My 1/4 wave 8" pioneer Project

Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.
In the middle 90's I built a pair of voigt speakers out of scrap lumber and some audio vox 4" car speakers. The sound surprised me.
Then I built these using a radio shack 1134B speaker with the plan upgrading to the pioneer bu speakers.
Finally bought a pair. Since these cabinets were in storage I sanded the old walnut stain off the birch plywood with 220 and applied a really light coat of maple stain.
Outside dimensions are 10 1/2 inches wide, 12 inches deep and 49 1/2 inches high. The ports inside dimensions are 9" wide 4" deep. Speaker is 40" to the center. The inside baffle is covered with 1/4" felt and the cabinet is stuffed with acoustic stuff 1/2 way down the pipe.
I added the tweeter since I am a 55 year old bass player. It is has a 2.2 uf cap. All you hear out of it is hi hat cymbals. I'll let the wife decide if it stays or gets disconnected since she has better hearing.

On whizzer cones I like to add some acoustic stuff behind the whizzer.
It really cleans up their sound.
5 grains seems to work fine for these. (grains not grams)

I listened to these out in the garage for 6 hours last night. They were 4 feet apart and I was 5 feet away.
The bass is phenomenal. Really low and massive tone. You hear each drum and every bass notes. Midrange is clear and well defined as are the highs.

Sound stage was clear and well defined. at .3 watts these sound good, at 3 watts they come alive and at 10 watts at that distance it is comfortable concert level.
Really good sounding speakers.
 

Attachments

  • big1.JPG
    big1.JPG
    612.5 KB · Views: 383
  • big2.JPG
    big2.JPG
    601.9 KB · Views: 356
On whizzer cones I like to add some acoustic stuff behind the whizzer.
It really cleans up their sound.
5 grains seems to work fine for these. (grains not grams)

Anen to that! I use 4 of the Pioneers for HT (with a 15" sub), and found that a bit of poly fluff behind the whizzers made a huge difference. It didn't seem to have so dramatic an effect on the other full rangers I use, but it's really a good tweak for the Pioneers.

Bill
 
In the middle 90's I built a pair of voigt speakers out of scrap lumber and some audio vox 4" car speakers. The sound surprised me.
Ehy ! Me too !
I used 7" Pioneer, then Goldsound ( same as Pioneer B0Fu ) and now a Vifa 8";
namely: speakers from the '70s, early and late '80s.
Still "retouching" but near to the end
:scratch:
There's always a kind of speaker sitting in my room that I can use to have a fair and significative example or reference.
 
Anen to that! I use 4 of the Pioneers for HT (with a 15" sub), and found that a bit of poly fluff behind the whizzers made a huge difference. It didn't seem to have so dramatic an effect on the other full rangers I use, but it's really a good tweak for the Pioneers.

Bill

Nice to hear someone has discovered that, it made a huge difference on the radio shack 1134B speakers when they were in those boxes.
My "theory" is the 2 cones are cancelling/distorting the waves between them and the acoustic fluff eliminates that.
 
nice tweeters

they are just Boston Acoustics 19mm tweets, they fit in the 2" hole.
I had better domes but that would have involved making the hole bigger.
These seem to work fine with a 2.2uf film cap. Using a 2" cardboard tube about 3 feet long all that is coming out of them is hi hat and crash cymbals which the pioneers do not seem to produce the full spectrum of those notes.

I draped some towels over them and while I could live without the tweeters the wife preferred them so they stay.
 
They look nice. :)

Thanks but just the fronts look nice.
Garnet sand paper, while pricey does a wonderful sanding job.

The sides have some nasty scratches from being in multiple moves and back when I built them I only had a 100 dollar table saw and a 2x4 foot work bench.

Now I can actually cut a full sheet without scratching the wood beyond repair.
I also put cardboard down on my work surfaces and I built a vacuum system to hold lumber to the work table while sanding. No more clamp marks.
 
The B20s were terrific values and great drivers. I wish I bought more. My son listens to them daily on open baffles plus helper tweeter and Alpha 15s for bass. They work great in sealed and ported boxes. For the money, there may not have been a better driver that can do all it can do. Non fatiguing, mellow sound. Enjoy! They look great too.

Have you compared them to the GR (supposed) replacements ?
 
Yes, the GRS has more highs. But it also has less lows. I think I became quite fond of the B20 plus a piezo and it became a reference for me of some kind as an un fatiguing, mellow sound. Since getting into open baffle (I am enjoying an ob system as I type) I am curious about how the GRS sounds on an OB with bass help (for me that's an Alpha 15 in an H-frame - which doubles as a stand). The B20 (with helper tweeter) does very well in this regard. Perhaps the GRS works well on ob? In a box (sealed or ported) it never satisfied as the B20 did.
 
Yes, the GRS has more highs. But it also has less lows. I think I became quite fond of the B20 plus a piezo and it became a reference for me of some kind as an un fatiguing, mellow sound. Since getting into open baffle (I am enjoying an ob system as I type) I am curious about how the GRS sounds on an OB with bass help (for me that's an Alpha 15 in an H-frame - which doubles as a stand). The B20 (with helper tweeter) does very well in this regard. Perhaps the GRS works well on ob? In a box (sealed or ported) it never satisfied as the B20 did.
Hmmm ..... Thanks ....
Maybe I'll try the GR's. One man's poison is another man's elixir :)
 
Thanks GM. The B20 sims beautifully. The GRS doesn't know what to do with itself. The GRS also sounded garbled. I compared them in the same 1.3 cf sealed box. I haven't heard it in a while. Recently I revisited a pair of Fostex 168z and wasn't very happy with their sound. A few years ago I thought they were excellent. Different room, different cabinet, different year. Too many variables to list.
 
Last edited:
looks like the GRS need to be in a smaller box.
I have never been a fan of goldwood. I bought a few pairs of their tweeters and burned 1/2 of them up really quick. 50watts had to be a misprint because they didn't last 20 minutes at 20 watts.
I bought one of their 10" bass woofers and that was a total waste of 50 bucks back in the 90's. My hartke 3500 cooked it at 4
 
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.