToTo Man]

The Magnum SL and Magnum K2 do not have L-pads, only the earlier Magnum K has L-pads.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the Magnum K has a cone tweeter.

The tweeter used in the Magnum K2 and Magnum SL was sometimes the Philips AD0160/AD0161 and sometimes the Goodmans DT. I think there were four versions of the DT, called DT1, DT2, DT3 and DT4, essentially all the same design but perhaps some minor tweaks with each revision.

Around 15 years ago I owned the Magnum K2 with the AD0160 and the Magnum SL with the DT3, and both tweeter types performed well in this speaker in my opinion.

Some think the AD0160 is one of the worst tweeters ever made, but I don't understand why. Apart from being a little 'excitable' above 10kHz I think it measures very well after 40 years. This is the off-axis response of a pair of AD0160 tweeters I measured a few months ago:

The Goodmans DT tweeters don't seem to age quite so consistently, some of the samples I measured were fine but others do not provide the expected performance. This is the off-axis response of a pair of Goodmans DT tweeters I measured a few months ago. The 'blue' one is fine but the 'red' one has a problem between 9kHz-13kHz:

In conclusion, assuming the tweeters in your Goodmans Magnum K2 or SL are in good working order, I expect you would be satisfied with either the Philips tweeter or the Goodmans DT tweeter, they both integrate well in this speaker, but perhaps the Philips tweeter is a safer choice to be in good working order for many years.

 

[Alan Brown]

The K is very obviously a better made loudspeaker, but my experience was the SL made better music. Even with the maligned Philips tweeter and a bass driver with a basket of flimsy pressed steel, as opposed to the large, well engineered unit in the K2. The SL cabinets are very flimsy in comparison, the K being much nicer and heavier.

They both share the Goodmans midrange unit (also used in the magister), which I found to be quite coarse. I rather like the paper cone tweeter in the K.

I kept the SL the longest, which performed ok with new capacitors, wiring and binding posts.

 

[Martyn Miles]

I had a pair of Goodman's Ministers as my first 'true' speakers.
They had Goodman's tweeters. A later pair (S L ones ) had Philips tweeters.
I thought they were slightly better.

 

[SOUNDLORD]

I had a pair of Goodman's Ministers as my first 'true' speakers.
They had Goodman's tweeters. A later pair (S L ones ) had Philips tweeters.
I thought they were slightly better.

Have you still got the ministers?

 

[Martyn Miles]

No, but I have my eye on a pair of Havants.
They are very much like the Ministers, except for the addition of a small
midrange driver.