VP100Z4 - is it any good? How can I use it?

[Spasticteapot]

Madisound (within 20 miles of my house) has the VP100Z4 quite cheaply. I'm getting ahead of myself, I'll admit (seeing as how I'm still finishing my first set of speakers), but does anyone know if these are any good?

http://www.madisound.com/pdf/audax/VP100Z4.pdf

I've heard that the Audax aerogels have problems with waves bouncing back off of them. Would this not be a problem in open baffle?

Also, the response curve looks like it should cross over nicely with the ApexJR ribbon tweeters. Using a 1st order crossover at about 4-5 khz (in other words, an inductor on the woofer and a cap on the tweeter...I think!) might work okay.

Although this seems stupid (and it is!), the point is pretty simple: Make something for 15$/speaker that outperforms an average Aiwa shelf-system. It need not be glorious or amazing; it just needs to sound okay.

(And open-baffle is a MAJOR plus.)

[angsuman]

I've done something similiar. I've used The HP100s or something they were these paper cone 4 inch audax drivers. They sold out of them and they were $8.50 each. My next madisound order I might order a couple of the VP100s just to play around. My first pair of speakers was those 4 inch audaxes into a 128 cubic inch box and an audax 20mm titanium tweeter. I used 1st order crossovers on both drivers. Obviously it wasn't well designed, but for my first attempt they sounded very good for more or less $40 a pair. The only problem I see with the VP100 is that you need to be able to cross over low enough so that the break-up doesn't affect the sound. Otherwise it seems very nice because of its relatlively low FS and high sensitivity.

[pinkmouse]

You should be fine with an open baffle. The problem with the aerogels is that they are so light, sound bounced of the back of a cabinet can come straight back through the cone. With OBs, the wall should be far enough away that this will not be a problem.

[Spasticteapot]

Cool.


I found the following El Cheapo crossover at PE:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=269-950

This should help keep the distortion low enough that it won't sound like absolute crap.

However, I can't seem to get any bass out of the silly things in an open baffle. (Not a big surprise, I guess. It's an open baffle!)

Can I get away with using a standard OB bass compensation circut with the above crossover? All the boost would be in the woofer output, I would think, so it should work well enough.

(Yes, I know that this won't be very loud. It does not need to be. I just want it to be cheap.)

[pinkmouse]

I would be very suprised if you got anything much below 100Hz out of any of the Audax 4"ers even in a box.

[Spasticteapot]

Originally posted by pinkmouse
I would be very suprised if you got anything much below 100Hz out of any of the Audax 4"ers even in a box.

I don't really expect to. These are intended to be an inexpensive step up from a pair of Aiwas, or maybe just some surrounds.

I was wondering if these would work well with the ApexJr ribbon tweeter, perhaps mounted off-axis with a diffuser. (I have access to casting facilities, and I'm no stranger to lost-wax casting.)