Thanks Dave, and so are you!
I do all the spots using a stereomicroscope - even the large ones. The magnification helps with precision and suppressing those age-related tremors. (I learned a few tricks over many years doing microneurosurgery in research).
Attachments
I like my Alpairs 10.3 very much.
Acutually they are in an Halcyon setup.
How much benfits enabeling them would i get 5% ? In what aspects does it help ?
Wfr329
Acutually they are in an Halcyon setup.
How much benfits enabeling them would i get 5% ? In what aspects does it help ?
Wfr329
@wfr329, The EnABL process is a big topic, and you can read many many opinions on other threads, which I suggest you do. I'll say just a few things about it here, from my personal perspective, but realize that we all differ in both our physical hearing AND our listening expectations. So what I value may not please you as much.
The sound of a successfully EnABL'd driver cannot be considered better/worse by some percentage. The process removes some source of usually faint sound that is not contained in the amp signal (speculated to be caused by momentary standing waves within the cone itself). For me the most apparent result is to remove/decrease the sensation that the driver is a point source for sound output. The 'soundstage' can be remarkably improved, taking you toward the perception of "surround sound" without having to wrangle multiple point sources. The system better reproduces the space from the original recording session - to the extent that information is included in the recording. As well, the process can help diminish distracting interference within really tough-to-play signals and also within very 'live' listening spaces. So I think you can imagine that the benefits are variable because no two systems are quite alike. My favorite effect from really 'dialed-in' drivers (plus systems plus acoustics) is that when you turn up the system, it never gets "louder", it just gets "bigger". 🙂 Enough for now...
The sound of a successfully EnABL'd driver cannot be considered better/worse by some percentage. The process removes some source of usually faint sound that is not contained in the amp signal (speculated to be caused by momentary standing waves within the cone itself). For me the most apparent result is to remove/decrease the sensation that the driver is a point source for sound output. The 'soundstage' can be remarkably improved, taking you toward the perception of "surround sound" without having to wrangle multiple point sources. The system better reproduces the space from the original recording session - to the extent that information is included in the recording. As well, the process can help diminish distracting interference within really tough-to-play signals and also within very 'live' listening spaces. So I think you can imagine that the benefits are variable because no two systems are quite alike. My favorite effect from really 'dialed-in' drivers (plus systems plus acoustics) is that when you turn up the system, it never gets "louder", it just gets "bigger". 🙂 Enough for now...
Particularly good at improving DDR. Better reproduction of small details. Thing that make an instrument, a voice, sound real, he tiny details that are essential to reproducing a 3D image/soundstage. The process inherently tends to tame any HF resonances at least a bit.
Putting a number on it is difficult. If you value the aspects of hifi reproduction that it improves, EnABL is essential, if they aren’t maybe nothing.
dave
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So I'm new to this boat
Are you placing dots of material on the cone to try and alter where mass is located to affect breakup modes?
Won't that affect Fs and Mms and FR too?
Are you placing dots of material on the cone to try and alter where mass is located to affect breakup modes?
Won't that affect Fs and Mms and FR too?
What exactly EnABL does or how it does it is still a mystery.
Having measured 1000s of drivers before and after changes in T?s are less than driver manufacturer tolerances or evenjust testing on different days with different weather.
So no, no siginificant changes in T/S. I did match pairs.
The conformal coating at the end (thinned acrylic gloss) does have at least a small impact on ameriolating HF ringing.
Th epre-treatment i do on some drivers is aimed at taming FR anomalies.
dave
Having measured 1000s of drivers before and after changes in T?s are less than driver manufacturer tolerances or evenjust testing on different days with different weather.
So no, no siginificant changes in T/S. I did match pairs.
The conformal coating at the end (thinned acrylic gloss) does have at least a small impact on ameriolating HF ringing.
Th epre-treatment i do on some drivers is aimed at taming FR anomalies.
dave
I have never had a single ring pattern, or seven of them, degrade a driver's sound. Their mass is negligable.
AFAIK, the exact nature of "breakup modes" is no better described than how EnABL seems to quell instability in a driver's cone. Dave has vastly more breadth of hands-on experience than do I, but my working hypothesis is based on the established observation that speed of sound transmission in any medium is inversely proportional to the density of the medium. I select my drivers based on three characteristics: first and primarily, the motor quality and efficiency; second, the cone material and its density; and third, the suspension and frame quality. With regard to the cone, I've had very good results with paper. Paper (a matrix of cellulose fibers) can absorb the acrylic resin of the paint to extend the stiffness and increased density below the paper surface. We know that when a wave encounters an object of increased density (and/or decreased fluidity), some of its energy is accelerated and some is reflected. So, wherever cone surface standing waves might originate, encountering a ring pattern dot will probably: a) advance part of the wave ahead of the same wavefront in the gap next to the dot, as well as b) reflect part of the energy backwards towards its source (or at least away from the continuous wavefront, depending on the angle of incidence to the edge of the paint). Obviously, the dots help even if the paint can't penetrate the cone. I've used them successfully on aluminum dust caps and resin-impregnated tweeter domes. But whether the added mass (or change to a point's density) is embedded within the surface or not, the general hypothesis of what's happening at the cone surface would seem to hold - that each dot disperses the front energy of any surface wave that encounters it. But this topic is a bit like studying the brain itself - the more you learn, the less you know! But I have observed that if the brain likes what it hears, it can trigger smiling! 🙂
Cheers,
Frank
Apart from the dot pattern, sandwich cones disrupt standing waves via different speed of sound in the two layers. Different speed of sound means different wavelength of standing wave in different layers at the same frequency, causing partial or full cancellation. EnABL creates denser Microgloss layer over less dense paper layer. The technique has been used previously by Focal in their fiberglass/paper and Utopia cones, and lately in Markaudio MAOP cones.
MicroGloss/ModPodge sin ks intothetop layerofthepaper, essentially giving Paper/Pap[er with stuff/stuff — ie 3 layers.
dave
dave
Hard to tell whether transition layer adds to the picture. Bud's instructions were to apply as thin layer of Microgloss as possible, followed by the second layer. The purpose seems to seal paper surface first, so as to limit Microgloss penetration deeper into the paper.
The effects of the layered doping strategy may not be within the same frequency range as that of the cancellation ring patterns. Another speaker that used a hard resin-over-paper treatment was the legendary JBL LE8-TH. I had a pair, and Bud helped me EnABL them as my introduction to the technique. I dug out a post with a couple of images:
It was the ring patterns, specifically, that put those drivers over the top on transparency and effortless attack. I never added microgloss. The 2" voice coil was amazing, but the 2" dust cap needed alot of remedial work! 👍
Frank
@BudP
Since there seem to be a number of people interested in Gen 2 EnABL here is the method for finding pattern application positions called "The Tap Test".
There are three "sectors " to a tap.
Initial strike. This is what most people hear as a tap. We are geared to pay attention to intial arrival of any sound. You can use this portion of the tap sound to locate Raleigh waves and that is all. As you tap in a radial line there will be a sector that responds noticeably more vigorous than adjacent areas. This is very likely to be a Raleigh wave, but you cannot be certain until the rest of the driver is under control. Usually you must apply a damping material, in a fairly narrow band, on the other side of the diaphragm right under this area.
Mid tone. This is useful for finding subduction zones, usually immediately adjacent to Raleigh wave zones. This zone sounds dead compared to zones before and after, no tone to speak of. A pattern set in the middle of this zone and one just as it begins are the solution. Typically one pattern set at the point where the tone goes dead is sufficient and all that will fit. In 10 inch and larger cone drivers you may end up with more patterns here.
Decay tone. Here is where you will find most of the places to apply patterns. In listening to the decay you will have to ignore the other components from this tap. As you listen to the tap decay, while taping radially along the surface, you will notice a narrow zone where the decay seems to loose direction and then change direction as you move back and forth across it. Once you can focus on just the decay portion of the tap this will become fairly obvious. A pattern set in the middle of the directionless portion will disperse this activity completely.
The end product you are looking to achieve is a smooth change in direction of decay tone. From straight out or even slightly toward the center of the voice coil, when taping next to it, to aimed off the cone, parallel to the cone angle, out at the outer edge of the diaphragm. Dome diaphragms are a bit different but you will still find the same directional switch as you tap up the side of the dome. Same rule applies for placement and the eventual decay pattern will shift from lateral at the beginning of the dome to straight out on axis at the tip. In all cases the surface of the driver will seem to be "faster" than another untreated driver of the same part number. The tap will be dispersed very quickly with no echoes.
This same method is used to find application zones for baffles and boxes.
dave
