Alpair's aren't woofers

[markaudio]

Hi Guys,
A short post to remind you all that the Alpair 10.2 is not a woofer. I recently received 2 reports (including a video) showing Alpair 10's under high loads.

Please take a look at this Youtube link:

‪DSCI0049.AVI‬‏ - YouTube

In this Youtube video, the drivers are clearly being overdriven. The risk of cone edge deformation is very high. If you're playing your Alpair's like those in this Youtube video, TURN THE VOLUME DOWN. Apart from the physical damage to the drivers, the quality of the musical output will be poor. Distortion and doppler effects will be audible.

Please remember guys, ALL full-rangers are low load drivers, especially those with ultra high efficiencies. Efficient box designs can deliver good quality musical bass without having to murder the drivers.

Cheers

Mark.

[badman]

Hahhahahaha knew that was coming.

If you can regularly see the cone move (except subs, with their ridiculous high short-term displacement demands and assemblies designed for it), you do not have enough speaker, is my rule of thumb.

[markaudio]

Originally Posted by badman

Hahhahahaha knew that was coming.
If you can regularly see the cone move (except subs, with their ridiculous high short-term displacement demands and assemblies designed for it), you do not have enough speaker, is my rule of thumb.

Hi Badman,
You're 100% spot on right. My thanks for you comments. Hoping you'll include good driver care when you publish your project - cheers.

Here's a pic of what happens to the outer edge of a cone when its been over-stressed. Persistent high driving loads risk this type of damage and void the warranty.

Cheers

Mark.

[markaudio]

Hi Guys,
Just received an email requesting clarification on this subject:

YES, ANY MAKE OF FULL-RANGER can suffer damage once its over-loaded.

Thanks
Mark.

[markaudio]

Hi Guys,
Clearly this a topic of much interest. I've just received 2 more emails asking me if woofers similar in size to Alp10's can be driven so hard, (as shown in Youtube video - post No.1)

My advice is to avoid pushing ANY DRIVER (full-ranger, woofer or bass-wide) up to 6" size to the extent shown in the youtube video (post No.1). The only drivers that are likely to stand that level of excursion would be purpose built mini-subs, or a woof with a very specific high-load design specification. Such drivers are more likely to be found in Pro-audio (commercial) environments.

I'll try to make a quick video to illustrate a "typical safe load". Hopefully, this might help guys visualise the safer movement of a full-range cone.

Cheers
Mark.

[tuxedocivic]

That driver looks like it's unloading playing frequencies below it's port tuning. It has more to do with the application and use than just the volume knob. The type of music in that video likely has hard hitting low frequencies.

[markaudio]

Originally Posted by tuxedocivic

That driver looks like it's unloading playing frequencies below it's port tuning. It has more to do with the application and use than just the volume knob. The type of music in that video likely has hard hitting low frequencies.

Hi Tux,
You might be right (hence my comment in post No.1):

"Efficient box designs can deliver good quality musical bass without having to murder the drivers"


Cheers
Mark.

[wupsie]

I'll NEVER do that to my fresh born alpair baby's

[tuxedocivic]

Exactly! Effecient boxes are great, but the user needs to understand where the limit is. The guys in that video obviously don't understand that.

[5th element]

I always roll my eyes at the you tube vids, where people are invariably trying to show something off and usually all that you see/hear is masses of distortion or driver surrounds creasing as the thing tries to move more then it's supposed to. I guess the temptation to 'turn it up' when you're using a small driver is tempting, especially if it sounds great at lower volumes, but please buy/build a sub!