Overnight Sensations HiVi B4N woofer upgrade

Jump to Latest
R

Richard_James

Member
Joined 2017
#1
I got an incomplete overnight sensations MT kit.
Some components are missing. Resistors, capacitors and woofers.

I found parts that are missing.

They use hivi b4n 8ohm midbass.

https://www.parts-express.com/HiVi-...zMlouQP7fe8nNGgaNVLjoCqM67wWMWcBoCSH4QAvD_BwE


What will be an upgrade to this driver that will work with cross overs (need to find diagram for overnight sensations). 4-5" midbass.
What thiel parameters do they use when designing a cross over. Is matching 8ohm impedance and sensitivity values sufficient to search for a compatible driver?

Resistors are 6 and 10 ohm. But they use white ceramic resistors.. will wire wound mills be an improvement?

This is what's supposed to be in a kit
https://www.parts-express.com/Dayto...recision-Audio-Grade-Resisto-004-6?quantity=1


Also capacitors are Dayton audio but 5% accuracy.

I think Dayton has polypropylene 1% accurate capacitors
 
#3
I didn't buy from parts express. Random acquisition from Craigslist for 15$(tweeters, induction coils, boxes, terminals, ports, roll of 18ga copper wire which didn't come with a kit). I knew that components were missing.. good deal still

Can order original woofers b4n.

But wanted to make better speakers. Maybe use m5n? I will build sealed boxes. Don't like ports.

Hivi m5n is very similar. 5" version of b4n. F3 is 80hz.
Sealed volume recommended is .15 cubic feet same as b4n.
Overnight sensations ported internal volume is about .2 cubic feet.

M5n has has smaller 2.7mm xmax. B4n is 3.2mm. less distortion with less motion
 
#4
Last edited:
#5
My brother has built several sets of Overnight Sensations. In my opinion it is a really great speaker for the price. To get this kind of high quality performance from such inexpensive components, the designer has to juggle and balance many attributes. I doubt, very much doubt, you can make an improvement by swapping out the woofer. To do so, you would need to re-engineer the entire speaker system.
 
#6
Yes I know. But even in such design designers make compromises or zoom Into 90% market . 90% wants lots of bass. So must design ported speaker.

I have never heard ported speakers that didn't have a hint of an air pump machine. They all have the port noise just depends on what volume level.

Maybe there is a sealed overnight sensations version approved by paul carmody?

My intention was to bump up the bass response by using bigger driver and use smaller box. .15cu feet. Drivers seem to have very similar parameters. But maybe there is something that I am missing. Besides impedance, sensitivity maybe Qes need to match? Those are the only values that differ significantly(.37 vs .63)Basically would like to replace with a bigger driver so that cross overs wouldn't even notice it's a different driver . Most drivers I looked at are for under .15 cubic feet volumes sealed
 
Last edited:
#8
Richard_James said:
Yes I know. But even in such design designers make compromises or zoom Into 90% market . 90% wants lots of bass. So must design ported speaker.
Click to expand...
This might be true for commercial speakers but not DIY. Paul designs the speaker to his own tastes. If it is appealing for a Parts Expres, Meniscus, etc. to sell the components as a kit that is up to them. I'm sure they get his permission, but I doubt if he makes any money on the kits (and if he does it is only a token amount).

If you want a bigger woofer, you will almost surely need a bigger cabinet. There are so many good DIY designs out there, just go with a different design - it will be much better than dropping a different woofer into a crossover meant for something else. Then sell on Craigslist or diyaudio classified whatever you have that you don't need.

If you like the M5N, look at Paul's Swope TM which were meant for surround duty and are sealed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom