Ok, now that's got your attention I'd like a bit of advice. Ive just bought a pair of 18w 8542-00 from ebay. The foams were shot, so I replaced them and I'm now trying to think of what to do with them.
For a 2-way speaker these drivers would have to go in a ported box to get some bass out of them. As I said, I don't like ported speakers, so (a) I don't know anything about them (I didn't read that section of my Loudspeaker Design Cookbook) and (b) I don't like the sound of ported speakers.
Could someone who thinks that ported speakers can be made to sound as good as sealed, design me a ported box that will sound like a sealed. I know the roll-off rate will be different but what I mean is, I don't like that slow, boomy, one-note bass you often get from ported speakers. I want something clean and tight, if possible.
If possible I'd like to put the ports in the sides like the Royd Minstrel.
EDIT:
I'd also like to make them a floorstander because I can't be bothered with stands.
For a 2-way speaker these drivers would have to go in a ported box to get some bass out of them. As I said, I don't like ported speakers, so (a) I don't know anything about them (I didn't read that section of my Loudspeaker Design Cookbook) and (b) I don't like the sound of ported speakers.
Could someone who thinks that ported speakers can be made to sound as good as sealed, design me a ported box that will sound like a sealed. I know the roll-off rate will be different but what I mean is, I don't like that slow, boomy, one-note bass you often get from ported speakers. I want something clean and tight, if possible.
If possible I'd like to put the ports in the sides like the Royd Minstrel.
EDIT:
I'd also like to make them a floorstander because I can't be bothered with stands.
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Steen Duelund liked closed box followed by aperiodic using steep perfect slopes on crossover phase aligned. Bud Fried was very critical of reflex, saying it sounded like mush or a "Boom Box". He preferred Transmission line followed by aperiodic and always with a series filter.
I'd think a sort of transmission line might be the best you can do with Scanspeak 18W/8542-00 Qts 0.23 driver. And here it is: Studio-101 🙂
I'd think a sort of transmission line might be the best you can do with Scanspeak 18W/8542-00 Qts 0.23 driver. And here it is: Studio-101 🙂
This speaker probably does not suffer from what you do not like about ports, uses a small woofer approaching yours in size and has a side port. I believe it uses a significantly longer port than would be suggested as optimum by a design program to get a response somewhere between that of a standard ported and a sealed design. However it is a 3 way design and so does not suffer from significant energy in the cabinet driving the resonance of that long side port.
I thought transmission line speakers were supposed to be even slooower sounding than ported? Everything I've read on hifi forums suggest they are.
Yes, I've heard ATC are supposed to produce the least ported sounding ported speakers - but I need someone to design the box and port dimensions for me.
There's no such thing as "slow bass", and the bass from a TL is just as fast as in any other type of box design. Regardless of the type of bass enclosure, it has to be designed and implemented properly to perform properly.
Paul
Paul
Sorry, I should have said 'subjectively slow bass'. If you think you can design me a transmission line box that sounds as fast as a good sealed design then please do. I'll build it and report back.
Now i have heard it all ... 🙂
When the term slow bass is used its not just a description of the bass only, but the speaker as a whole, slow bass means the bass driver and its output sounds elongated and seperate from the rest of the speaker system ...
TL 's do that ....
When the term slow bass is used its not just a description of the bass only, but the speaker as a whole, slow bass means the bass driver and its output sounds elongated and seperate from the rest of the speaker system ...
TL 's do that ....
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No I don't have a subwoofer.
I only want to build them for a bit of fun. If they don't work out that great it wont be a big deal because I'm happy with my current speakers.
I suppose I could use it as a midrange for a 3-way, but I'd rather just build a 2-way. My current speakers are a 2-way with an 8" woofer and a waveguide tweeter in a sealed box, with a Box Q of 0.85.
I did own the Proac Studio 100 in the past and liked their sound but found the bass a bit sloppy. I lightly stuffed the ports and they were much better.
IIRC, someone did a Proac clone based on physical inspection and it had NO box bracing at all. The walls were damped with bitumen. I heard a pair, they had a little bloat that may have been from cabinet talk or room placement, but otherwise the mids and highs sounded clean.
If you want a design, first you should measure parameters. Refoaming shouldn't change them much, but there is no guarantee they were on spec to begin with. Any small design can be made to work in a floorstander by making an empty chamber below the cabinet - which makes a good place to put crossover components. 😉
Here is a box based on your linked spec sheet (you can ignore the last two pages). This would probably sound lean unless you had it too close to a wall or corner.
If you want a design, first you should measure parameters. Refoaming shouldn't change them much, but there is no guarantee they were on spec to begin with. Any small design can be made to work in a floorstander by making an empty chamber below the cabinet - which makes a good place to put crossover components. 😉
Here is a box based on your linked spec sheet (you can ignore the last two pages). This would probably sound lean unless you had it too close to a wall or corner.
You don't show a value for Vas.
I varied Vas to make the other parameters (mass, Bl, etc...) match the original spec and I got a Vas of around 21 Liters.
Assuming that is about what you get when you actually measure Vas, performance in the box will be almost identical to the one with manufacturer spec. Cms changes (increase in Fs and decrease in Vas - or vice versa) don't always affect box design as much as you might think. The signal level at which the parameters are measured also makes a big difference in measured parameters.
I am not abig fan of typical vented speakers either. But if is possibleto design one that does not suffer from the stereotypical flaws you (and i) do not like.
I stick to an alignment where the 1st derivative of the modeled response does not cross 0 more than once, and i use high aspect ratio slot vents that add some R to the vent equation, making the box more tolerent to dynamic shifts of T/S parameters.
dave
I stick to an alignment where the 1st derivative of the modeled response does not cross 0 more than once, and i use high aspect ratio slot vents that add some R to the vent equation, making the box more tolerent to dynamic shifts of T/S parameters.
dave
most ported I have heard did not play much bass really
best vented I have heard is an early Cerwin Vega S2
a really great speaker, if you are lucky to find a good one
just make sure to feed it with powerful amps
sounds horrible with weak amplification
best vented I have heard is an early Cerwin Vega S2
a really great speaker, if you are lucky to find a good one
just make sure to feed it with powerful amps
sounds horrible with weak amplification
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