How does a whizzer cone work, and tips on whizzerectomy?

[Racket Scientist]

Not real sure exactly how these work. Is the small cone usually just attached to the voice coil former? Is it just a smaller cone appended on, or is there more to it than that?

Also, any big tips should I decide to do a "whizzerectomy" as how to get the best results or tonal changes to expect?

[counter culture]

There's little more to it than that, but some. The whizzer is attached at the junction of the voice coil and primary cone. You will lose some output in the higher frequencies and the beaming will be modified. The result may well be exaggerated since the primary cones in whizzer design are designed with different flexure characteristics to those without.

I don't recommend you remove the whizzer. It's there for a reason, or it's a very poor driver anyway. Just as opamp manufacturers generally have the advantage over discrete home-brewers, speaker manufacturers have the advantage when it comes to the design of cones. If you don't like the driver modify the output with electronic or acoustic filtering or by the addition of ancillary drivers.

You could sell it on ebay and buy one more to your liking.

[Ed LaFontaine]

The Pioneer BOFU20 8" driver is one that I have done the deed upon. I added a small tweeter in series with a 2 uF cap as the "crossover". I could have left the dust cap in place but removed it as well. I installed a "phase plug" with a ferrous screw in the back and it is held in place by the speaker magnet.

Use your sharpest pen or hobby knife. Set yourself up in a comfortable chair with good light. Your favorite beverage is optional...Remove triangular segments. Work toward the voice coil with patience. Have tweezers or ample fingernails available. The last bits I removed were hardly more than specks. Don't worry too much with removal of the glue line which secured the whizzer and/or dust cap.

HTH

[Racket Scientist]

How does the whizzer produce more highs than the main cone, is it just that with the smaller area and mass it can be more rigid and not deform at the higher frequencies?

I'm assuming that the primary cone in a whizzer design is slanted toward NOT producing as much higher frequency info as one without, relying on the whizzer to do tht job? That actually may work very well for me, as I'm considering using a whizzer cone driver as an electric guitar speaker, where rolling off some highs is okay. I plan to give it a fair shake with the whizzer in place before deciding.

And don't worry - my main drivers in my stereo (Tang Band 1808s) will have their whizzers left unmolested.

[norman bates]

there was a neat thread on whizzers, what and how they do what they do.

whizzer and intelligibility ?

If you are having a problem 1.5khz-3.5khz, removing a whizzer probably won't help you (1808) .

I trimmed a squeek of a pioneer b20's whizzer off. I had to boost 8-16khz a little more, but it did sound a little cleaner, less honky (no phase plug).

Norman

[LineArray]

Hi,

often the whizzer is attached more stiffly to the voice coil former than
the "main cone" is.

Having the coupling between main cone and VC former less stiff and the
mass of the main cone higher than the whizzer, the whole thing can be
seen like a mechanical crossover.

There is a driver from "Pfleiderer" Germany which uses rubber rings between
VC former and main cone for low pass filtering the driving force, while a
dome (dust cap) is attached tightly to the VC former and radiates the
highs.

But even with same glue for whizzer and main cone the whizzer has less
mass and may tend to radiate the higher frequencies predominantly and
hopefully with less beaming than the main cone.

If there is a step in the frequency response at your preferred
listening distance where the whizzer comes in, even "downsizing"
the whizzer step by step might be an option ... and there is more to
learn this way at the cost of just the same single driver.

Kind Regards