And in lies the problem with listening to music on mid dome 3 ways……IF the playback content was engineered/mixed on a typical 2 way, the engineer likely wasn’t able to hear and correct much out of phase stuff…….the overlap behavior of the monitor being so chaotic in the crossover region. Now play that back through a pokey midrange?…..uh oh…..not good.
This is often the dilemma when evaluating speakers from measurements and sight assisted listening. You’ll often hear it and I believe it was spoken here somewhere……….measured good but sounds off.
Yes, maybe best to have more than one set of speakers, so that compromised recordings can be appreciated in less discerning ways.
The trick as a music lover and speaker building hobbyist is to be able to discern problems with designs under construction when necessary, and then also to turn off the critical discernment when enjoying a recording, because there will usually be some problem that can be "discerned".
I will build a speaker, be satisfied with it for a while, then discover something that can be improved and learn how to improve it. The learning is good, the improving is good, but the being satisfied for a while is a blessing!
Probably best to never insist on perfection in things or in ones' abilities---or maybe it is good to strive for, but also good to let go of when it is time to relax.
For me, the nice thing about a inexpensive project like this, is coming up with something useful and enjoyable; but not being stressed out when it is not perfect---all the while enjoying making it better in whatever way I can.
The trick as a music lover and speaker building hobbyist is to be able to discern problems with designs under construction when necessary, and then also to turn off the critical discernment when enjoying a recording, because there will usually be some problem that can be "discerned".
I will build a speaker, be satisfied with it for a while, then discover something that can be improved and learn how to improve it. The learning is good, the improving is good, but the being satisfied for a while is a blessing!
Probably best to never insist on perfection in things or in ones' abilities---or maybe it is good to strive for, but also good to let go of when it is time to relax.
For me, the nice thing about a inexpensive project like this, is coming up with something useful and enjoyable; but not being stressed out when it is not perfect---all the while enjoying making it better in whatever way I can.
Hi profiguy, is the white foam donut in the picture the stock dampening material? I wonder if wool felt rings/slug would be an appropriate material to add?
I can picture a cone, dome, or inverse torroid (negative center space of a circular cross-section ring) shaped plug that replaces the white foam ring. Possibly stacked circles of wool felt.
Might filling more of the space change the Fs of the driver noticeably?
When I was first returning to the hobby with gusto, I was attracted to the wide-range, single driver approach. In the larger drivers, whizzer cones abound. The whizzer has a poorly damped edge, but it also has a space behind it that interfaces the center of the main cone. Whizzer drivers typically have multiple peaks/valleys through the upper mids and treble. Lightly stuffing the space between the two cones with fiber, or sometimes foam rings, smooths the response somewhat. I am wondering if the whizzer problem has some of the same causes as the pole piece/dome? Do dome tweeters have similar characteristics in this regard? I have noticed that many dome mids do have a bit of a "saddle" in the response, but most not to the degree of the DMB-A.
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@howardg The pictured dampening is stock, as delivered. Its a delicate balance of avoiding over-doing it. You need some exposed air volume for acceptable lower mid output. The main goal is to break up the primary radial standing wave across the dome inner diameter.
The open pole piece needs a little more treatment with some light combed merino or lambs wool. I'd use enough to loosely fill up the pole piece cavity up to the dampening ring. No more than that. It will moderately drop the Qts and lowee Fs a little. You want to aim for a Qts around 0.7
The open pole piece needs a little more treatment with some light combed merino or lambs wool. I'd use enough to loosely fill up the pole piece cavity up to the dampening ring. No more than that. It will moderately drop the Qts and lowee Fs a little. You want to aim for a Qts around 0.7