lol
I bought 4 off 50 watt RMS Fane speakers for a disco.
From day 1 they were used at pretty much full volume and they sounded great and were very loud.
I sold the disco on after 5 years of use and they sounded as good after 5 years as they did when they were new.
Your post is completely unrelated to the thread topic. And besides, disco's are partly responsible for my hearing damage. I'm sure most of us here could care less about these kinds of SPL's in our old age.
jeff
Regardless of whether you believe it or not, it's prudent to follow the manufacturers recommendations. MA drivers are not "pro audio" and shouldn't be treated as such. It's pretty simple really.
jeff
Lemonfuzzy, I see you already bought the drivers. I would've recommended some cheaper alternatives, such as the Vifa TC9 ($11). Despite their cheap price, they have superior performance to most of the Mark Audio drivers. Vifa does a good job of providing accurate, repeatable measurements of their drivers too. The Mark Audio published measurements have been proven to be suspect time and again on these forums and elsewhere. In my opinion, there are several better drivers out there that don't cost as much, and don't come with all the hype.
With the TC9, you would probably need some support in the bass, maybe a subwoofer crossed at 100 Hz or so. Don't the let the cheap price of the little TC9 fool you. Vifa did an excellent job in the design, it even has a copper shorting ring to reduce distortion, something found in premium lines from Scanspeak and Vifa.
Good luck with your build. I'd only ask you to keep your ears open and don't get taken in with all the marketing that is being bombarded at you.
With the TC9, you would probably need some support in the bass, maybe a subwoofer crossed at 100 Hz or so. Don't the let the cheap price of the little TC9 fool you. Vifa did an excellent job in the design, it even has a copper shorting ring to reduce distortion, something found in premium lines from Scanspeak and Vifa.
Good luck with your build. I'd only ask you to keep your ears open and don't get taken in with all the marketing that is being bombarded at you.
I would agree.
What do you mean by not "pro audio" I was under the impression these were very high quality? I'm hoping this is just terminology im not familiar with.
Sorry, I should have said PA Speakers.😀 You know when you go to a rock concert, and there are huge banks of speakers playing at 120 decibels. Those are what I mean as "pro audio", maybe it's the wrong terminology.
jeff
Actually, some of us here like to occasionally listen at loud levels for short periods of time, or the occasional boom/thump in a movie.
Nigel isn't completely off bass.
I'm used to double 15+horn.
I'm hoping 12" total cone SD crossed at 200hz would do chest thumping volumes and the full range driver magic.
The mark audios are certainly cutting edge, and I bet for them, there is something about break in.
I know pa drivers have suspensions usually built for many watts, and usually need many hours to sound their best.
People say that about lowthers.
For a newbie that likes bass, I'd recommend a 12" full range, plus sub.
And it can do "girl and guitar" music well, just not as good as a smaller tweaked out driver.
Norman
Nigel isn't completely off bass.
I'm used to double 15+horn.
I'm hoping 12" total cone SD crossed at 200hz would do chest thumping volumes and the full range driver magic.
The mark audios are certainly cutting edge, and I bet for them, there is something about break in.
I know pa drivers have suspensions usually built for many watts, and usually need many hours to sound their best.
People say that about lowthers.
For a newbie that likes bass, I'd recommend a 12" full range, plus sub.
And it can do "girl and guitar" music well, just not as good as a smaller tweaked out driver.
Norman
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Tough break reading this now haha!
I might get a pair of these and build a set of pencils down the road as office speakers.
I will be doing measurements etc on these alpair 10p drivers and i know who to go chasing if im getting rubbish!
however alot of people seem to be really happy with them, and i am honestly only interested in my own personal subjective experience. if i enjoy the sound and the drivers last the test of time. then i will have no real debate.
thanks for the response.
For now i really only want single driver full range speakers as i cannot afford to start playing with subs etc, and want to avoid crossovers etc.
One day when i DIY monoblocks i will put serious thought and research into the entire system.
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Luke,
Look forward to updates on the build. And once you have your system set up and sounding right (to you), some measurements too. 🙂
Look forward to updates on the build. And once you have your system set up and sounding right (to you), some measurements too. 🙂
ahh the old Pa drivers are not "audiophile quality" philosophy. i guess all the people who use pro audio compression drivers like Altec and JBL or 15 and 18 pro audio low frequency drivers for there home theatres and such are all just wrong...
Where in this thread did anybody state pro audio drivers are not / cannot be 'audiophile quality' (whatever that is supposed to mean)?
Of course, if you think that the design of, for example, a woofer intended for the pro-audio market is exactly analogous to that of all other drivers and that they should all be handled in exactly the same way, sensible discourse is impossible.
Of course, if you think that the design of, for example, a woofer intended for the pro-audio market is exactly analogous to that of all other drivers and that they should all be handled in exactly the same way, sensible discourse is impossible.
sorry that stems from a personal sensitivity that is the result of encountering a prejudice against Pa/pro audio stuff.
vinyl kid's reference to 120db concert sound was where i thought a slag was being made.
if a driver needs special care and feeding i personally question it's quality/durability/use in any application.
vinyl kid's reference to 120db concert sound was where i thought a slag was being made.
if a driver needs special care and feeding i personally question it's quality/durability/use in any application.
I don't think there is such a widespread view here. In fairness, a lot of lower & mid-priced pro-audio woofers are designed with SPLs in mind over the qualitative aspects. Which is fine -they are intended for a particular market and they achieve their design goals. We shouldn't delude ourselves they are other than what they are; equally, we shouldn't delude ourselves that pro-audio is the obverse of quality: with the right units (usually, though not invariably, at the higher priced end), they are of a very high standard indeed -Altec being the most obvious historical example, largely due to there being little difference in product terms between home audio and that for public venues at that time. The drivers were frequently the same ones; the divergence really started to happen from the late 1960s onward.
Be that as it may, re the latter, I don't entirely agree. It depends on circumstance / how 'special care' is to be defined etc. Without that, a blanket categorisation is as inaccurate as claims that pro-audio is synonymous with low quality. Mechanical engineering doesn't work that way. Would that it did, life would be a lot easier. 😉
Be that as it may, re the latter, I don't entirely agree. It depends on circumstance / how 'special care' is to be defined etc. Without that, a blanket categorisation is as inaccurate as claims that pro-audio is synonymous with low quality. Mechanical engineering doesn't work that way. Would that it did, life would be a lot easier. 😉
The Fanes I used for a disco sounded amazing.
The same Fanes were often used in guitar 4 by 12 cabinets.
They can go for very high prices now.
There is a set of 4 on ebay for around £600.
There tends to be a lot of snobbery around hi fi which tends to lead to a lot of BS concerning breaking in electronics and speakers.
For gods sake a speaker goes in and out, surely just using it will break in the surround ?
I have been in audio for 40 years and have never broken in electronics or a speaker and have never had any problems.
The same Fanes were often used in guitar 4 by 12 cabinets.
They can go for very high prices now.
There is a set of 4 on ebay for around £600.
There tends to be a lot of snobbery around hi fi which tends to lead to a lot of BS concerning breaking in electronics and speakers.
For gods sake a speaker goes in and out, surely just using it will break in the surround ?
I have been in audio for 40 years and have never broken in electronics or a speaker and have never had any problems.
Just so.
Congratulations, and I'm genuinely pleased for you Nigel, but with respect that does not automatically mean your personal experiences are universally applicable.
Yes, using it does break in the surround & other suspension components. Depending on the driver, there are other components, notably the cone however, which can alter, more or less subtly. Why people get so hot under the collar at the suggestion that a graduated approach to running drivers for the first few hours can be sensible, rather than giving them a damn good spanking right out of the box, is mysterious. However, driver break-in has been repeatedly discussed at tedious length in several other threads recently and is irrelevant to the OP's question / thread, so we should perhaps leave it there.
Congratulations, and I'm genuinely pleased for you Nigel, but with respect that does not automatically mean your personal experiences are universally applicable.
Yes, using it does break in the surround & other suspension components. Depending on the driver, there are other components, notably the cone however, which can alter, more or less subtly. Why people get so hot under the collar at the suggestion that a graduated approach to running drivers for the first few hours can be sensible, rather than giving them a damn good spanking right out of the box, is mysterious. However, driver break-in has been repeatedly discussed at tedious length in several other threads recently and is irrelevant to the OP's question / thread, so we should perhaps leave it there.
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nigel +1
and there' a lot of over priced "hi end" stuff that just doesn't cut the mustard in my books.
quality transcends categorization.
if it doesn't do what it's supposed to right outta the shipping box what do you really have?
i'd be calling my quality control manager out to answer for failing to assure my customers get what they think they're paying for.
and there' a lot of over priced "hi end" stuff that just doesn't cut the mustard in my books.
quality transcends categorization.
if it doesn't do what it's supposed to right outta the shipping box what do you really have?
i'd be calling my quality control manager out to answer for failing to assure my customers get what they think they're paying for.
Just for the record, I'm not slagging PA/Pro audio in any way.
The OP asked a specific question regarding the drivers he's bought, and if the required break-in is followed, long term durability isn't going to be an issue AFAIK. They aren't designed to take 100's of watts thou.
jeff
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