Hi all,
I have new drivers and I wanted to run them up a little to just see whether there were any problems. I've tested for dc resistance but I also connected them to the output of acheap 3 way crossover bought from an electronics shop. They're just sitting on their magnets on the floor - no wood yet because I'm still fixing the saw.
I put a little cd music through them actually (Chris Rea - Road to Hell if you must know !!). The woofers in particular sounded absolutely crap !
Is this normal ? (Yes, they were connected to the woofer filter and yes all 8 of them sounded the same)
It seemed to distort badly and there was absolutely no bass.
When I connect a sig gen to the amp the single frequencies don't seem to be bad...
I really hope they will sound very different in a box !!
Cheers,
I have new drivers and I wanted to run them up a little to just see whether there were any problems. I've tested for dc resistance but I also connected them to the output of acheap 3 way crossover bought from an electronics shop. They're just sitting on their magnets on the floor - no wood yet because I'm still fixing the saw.
I put a little cd music through them actually (Chris Rea - Road to Hell if you must know !!). The woofers in particular sounded absolutely crap !
Is this normal ? (Yes, they were connected to the woofer filter and yes all 8 of them sounded the same)
It seemed to distort badly and there was absolutely no bass.
When I connect a sig gen to the amp the single frequencies don't seem to be bad...
I really hope they will sound very different in a box !!
Cheers,
did you connect all 8 at the same time? 
Make sure you connect them so they give a nice load.
Otherwise yes, you will get no bass. With no baffle, the bass from the back will cancel out the bass at the front as it is out of phase. They also are not run in right? Give them 3 days solid of use then listen again. You can place them face to face and wired out of phase to help reduce the annoyance. Run them through the crossover too so the high-frequencies don't annoy.
Make sure you connect them so they give a nice load.Otherwise yes, you will get no bass. With no baffle, the bass from the back will cancel out the bass at the front as it is out of phase. They also are not run in right? Give them 3 days solid of use then listen again. You can place them face to face and wired out of phase to help reduce the annoyance. Run them through the crossover too so the high-frequencies don't annoy.
Hi guys,
Thanks for the thoughts. I was running them one at a time and was basically trying to see whether I had any duds to send back to the distributor.
I tried to give them some music rather than sine waves to break them in because I thought they would sound terrible if there was a problem - but they sound terrible anyway !!
I think I may be best served at this stage just running them through their respective frequency ranges checking for scraping voice coils and such.
Even so, I really hope they sound better in their boxes - especially the woofers !
Cheers,
Thanks for the thoughts. I was running them one at a time and was basically trying to see whether I had any duds to send back to the distributor.
I tried to give them some music rather than sine waves to break them in because I thought they would sound terrible if there was a problem - but they sound terrible anyway !!
I think I may be best served at this stage just running them through their respective frequency ranges checking for scraping voice coils and such.
Even so, I really hope they sound better in their boxes - especially the woofers !
Cheers,
Hi Tenson,
They are Seas 8 inchers the CA22RNX. I'm powering them up now. Apart from a funny sound down low (say 40 Hz through 100 Hz - a sort of wooshy sound) when I really get some Xmax happening, they are fine. I reckon if all 8 sound the same and do the same things then that's what is meant to happen. I'm new to the game as you can see.
Hi tinitus,
The crossover is a 3 way - a cheapie - on an old integrated amp.
Cheers guys !
They are Seas 8 inchers the CA22RNX. I'm powering them up now. Apart from a funny sound down low (say 40 Hz through 100 Hz - a sort of wooshy sound) when I really get some Xmax happening, they are fine. I reckon if all 8 sound the same and do the same things then that's what is meant to happen. I'm new to the game as you can see.
Hi tinitus,
The crossover is a 3 way - a cheapie - on an old integrated amp.
Cheers guys !
Hey !
I have been sitting the woofers horizontally on a piece of foam but when I lifted them up the noises changed. I've discovered that there is a fair wind (literally) coming out of the back of the speaker from a hole in the centre of the magnet. The wooshy sound is air rushing through the hole - at least this anyway.
Rgds,
I have been sitting the woofers horizontally on a piece of foam but when I lifted them up the noises changed. I've discovered that there is a fair wind (literally) coming out of the back of the speaker from a hole in the centre of the magnet. The wooshy sound is air rushing through the hole - at least this anyway.
Rgds,
Yes of course the bass is missing without an enclosure and yes they will certainly sound better once you make a full speaker system instead of just resting them out in the open.
You could just mount one in a hole the middle of a sheet of cardboard or cardboard box and listen again and you'll get at least a little bass that way.
Don't worry about the whooshing sound coming out of the vent on the back. That will also be reduced once the driver is mounted in an enclosure. Not only will it be reduced, but it will also be harder to hear that reduced whoosh as it will then be occuring inside a box.
You could just mount one in a hole the middle of a sheet of cardboard or cardboard box and listen again and you'll get at least a little bass that way.
Don't worry about the whooshing sound coming out of the vent on the back. That will also be reduced once the driver is mounted in an enclosure. Not only will it be reduced, but it will also be harder to hear that reduced whoosh as it will then be occuring inside a box.
steve_mak said:
Steve Mak,
You are such a n00b, and for that we forgive you.
Dude, you've got the speakers without boxes, sitting on the floor.
Before you complain about the woofers or send them back to the distributor, since when have you ever listened to speakers like that? Think about it.
a) Those speaker drivers have a vented magnet (that "hole in the back of the magnet"), which is a design FEATURE!
Any obstruction to the airflow in that vent will result in distortion flying sky high.
b) The sound wave coming off the back of cone is reflecting off the ground and interfering with the front wave, causing all kinds of unpredictable interference.
It sounds like you're going to be making up your speakers as you go along, and yeah it's gonna sound better than what you're getting now...
BUT I'm sorry to have to say this (no-one else has- too darn polite on this forum), but I hope you're building a speaker from some well thought-out design? Otherwise you're wasting a whole lot of money on some fine drivers.
In the mean time stop cranking them without boxes, you're going to burn the voice cool if you're not careful. I have no idea how much power you're sending them, and whilst "getting some xmax happening" is fun, hitting the excursion limits (any clicking noises?) is NOT a good thing.
You are such a n00b, and for that we forgive you.
Dude, you've got the speakers without boxes, sitting on the floor.
Before you complain about the woofers or send them back to the distributor, since when have you ever listened to speakers like that? Think about it.
a) Those speaker drivers have a vented magnet (that "hole in the back of the magnet"), which is a design FEATURE!
Any obstruction to the airflow in that vent will result in distortion flying sky high.
b) The sound wave coming off the back of cone is reflecting off the ground and interfering with the front wave, causing all kinds of unpredictable interference.
It sounds like you're going to be making up your speakers as you go along, and yeah it's gonna sound better than what you're getting now...
BUT I'm sorry to have to say this (no-one else has- too darn polite on this forum), but I hope you're building a speaker from some well thought-out design? Otherwise you're wasting a whole lot of money on some fine drivers.
In the mean time stop cranking them without boxes, you're going to burn the voice cool if you're not careful. I have no idea how much power you're sending them, and whilst "getting some xmax happening" is fun, hitting the excursion limits (any clicking noises?) is NOT a good thing.
Hey !
I am a noob but you've got to start somewhere !
The idea of giving them a little bit of movement is to free them up a little prior to testing. It has worked to some extent too - they are more responsive already. I've seen elsewhere that these drivers are pretty stiff straight out of the box hence the breaking in process.
No I haven't exceeded Xmax - no clicks.
Yes, having exercised them somewhat I'll now start to test them.
No, I am not working off a plan. I am planning (present, active, continuous) ! If I see a plan and I like it I'll perhaps change my ideas ... I haven't seen any plans with them yet ...
Otherwise I'm just learning as I go.
Rgds,
I am a noob but you've got to start somewhere !
The idea of giving them a little bit of movement is to free them up a little prior to testing. It has worked to some extent too - they are more responsive already. I've seen elsewhere that these drivers are pretty stiff straight out of the box hence the breaking in process.
No I haven't exceeded Xmax - no clicks.
Yes, having exercised them somewhat I'll now start to test them.
No, I am not working off a plan. I am planning (present, active, continuous) ! If I see a plan and I like it I'll perhaps change my ideas ... I haven't seen any plans with them yet ...
Otherwise I'm just learning as I go.
Rgds,
I just stumbled on this thread, and yes, I know it's almost a year old, but I couldn't resist replying. Just hoping it wiil help other newbies in the future.
Man, what you've done here is the equivalent of taking a car, flipping it over on its roof, getting in, and try to evaluate its handling qualities.
I hope you can understand my (sarcastic) analogy, but this is absolutely useless. Your comment: "It seemed to distort badly and there was absolutely no bass." would be the equivalent of saying: The steering wheel felt awfully loose and the car wouldn't turn at all."
PLEASE, do yourself a favor and study basic loudspeaker principles on the web or in books, BEFORE trying to design your own (and waste money on good drivers). You have around 100-400 hours of reading/learning to do before being able to make educated guesses about loudspeaker design.
Note; I don't want to bash you, or anyone else, I just wanted to have a little fun with this analogy. But I'm serious about the studying!
Guy
Man, what you've done here is the equivalent of taking a car, flipping it over on its roof, getting in, and try to evaluate its handling qualities.
I hope you can understand my (sarcastic) analogy, but this is absolutely useless. Your comment: "It seemed to distort badly and there was absolutely no bass." would be the equivalent of saying: The steering wheel felt awfully loose and the car wouldn't turn at all."
PLEASE, do yourself a favor and study basic loudspeaker principles on the web or in books, BEFORE trying to design your own (and waste money on good drivers). You have around 100-400 hours of reading/learning to do before being able to make educated guesses about loudspeaker design.
Note; I don't want to bash you, or anyone else, I just wanted to have a little fun with this analogy. But I'm serious about the studying!
Guy
I think that just by listening to the plain driver, you can get some idea of its quality. Of course, you shouldn't expect it to sound hifi, let alone getting some bass, but especially the midrange can be quite listenable.
If you don't have measuring equipment, listening to the plain driver can be an OK substitute. You can hear more of what the driver does, because you don't hear the box.
You do have to know what to listen to, though.
If you don't have measuring equipment, listening to the plain driver can be an OK substitute. You can hear more of what the driver does, because you don't hear the box.
You do have to know what to listen to, though.
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