Hey everybody,
I'm doing a restomod project on a 1959 Sears consolette. It's cool-looking but the electronics were low-end even when new, particularly the speakers. It has a cabinet that contains a cheap Crescent record changer, a Warwick-built tuner/amp, and a single 6X9 speaker for the left channel. This was connected by a plug-in wire to another 6x9 extension speaker in a box only slightly larger than the driver itself. Both drivers run in free air, with no enclosure or back. I've got good quality electronics in place, and need to do something about the speakers, which sound terrible, more than anything due to the complete lack of output below about 200Hz due to the rear wave cancelation from those drivers flopping around in open air.
I've found that lots of those old console woofers can sound pretty good with an aperiodic subenclosure, but due to the size of these cabinets that's not an option here.
I've considered
What's the thinking, any one of these approaches sound better than the others? Or something I'm not thinking of?
I'm doing a restomod project on a 1959 Sears consolette. It's cool-looking but the electronics were low-end even when new, particularly the speakers. It has a cabinet that contains a cheap Crescent record changer, a Warwick-built tuner/amp, and a single 6X9 speaker for the left channel. This was connected by a plug-in wire to another 6x9 extension speaker in a box only slightly larger than the driver itself. Both drivers run in free air, with no enclosure or back. I've got good quality electronics in place, and need to do something about the speakers, which sound terrible, more than anything due to the complete lack of output below about 200Hz due to the rear wave cancelation from those drivers flopping around in open air.
I've found that lots of those old console woofers can sound pretty good with an aperiodic subenclosure, but due to the size of these cabinets that's not an option here.
I've considered
- building an adapter board to mount a smaller, decent quality driver in place of the 6x9s and use a piece of PVC to make a subenclosure, maybe with a 3.5" or 4" driver, but lots of trial and error here.
- replace the 6x9 with a higher-quality 6x9 car speaker - still not going to have any bass but the rest is probably going to be better.
- Use the adapter board to fit a smaller full-range driver (no subenclosure) and augment the bass with a small onboard woofer in a subenclosure. I have a space about 5x6x12" inside the cabinet that I could use for that, and have access to an amp channel with crossover and DSP to drive it. This is of course more expensive and complicated, and I'm worried the woofer may interfere with the record changer it's going to share the cabinet with, which has a stamped steel chassis and is just sitting on some bedsprings.
What's the thinking, any one of these approaches sound better than the others? Or something I'm not thinking of?
I'm for converting those speaker 'boxes' into sealed enclosures by either closing off their open sides or using a 'subenclosure' as you say.
The important thing would be to provide as much internal enclosure volume as possible.
I you were to calculate that volume, someone may be able to recommend a small, full range driver that would work well within it.
P.S. I wouldn't recommend placing a powerful woofer in the same cabinet as the record changer.
The important thing would be to provide as much internal enclosure volume as possible.
I you were to calculate that volume, someone may be able to recommend a small, full range driver that would work well within it.
P.S. I wouldn't recommend placing a powerful woofer in the same cabinet as the record changer.
I was pretty happy with the 6x9 Quam drivers I bought at Electrotex in 1973. No bass until I put them in a taped up cardboard box with a 1" square hole in the back. I think the boxes were about the size of six kleenex 200 boxes stacked 3 by 2. I was trying to equal the volume in the dashboard of the '59 Ford ranch wagon the trashed 6x9 fomoco speaker came out of.
This is not to say Sears ever spent 2 cents when one cent would make the sale. But 6x9 is premium when compared to the 2" drivers in the RCA stereo my mother bought in 1966 with Top Value stamps (Kroger).
In the budget full range department, Visaton BG17-8 made a decent sound in a good sized back vented cardboard box. 6 1/2" overall with a whizzer cone. I bought it at parts-express. Equivalent results with 13 w instead of 40 w rating came with 6 1/2" whizzer cone drivers salvaged from a Mitsubishi projection screen TV sitting on the curb missing the required recycle sticker for pickup by the city.
This is not to say Sears ever spent 2 cents when one cent would make the sale. But 6x9 is premium when compared to the 2" drivers in the RCA stereo my mother bought in 1966 with Top Value stamps (Kroger).
In the budget full range department, Visaton BG17-8 made a decent sound in a good sized back vented cardboard box. 6 1/2" overall with a whizzer cone. I bought it at parts-express. Equivalent results with 13 w instead of 40 w rating came with 6 1/2" whizzer cone drivers salvaged from a Mitsubishi projection screen TV sitting on the curb missing the required recycle sticker for pickup by the city.
Thanks for the replies everyone. The volumes in the two speakers are quite different (you can see them both in the pic above). The left speaker is inside the main cabinet, which is about 60l total volume, but it's got the changer in there, a lid at the top, and all sorts of open space - it would be possible to seal the speaker off, though not fun, giving it a space of maybe 10l. The other (remote) speaker is more complicated. It's not a square box, it's kind of a wedge profile, imagine a cigar box with one end smashed. The 6X9 fits in there just barely, and the back just clears the tiny alnico magnet on the speaker. The back is made of Masonite and drilled full of holes, as was the fashion at the time. This speaker is designed to fit into the main cabinet in front of the other speaker, for some reason, but I don't think it's going to ever be used that way.
I'm gifting this thing to someone who is not an audiophile, who thinks their Sonos Roam sounds terrific. So the bar isn't terribly high. I've already spent quite a bit on refinishing the cabinet, replacing veneer, restoring the changer, replacing the chassis with a bespoke streamer/dsp/amp setup, and a new front panel so everything lines up and has the right labels. So not super crazy about spending a lot more. Parts Express has some replacement 6x9 dualcones for ten bucks that look like they might fit, but I'll still have to seal them off.
Any opinions on those Tangband "modules" that seem to combine teensy little drivers with a tuned enclosure? Is something like that even...real?
I'm gifting this thing to someone who is not an audiophile, who thinks their Sonos Roam sounds terrific. So the bar isn't terribly high. I've already spent quite a bit on refinishing the cabinet, replacing veneer, restoring the changer, replacing the chassis with a bespoke streamer/dsp/amp setup, and a new front panel so everything lines up and has the right labels. So not super crazy about spending a lot more. Parts Express has some replacement 6x9 dualcones for ten bucks that look like they might fit, but I'll still have to seal them off.
Any opinions on those Tangband "modules" that seem to combine teensy little drivers with a tuned enclosure? Is something like that even...real?
It may seem this way, but unless they don't have a reason to hate it....
I think it's going to be important to err on the side of a warm to neutral response. Something that sounds full but not bloated. Has highs but not harsh.
This means you're going to have to either adjust them yourself, or be prepared to swap in a lot of drivers to find one that sounds OK.
I'd also want to incorporate them into the baffle in a way that doesn't emphasise the baffle step, since that's only going to make your job less easy.
I'm using an AU1401 DSP board so have plenty of flexibility, and agree on the overall character. Warm and slightly thumpy seems to be the signature of those Sonos. It's going to be tough to get thumpy from free-air speakers.
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Well, the remote speaker cabinet is literally just big enough to hold the driver, about 8x10 inches and about 2 inches deep at its deepest point, with no back in practical terms.