I have some test tones which were downloaded from an mp3 source.
The thing I noticed in the lower and lowest freq tests was:
1.) lots of Xmax activity by the driver itself
2.) some tone change as the sound played. The only analog I can think of is a transmission change in a car like the speaker was 'warming up' and changing pitch without changing the frequency on the player setting.
I cannot ascribe it to my hearing. It seems to be a mechanical thing.
The thing I noticed in the lower and lowest freq tests was:
1.) lots of Xmax activity by the driver itself
2.) some tone change as the sound played. The only analog I can think of is a transmission change in a car like the speaker was 'warming up' and changing pitch without changing the frequency on the player setting.
I cannot ascribe it to my hearing. It seems to be a mechanical thing.
IMHO Test tones are valuable for measuring frequency response, impedance maybe 2nds and 3rds, but utterly worthless for listening tests.
At a loud enough levels, sine wave tones will heat voice coils or crossover components in a way that music never will. So the sound changes over time as things get hot.
At a loud enough levels, sine wave tones will heat voice coils or crossover components in a way that music never will. So the sound changes over time as things get hot.
Test tones
Test tones can test for enclosure integrity...some years ago a buddy of mine who was in the DJ business neede his speakers rebuilt,,,we changed drivers for a more balanced (Accurate) response & made a new enclosure. We did an A-B test at thirty hertz with the old against the new...the old set was merely vibrating the enclosure to death complete with air-leaks, resonances, and harmonics.
The old set would not propagate the low frequency,,,the new one on the otherhand set the windows in motion quite well.
____________________________________Rick..........
Test tones can test for enclosure integrity...some years ago a buddy of mine who was in the DJ business neede his speakers rebuilt,,,we changed drivers for a more balanced (Accurate) response & made a new enclosure. We did an A-B test at thirty hertz with the old against the new...the old set was merely vibrating the enclosure to death complete with air-leaks, resonances, and harmonics.
The old set would not propagate the low frequency,,,the new one on the otherhand set the windows in motion quite well.
____________________________________Rick..........
Was the speaker you tested a fullrange? I have heard similar "transmission changes" when I played with a 2 way crossover, which I assumed were phase problems, but I really don't know. I use this freeware signal generator and it did help alot in setting the tweeter level:
http://www.natch.co.uk/downloads/SigJenny/SigJenny.html
http://www.natch.co.uk/downloads/SigJenny/SigJenny.html
In most enclosure designs the air in the chamber acts as a spring against the cone. In a ported design, the enclosure spring disappears below the port resonance frequency. At or below this frequency the woofer cone is un-damped, causing it to flop about kind of like a balloon being flapped by a bicycle wheel.loninappleton said:<snip>
The test tones gave so much excursion I thought the
surround was going to fly off.
The sound is sort of like a balloon being flapped by a bicycle wheel.
I have another test going today with less batting inside and covering just 2 walls.
Don't test woofers blow their cutoff point, it provides no information and can damage the woofer. Do not operate woofers beyond the Xmax rating, either by too low a frequency or too high a drive level.
I am a bit old fashioned in this subject. All i use or have ever used is a signal generator and an old RS analog meter (corrected) and a dual trace O scope.
You can learn/see a great deal by doing a study between the input signal (lower trace) and the recieved signal (upper trace). The ability to actually see the combined signal responses(different frequencies) occuring at the same time is a very good learning tool. However you actually realize more when watching the display and playing music. With a gate system you freeze the display and can actually study the responses.
ron
You can learn/see a great deal by doing a study between the input signal (lower trace) and the recieved signal (upper trace). The ability to actually see the combined signal responses(different frequencies) occuring at the same time is a very good learning tool. However you actually realize more when watching the display and playing music. With a gate system you freeze the display and can actually study the responses.
ron
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