Visaton W170S and tweeter

[Mayuri]

I have a pair of Visaton W170S (4 ohm). I figured that for the Christmas holidays, I should start a new project with these and a something for the upper end, perhaps the Peerless 2" full range. The crossover could be something like 500 Hz. I was thinking of doing a 30l bass reflex enclosure for the bass (like the Visaton webpage suggests), and sealed enclosure for the Peerless, separated from eachother but in the same speaker box nevertheless.

I haven't got much experience designing speakers so help is much appreciated

[PeteMcK]

looks to be good beginners project, 30L tuned to ~40Hz, although I'd be inclined to crossover lower, say 300Hz, and overlap the crossover for BSC, i.e. use 1st order xover but make the crossover point higher for the woofer... this will depend on the cabinet width, but will ultimately be a tweaking choice.
I'm not sure how accurate the published specs of Visaton drivers are, but should get you in the ballpark - you may have to tweak the box tuning, measure the drivers if you can... have fun...

[Mayuri]

Seems reasonable. I am mostly concerned if the two elements even can be put together without the project failing hard. Thanks for the advice, I might get building soon after christmas. If anyone has input to my project, please say so, every advice is appreciated.

[mondogenerator]

Originally Posted by PeteMcK

looks to be good beginners project, 30L tuned to ~40Hz, although I'd be inclined to crossover lower, say 300Hz, and overlap the crossover for BSC, i.e. use 1st order xover but make the crossover point higher for the woofer... this will depend on the cabinet width, but will ultimately be a tweaking choice.
I'm not sure how accurate the published specs of Visaton drivers are, but should get you in the ballpark - you may have to tweak the box tuning, measure the drivers if you can... have fun...

Im building with some visaton drivers at the moment and i have found that the in the majority the TS specs are within about 5% except Vas which in my case was about 7-10% lower than published. This being said, the summed effect of the variations ferm specs did little or nothing at ball to change the finished alignment, and F3 only changed a couple of Hz at the most. So in short, i wouldnt be too concerned about this. Either way, i have noticed they update them fairly often, or have updated them about twice since i bought the drivers and they are now much closer to what i have measured/calculated.

I have recently looked at the w170s and indeed w130s for a 'budget system for a friend. Whilst i dont think they come close to the 'HI end' drivers visaton offer, i believe that the smooth breakup of these drivers is ideally suited to a beginner project; either conventional 2 way or bass and FR idea you are considering. In short i dont think you can go far wrong with those drivers, provided you can find a 2" FR that meets the performance of the w170. In terms of effeciency and decent power handling, considering a 1st order slope will still pass a fair amount of LF to the FR driver. As Pete says using an overlapping Xover(or maybe even asymetric?) to provide some BSC to the project would be useful. personally i would probably use 1st order LP for the w170, and a 2nd order HP for the FR driver. I think im right in saying the difference in phase using either type of xover will be small anyway, just one more cap in signal path would be the disadvantage. better power handling and control of the FR would be the benefit. (corrections if not Pete )

I have nothing but good words for the AL130 and AL200 bass drivers, although it may pay you to look at the 8 Ohm version, the w170s 8, unless you NEED a 4 Ohm system.

Good luck, im sure the visatons wont disappoint.

EDIT: ok i see the peerless is 4 Ohm... FR looks good, the only worrying thing is no Xmax is stated, not that it is of ultimate inportance, but it is worth considering if you intend on playing loud, even WITH a HP filter at 200Hz

[mjf]

Originally Posted by Mayuri

Seems reasonable. I am mostly concerned if the two elements even can be put together without the project failing hard. Thanks for the advice, I might get building soon after christmas. If anyone has input to my project, please say so, every advice is appreciated.

hello.
i think you will not fail hard..............there are boxes with the w170 and a fullrange,here is an example
Visaton - Lautsprecher und Zubehör, Loudspeakers and Accessories
you must not build the w170 into the side wall or make a small baffle.......but you can do if you like that.
greetings

[Mayuri]

Thanks for the informative post, 1st order LP for the W170 and 2nd order HP for the Peerless 2" FR sounds like a good choice. The thing is, I already own the 4 ohm elements, so I'm not too keen on ordering another pair. Would the 8 ohm version really be worth ordering a new pair?

[PeteMcK]

I'd use what you've got, actually I think the 4 ohm version will give you a bit more control over BSC & bass level...
(& a smaller inductor) - have a fun Xmas...

[Mayuri]

Thanks for the posts everyone, and Merry Christmas!

The current plan is a 30l bassreflex for the Visaton, a small sealed enclosure for the Peerless, and the crossover as PeteMcK and mondogenerator suggested. I'll get building soon, and post pics and listening experiences when they are ready.

[Mayuri]

Sorry for the double post, but I'm bumping this for a question. Minding the budget, how much worse is the result if I do a 1st order HP for the full range? Big inductors are damn expensive

[chris661]

I've done a project similar to this, went well.

I used a pair of W130S per side. 1st order at 300Hz. Used a FRS8M, 2nd order at 300Hz. I'd advise the FR's XO to be 3rd order - at higher volumes, I can see the excursion.

Edit - how many amps you got - you could do an active XO - much cheaper. IMO, go for it - I did and wasn't disappointed.

Chris