Audio Nirvana Fullrange 8" super alcino plus

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Well, a box does not significantly affect the midrange or HF output per se (until you're chronically undersizing and / or placing reflective surfaces in close proximity to the cone). That isn't how they work.

Assuming vented, minimum 'practical' box size for that driver is about 5.8ft^3, tuned to Fs and then damped out as far as possible to 'taste' per the pioneer's approach. So if I'm reading your dimensions correctly, I make you about 1.8ft^3 short in volume.
 
I love my AN 8" ferrite drivers in my Omega Grande 8R boxes.

My experience: David Dicks treated me fairly and squarely. I also own a EL86 PP amp from AN.

While I'm no expert audiophile, not an EE or tech, don't know all the terms and am not a professional reviewer, commentator, I do know good live music. I compare audio gear to live music. The AN gear produces good sound. My son is a musician and his favorite amp/speaker combination out of the 9 amplifiers I own is the Audio Nirvana gear.

You have to listen to the gear in your listening room with your favorite source. For the price- the AN gear is top of the line.

I'm another happy camper.


plenty of talented people have been banned, it’s not relevant

plenty of folk have found D Dicks good to deal with, including me
 
Well, a box does not significantly affect the midrange or HF output per se (until you're chronically undersizing and / or placing reflective surfaces in close proximity to the cone). That isn't how they work.

Assuming vented, minimum 'practical' box size for that driver is about 5.8ft^3, tuned to Fs and then damped out as far as possible to 'taste' per the pioneer's approach. So if I'm reading your dimensions correctly, I make you about 1.8ft^3 short in volume.

Yes, you are correct. It will be short in volume. My question however is what do you think the sound may be like? Lacking in bass? Distortion? Medium production in bass since the box is not at its full potential?
From my understanding, the bigger the box, the more the bass, to a certain degree.
 
It'll be fine. The bigger difference would be vented vs open back box. You need to hear for yourself to be sure - it's not that folk won't be helpful by telling you the smaller box will emphasize bass slightly at the expense of ultimate extension but they really can't answer your question "should I build it", you just gotta get on with it :D
 
But things are never equal. Anything on line is going to suffer from being convolved with the system driving it, the room they are in, the mic it is recorded with and your room and playback system.

No way you can get anything like a real audion over YouTube.

dave

Going to disagree. No, it isn't ideal but if you listen to enough different samples, including any that you've heard or listened to in-room, then it makes for a useful reference point. As the poster said, it's just not possible/practical to live audition a whole bunch of speakers. Especially with a potential DIY, which has terrible resale value if you make the wrong choice.

In fact, back when I was in my Mark Audio phase I found the Youtube videos to be fairly accurate in highlight the overall presentation of those drivers, including strengths and weaknesses.

Granted this is assuming the use of halfway decent speakers or headphones when watching. Not $5 earbuds.
 
It'll be fine. The bigger difference would be vented vs open back box. You need to hear for yourself to be sure - it's not that folk won't be helpful by telling you the smaller box will emphasize bass slightly at the expense of ultimate extension but they really can't answer your question "should I build it", you just gotta get on with it :D
Very true. And I ask because I don't mind the bass being compromised a little because Im not that big a fan of bass, but I would like SOME bass. And I don't want too much highs. And coming to think about it, David Dick told me the 12" will fit in the following cabinet; 2.8 Series I [SIZE=-1](38.5T x 14.5W x 11.25D)[/SIZE]So this tell me that if I build 32" x 14.5” in front and sides tapering off at an angle to W 11” with a D of 17" I should be more than fine. I may even do 15" wide in front.
 
Going to disagree. No, it isn't ideal but if you listen to enough different samples, including any that you've heard or listened to in-room, then it makes for a useful reference point. As the poster said, it's just not possible/practical to live audition a whole bunch of speakers. Especially with a potential DIY, which has terrible resale value if you make the wrong choice.

In fact, back when I was in my Mark Audio phase I found the Youtube videos to be fairly accurate in highlight the overall presentation of those drivers, including strengths and weaknesses.

Granted this is assuming the use of halfway decent speakers or headphones when watching. Not $5 earbuds.

You are on point.
 
Yes, you are correct. It will be short in volume.

Yes. Very. That 5.8ft^3 was the minimum recommended by the pioneers and technically is itself severely undersized.

My question however is what do you think the sound may be like?

No idea; ultimately only you know how you listen, and your system / room acoustics. I can say that by my criteria it would not be satisfactory, but my criteria are not yours. YMMV as always.

Lacking in bass?

Depends what your tuning frequency is (which you haven't mentioned). Assuming Fb = Fs, yes, but with peaking in the mid & upper bass.

Distortion?

That too; linear distortion; non-linear depends how chronically undersized the box you try to ram them into is.

From my understanding, the bigger the box, the more the bass, to a certain degree.

Not necessarily, but in this case yes, since that driver has little damping and needs a large enclosure to produce much in the way of LF gain in a balanced fashion. Simply stating fact here, no more, but I get the impression you'd rather not hear this sort of thing, so I'll bow out now with my best wishes for your project.
 
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Yes. Very. That 5.8ft^3 was the minimum recommended by the pioneers and technically is itself severely undersized.



No idea; ultimately only you know how you listen, and your system / room acoustics. I can say that by my criteria it would not be satisfactory, but my criteria are not yours. YMMV as always.



Depends what your tuning frequency is (which you haven't mentioned). Assuming Fb = Fs, yes, but with peaking in the mid & upper bass.



That too; linear distortion; non-linear depends how chronically undersized the box you try to ram them into is.



Not necessarily, but in this case yes, since that driver has little damping and needs a large enclosure to produce much in the way of LF gain in a balanced fashion. Simply stating fact here, no more, but I get the impression you'd rather not hear this sort of thing, so I'll bow out now with my best wishes for your project.


Sorry, but I am open to everything. Your answers will help me in understanding what I will face if I do A vs B. So thanks for your advice.
 
frugal-phile™
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Going to disagree. No, it isn't ideal but if you listen to enough different samples, including any that you've heard or listened to in-room, then it makes for a useful reference point. As the poster said, it's just not possible/practical to live audition a whole bunch of speakers. Especially with a potential DIY, which has terrible resale value if you make the wrong choice.

For me, it is very important that a system reproduce (ie not lose) the very small details in the music. The wringer that the music goes thru to get to you via YouTube wipes out all this small stuff, so that makes it useless AFAIC.

dave
 
I can see some interest in viewing & hearing other systems play on YouTube. Fine as far as it goes; one of my favourite videos as it happens is somebody's massive system playing Tanya 'just because', but in the absence of a lot of other data, I certainly wouldn't use it for making any assessments on the relative sound of any setup. I could completely alter the apparent presentation of a given system simply by using a microphone with a different frequency response characteristic. Unless you happen to know exactly what that is and magically alter it back to restore missing (and where appropriate attenuate excesses) output, QED. And that's just one aspect, albeit the major one, of the microphones, never mind anything else.
 
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For me, it is very important that a system reproduce (ie not lose) the very small details in the music. The wringer that the music goes thru to get to you via YouTube wipes out all this small stuff, so that makes it useless AFAIC.

dave

Agreed. $1600 drivers are all about subtlety and nuance, which simply can't be heard in this type of audition process. Personally, I wouldn't gamble more than about 50 bucks on that.

Back in '90s there was an $80 k speaker system that used a mid-bass I could buy locally for $21

GM

As far as reducing enclosure size below what's recommended...

IMHO, part of what GM's post illustrates is that an inexpensive driver used wisely can be far more valuable than an expensive driver used poorly. Already in this thread are some great responses from very intelligent and experienced builders. Why try to push such expensive units past the limits they were designed for if you don't have the technical background to understand what it is you're changing?
 
Agreed. $1600 drivers are all about subtlety and nuance, which simply can't be heard in this type of audition process. Personally, I wouldn't gamble more than about 50 bucks on that.

As far as reducing enclosure size below what's recommended...

IMHO, part of what GM's post illustrates is that an inexpensive driver used wisely can be far more valuable than an expensive driver used poorly. Already in this thread are some great responses from very intelligent and experienced builders. Why try to push such expensive units past the limits they were designed for if you don't have the technical background to understand what it is you're changing?

The reason why I am trying to go with a different box size is because I have some sweet curved side panels that I would like to use which have measurements of 33"T x 17"L. With that being said, these two are constant since I cant make them any bigger.
However, I like the sound of the 12" and that's what I will be getting. But my problem has been solved; I spoke to the Nirvana supplier David and he told me the 12" will fit in the following cabinet; 2.8 Series I (38.5T x 14.5W x 11.25D)So this tell me that if I build 32" x 17"Lx 14.5”W I should be more than fine. I may even do 12" wide and make the box a tad smaller.
I will also have two sets of connections in the back, one for copper wiring and one for steel so that I can test both after I install the driver. I was informed steel gives more highs and copper does more LF. Once I am satisfied with the sound I chose, I'll solider the wires to the driver. What am I looking for? Some bass, but not a lot and some highs, but not a lot. I tend to listen to Jazz.
 
I was informed steel gives more highs and copper does more LF.

sounds like a whole pile of nonesense, boy oh boy!


also, I expect no benefit in getting the AlNiCo over the ferrite other than making the manufacturer richer at your expense - be careful, this hobby is full of BS
 
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sounds like a whole pile of nonesense, boy oh boy!

also, I expect no benefit in getting the AlNiCo over the ferrite other than making the manufacturer richer at your expense - be careful, this hobby is full of BS

My bad... I meant to say the following: There is quite a bit of difference between the two. The pure silver speaker cables sound more extended and clear, while the copper is warmer and richer sounding. Now this is what I read... what do I know. I'm a newbie.

And thank you for looking out. I really appreciate it. And you are correct, the own of common sense audio said with the ferrite, I will get 90% of great music. the Alnico will only provide 5% more better quality. He said only I will know if my paying so much more dollars is worth me getting 5% better sound.
 
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almost a decade ago, Michael Chua posted T-S parameters for his set of cast frame Nirvana Super 12

Audio Nirvana Super 12 Cast Frame measured T/S

here's a sim for a 100 liter low tuned reflex with those specs - perhaps other programs are more suited to reflex than hornresp.

excessive treble on-axis could be tamed with an inductor/resistor baffle step compensation network.



v52aehM.png
 
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