Noob question re: driver orientation

[dbohn]

I have just purchased a pair of ff85wk drivers and I was wondering about orienting the bezels not square but like a diamond with the points or screw holes north south east and west. I feel like this is a stupid question but will that be an issue?

P.s. I've been lurking here for a long time and I have to say thank you to everyone for sharing your wealth of knowledge.

 

[astrojet]

The dustcaps are directional, with a ridge going through the middle. I have read that these ridges should be oriented vertically.

 

[dbohn]

Thank you

 

[planet10]

Yes, the dustcap ridge is intended to be vertical.

dave

 

[luigi]

And if it isn't?

 

[planet10]

We are assuming cohert horizontal dispersion is better than not.

dave

 

[chris661]

Would be interesting to measure - off axis, and then rotate the driver 90 degrees and measure again.

Chris

 

[astrojet]

Perhaps the ridge is also there to push the dust cap resonance to higher frequencies. Who knows if it makes an audible difference. I've listened to ff85wk at my office desk (~1 meter to my ears) for a few years now, both orientations, and I can't hear a difference in radiation pattern / dispersion. BTW, this is a great driver for an office setup.

 

[planet10]

The ridge has a decided effect on the dustcap resonance. The caps on the old FFxx5 series (& F120A/FX120) had some issues that are not in the new caps. This tech was 1st developed for a couple of the special edition drivers (one of which turned out to be a reasl dog (FE138)). There is a small bit of ringing left, a special pattern of dots on the cap mostly kill those.

dave

 

[dbohn]

Thanks Dave

 

[luigi]

Not know about dustcap ridge orientation - nothing about it in the bumph that came with the drivers - I oriented mine with two screws vertical, two horizontal so will need now to fix that. Though doesn't sound like there will be too much of a difference really, as per Astrojet's experience.