Micro Mini Desktop Tower Plans

[Bigun]

Vadim,

Those are nice pics! Can I ask whether you had a chance to comment on a few things with these speakers

a) quality of bass - I read some reports it is not as clear as some other drivers at low frequencies ?

b) impedance - do you know in reality what it is ? - I seen numbers like 4 Ohm and 8 Ohm and knowing how these things can be misquoted I looked at some curves which show a minimum at 6 Ohm ?

c) sensitivity - how much power do they need to work well in your near-field listening environment - I am considering a flea-powered Class A amplifier ?


Thanks.

 

[VadimB]

Vadim,

Those are nice pics! Can I ask whether you had a chance to comment on a few things with these speakers

a) quality of bass - I read some reports it is not as clear as some other drivers at low frequencies ?

I don't know what those "other drivers" are. Comparing to the TB-1231SH I built into small QWTL these are much fuller and go much lower, so there is no comaprison. Right now I have Audience A3 in the same exact cabinet, but ported. They do have somewhat stronger bass, but then nothing I've tried in 3" size compares to those. And they are $170 e.a. Overall, these little HiVi sound much better then they have any right to. The rest see in your #c

b) impedance - do you know in reality what it is ? - I seen numbers like 4 Ohm and 8 Ohm and knowing how these things can be misquoted I looked at some curves which show a minimum at 6 Ohm ?

I am not at home right now and the measured curves are there. What I remember is that DC resistance was slightly above 6 Ohm. This is definitely an 8 Ohm driver. Look at Zap's site - he's got the curves published. I'll check mine when I get home.

c) sensitivity - how much power do they need to work well in your near-field listening environment - I am considering a flea-powered Class A amplifier ?

On that picture above you can see Sonic Impact amp that I use. It provides I beleive 8 Wpc at 10% distortion, so I run it not more than half turn of the volume control - probably under 2 Watts. The main virtue of this amp (IMHO) is price, however. Same speakers with 1962 Fisher X-100-B sound a lot better. I did run a pair of them with Adcom GFA 5300 capable of 80 Wpc (obviously not full blast!) and they fill a decent-sized living room to serious levels and the bass is a lot cleaner than with the T-amp. Sensitivity is obviously low though.

Vadim

 

[Bigun]

Vadim,

Thanks, this is very encouraging. Look forward to your feedback on the impedance.

 

[VadimB]

Bigun,

Did a quick check - impedance does not go below 7 Ohm at all and above 600 Hz it goes above 10Ohm and stays there. There is a peak at resonance and another one at the notch filter. Can't copy the curve from my SoundEasy PC at this point - it's not on the network.
This speaker is a very easy load, even for the tubed amp.
Vadim

 

[Bigun]

That's good news, these are now a serious contender for my simple desktop project.

I notice from the internet that there's more than one version of this driver, a square mount version "HiVi B3S" but two others "Hi-Vi M3N" from Madisound and "HiVi B3N 3" from parts-express. Do you happen to know if there's any difference ?