Advice sought on 3" driver for this enclosure

[Taperwood]

I'm looking for a driver that will fit the hole in this enclosure. The inside measures 9.5 cm x 18cm x 20cm, or 3420 cm2, so I figure about 3 liters? with driver and port materials. The port tube is 1.25 inches diamter x 3 inches long.

The driver hole is 7.8 cm. So I can go up to that size. All I know of right now are the 3" Fostex drivers, the FE83E and the FF85K. I think these will fit with a little work as they only require a hole of 7.2 cm.

I want to use these eventually as surrounds in a home theater, so bass extension is not so important. I have four boxes built so far, and I wonder if I can improve on the Yamaha drivers in them now. Although they sound okay and will play into the low-80's, the midrange is lacking compared to my Fostex FE108's, and the tone is all wrong.

Thanks for any help or advice.

Doug

[Stocker]

AuraSound has a couple of 3" drivers with impressive specifications.

[Taperwood]

Thanks Stocker,

I am only familier with Aurasound by name, and then only very little. I will look into them further.

If I'm reading the spec sheet correctly on AuraSound's web site, the hole required is 7.55 cm, which should work without too much trouble. They have a most impressive Xmax. The efficiency is not too good, though.

The price is within my budget (up to $30). How do they compare to Fostex's drivers, sound-wise? Brighter, mellower?

Doug

[Stocker]

Search me. My budget for experimenting with audio kit these days is about blown just by reading this website!

I was going to buy myself a set for some speakers soon, but then the FR125S came out. Now I am back in my quandary.

[Taperwood]

Yep, those pesky quandries. They pop up at the most inopportune times.

Further reading on the Aurasound driver, and based on what others are saying, makes me think it would work just fine. I can't be too picky, given I'm putting them into existing boxes.

Does anyone reading this think either Fostex 3" driver would work in these enclosures? I'm too ignorant still to interpret driver parameters for a given enclosure.

Doug

[Stocker]

Ah, then you need to find out how much "fun" it can be to simulate drivers in software. Folks here seem to like WinISD.

[Taperwood]

He he, that does sound like "fun." We can all "listen" to the squiggly lines.

All kidding aside, I realize that I should start using software to model some of my crazy ideas, but it's so much fun to go out and cut stuff up and put it back together again.

Doug

[Taperwood]

Okay, I downloaded WinISD and started playing around with it. It looks like the Aura NS3-193-8A is the only driver I have looked at that will work in this enclosure. Actually, the plot looks really flat down to 50Hz. According to the program, the Fostex's are completely unsuitable (which makes me want to buy one just to see what it sounds like )

Anyway, I'm going to order the Aura's and see what happens. Thanks for the advice.

Doug

[Timn8ter]

The Aurasound NS3-193-8A is going to sound a bit mellow compared to the Fostex and will roll off around 15k. Since you intend to use them as a surround speaker that shouldn't matter much. It's a fun little driver and pleasant to listen to.

[Taperwood]

Thanks. I hope our paths cross some day. Mellow doesn't bother me too much.

Speaking of a 15K roll off. Some time ago, I downloaded the NCH tone generator in order to test speakers, room nodes, etc. Well, I found out that I can't hear anything above 13k. Zilch. Nada. Tested it on three different speakers, including the Fostex. I'm sure my age has something to do with it (pushing 50), but I was shocked. I didn't think it was that bad.

Doug