Please help me with my W4-1320SBs

[saabracer23]

Hey everyone, I am fairly new here (signed up awhile ago but just recently started signing on). I am the proud owner of 16 TB W4-1320SB bamboo drivers. I had built a pair of line arrays using eight each side running fullrange. I have had no experience building crossovers or filters but am getting the hang of it. The closest thing I have done is an inline cap.

I have been up late many nights trying to figure out what to do with these and get them off of the floor. I went through all of the threads I could find on this driver and saw that Godzilla said he thought that this is one of the best drivers for home theater. Right now there is a member helping me design an mtm using these. Using a third order buttersworth on both the TB and tweeter. My father had a guy at PE design a crossover for him at no charge. Is parts express a good source? Should I go with a dome or ribbon with these? I read that domes are not the best tweeter to go with on these. I figure if I build 7 of these for a 7.1 setup that would leave me two. Is this a smart option or am I taking the wrong road? I also want to (really want to) play with horn loading. I like the looks of the acuhorn. Would that design work with these? What is the best cabinet option for these? There just isn't too much out there on these drivers. I just want a cabinet that will make these guys shine. Thank you in advance for any advice that is given.

Dan

[Godzilla]

Hi Dan!

http://www.zillaspeak.com/BIB-Tangband.asp

Look at the above link for a Bamboo BIB! I don't know anyone whose built it but it's probably a great cabinet option to consider if you have the space.

I would consider two BIBs for the main front speakers and the rest all small ported cabinets for the rears, center, etc.

Or i would consider all the same small ported all around and use a powered subwoofer to fill in the bass. It depends on your floorplan i suppose.

Personally, i prefer these drivers with tweeters crossed over high - above 8khz or higher. PE will design something lower probably in the 2khz range. I'm sure it will sound fine with the PE crossover but they will take you out of *fullrange* territory with their crossover design. This may or may not muck up the midrange... maybe build two crossovers and see... the PE one and another running the Bamboo full out and crossing the same tweeter up high with just a cap (or resistor and cap if you choose the piezo tweeter option).

I also like the cheap piezos with them but you can use just about any tweeter you like. Maybe one of the TB tweeters would be a good match. I bet they would be perfect if you dont like the piezo idea.

Have fun! None are bad options just different depending on your taste. That's just my opinion.

Godzilla

[saabracer23]

Thanks alot for the info. I plan on making a pair of TLs it looks like. In the TLs (and mtms I guess if I run them fullrange with the tweeter) would you suggest a notch filter? If so how do I go about building one? Would you go with a dome or ribbon tweeter (sorry I never have been a really big fan of piezo tweeters)? Also do you know of a good horn design for these? Sorry for all the questions

Thanks again,
Dan

[Andersonix]

[disclaimer: I have only used the TB W3-879S and W3-881SD, but I am impressed, and would really like to hear the bamboo 4inch.]

SAABRacer: What were your impressions of the line array? I assume it was an open baffle? I would love to hear those with a good tweeter playing above 10kHz or so (to mask the TB's relatively rough upper treble above 15kHz?).
I agree the advantage of this driver is being able to (at least on paper) cross over high, maybe even as high as 10k. But I would also not try to get any real bass out of them. As Zaph shows with his distortion measurements for the W3, small drivers produce too much distortion in the bass:
http://www.zaphaudio.com/smalltest/hd.html

But between 100Hz and 15kHz, I'll bet they shine.

[saabracer23]

Hey Tosh, I had them in a open baffle at first for a short time. To be completely honest I do not remember too much except for the clarity and incredible punch they had. I then put them in ported cabinets tuned to about 75Hz. I wasn't too sure if I liked them at first because of their lacking high end. I guess after a little while my ears adjusted to the sound and I really enjoyed listening to them. As soon as I heard my Snells playing then I again realized what they were lacking. Some people really like the laid back high frequencies though so it might be your cup of tea. I think I may have crossed over a tweeter in there if I could do it over again. I hope this answers some questions for you.

Dan