Audio Nirvana 'Classic 15 Alnico' Full Range Drivers

Discussion in 'DIY' started by winders, Nov 11, 2018.

  1. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    These have no crossover or if so, I assume one is designed already? What about cabinet volume/dimensions? Dampening material/audio fluff? I sure as f**k an not going to build cabinets but stuff like this certainly seems like a good performance/$$ ratio vs. buying from manufacturers.

    That said, I've learned I gotta hear speakers before buying. So my questions are more curiosity than anything.
     
  2. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Cabinet volume and port size will be determined by TS parameters of speaker drivers, which are provided by the manufacturer. In many cases, the manufacturer will give suggestions of how to build the box and tune the ports. Dampening is a matter of personal preference. For ported boxes, depending upon how heroic the construction (internal bracing, double thickness baffle, etc.) I would either use very light damping - suspend a sheet of acoustic fill behind the driver, or glue acoustic foam with a mass layer on the one or more internal walls. I definitely go light on the internal damping for ported boxes. So many different ways around it. More stuffing sounds less boxy but is also more constricted. Less stuffing sounds more lively with a faster transient response, but with more of the sound bouncing around inside the box and back out through the driver. Experimenting is the key.

    Generally, it's a good idea to build boxes too big. Easy to reduce internal volume with cans of cheap dog food while tweaking. The great thing about building your own is that there is almost always a way out, to improve on things if the project as-is sucks. Box volume can be changed, port tuning can be adjusted, EQ and crossover circuits can be built, super-tweeters can be added, etc. It's all a matter of balancing what you like with what you don't like. There is no one speaker design that does everything well.
     
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2018
  3. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    please report back with impressions.

    seriously considering the ferrite super 12
     
  4. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    @murphythecat

    I have the classic ferrite 12" in a modded and braced and recalculated ported old cabinet. I really like it but am saving and scouting for plans for a bigger box for it. Crossover-less design is quite open and revealing. Bass in my cabinet is a bit lacking even with corner placement. dispersion is very good and on axis listening can be laser beam like with the treble, so off axis it is. Also had to heavily treat the front wall to minimize smearage since the cabs are so close.

    Friend has the 15 inch alnicos in much larger cabinet. He got rid of his huge dual 15 inch per cab horn loaded bass modules with horn compression field coil uppers for the AN 15 alnicos.

    Even in bedroom sized room they sound incredible, but he is a master at room treatment. I like them a lot. They sound quite good with his custom 2a3 amp.

    May use that big sized cabinet plan for my 12 inchers. The value proposition is off the charts if you can get someone to build the cabinets. I have had $6k speakers I liked less.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2019
  5. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Has anyone heard Zu Audio speakers that have also heard these drivers? Would appreciate a comparison.

    Also tons of amp builders outsource the enclosure to Front Panel Express or similar manufacturer. A cabinet builder is basically the same.
     
  6. dBel84

    dBel84 Friend

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  7. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    +10db 3kHz broad bump, +13db 10kHz spike. No thanks. These are shit.

    I understand why people go for wide-banders - the trade-offs - but there are limits to what good sound is about. I didn't rest the foundation of CS / SBAF on headphone measurements to see gear like this exist.
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2018
  9. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    If you're just looking at on-axis FR I don't see how this looks worse than fe206en for half the price
     
  10. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I'd shudder to look at the off-axis response. I would expect a 12" to beam like a laser. Too much deviation from on-axis and off-axis FR is a bad thing. Don't like moving or turning my head to suddenly go from high-frequency mosquito-killing sonic beams to weird jaggy response with nulls. The change is usually too severe and happens too abruptly.

    Haven't used the fe206en and probably never will.
     
  11. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    dont, the fe206 is horrible sounding ime
    wow, the wild burro measure horribly

    the measurements from the AN super 12 are actually surprisingly almost flat up to 15 khz
    http://www.commonsenseaudio.com/an12cfspecs.jpg
    no off axis measurements though
     
  12. dBel84

    dBel84 Friend

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    I was wondering about those measurements , your take on DIYA is probably closer to the truth than I gave credit. I will stick to optimizing what I have.
    .. dB
     
  13. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Following up on this. Should we get an SBAF fund together to buy this from you at a discount and let @LetMeBeFrank destroy it with high-velocity rifle rounds?
     
  14. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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  15. winders

    winders boomer

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    Again, more judgmental hating. Have you actually listened to them in a proper cabinet as full range speakers? Or are you going by specs only?
     
  16. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    How about going by physics? F=ma.
    And with 15" woofer will beam above like 900hz ish...
     
  17. winders

    winders boomer

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    So no, you have not listened them. That is all I need to know.

    I am not saying that do sound good or don’t sound good. I can’t because I have not listened to them.
     
  18. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Ok now you’re just being belligerent and contrarian yourself. I’m typically the first one to say “don’t knock it till you’ve heard it” but like @spwath said, we’re talking about physics here. You can clearly understand and look at the specs to determine what the outcome is likely to be here, and it’s not good.

    This is not like measuring a DAC or an amp - this is a piston moving air with measurements that that can be pretty clearly correlated with what it will sound like in most significant aspects. A driver this size will have no chance of making decent high frequencies, just like a like an oversized 2 inch tweeter would have no chance of creating anything approaching decent bass no matter how much excursion or how much power you throw at it. I don’t have to hear that to know that it won’t be able to do great bass.
     
  19. LetMeBeFrank

    LetMeBeFrank Won't tell anyone my name is actually Francis

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    I've never driven a Porsche 911 but I can assume based on the specs that it will be faster around a track than a standard pickup truck. I can also assume that same stock 911 will be terrible off-road.
     
  20. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    I think you mean d*Sin(θ)=nλ
     

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