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In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: Constructing LF modules to the limits
Post Subject: Petar, thanks for that brilliant expose of the art of building drivers.Posted by oxric on: 9/25/2011
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 haralanov wrote:


When all of these 5-6-7 different types of distortion mechanisms are eliminated (I mean lowered), one has the opportunity to hear the unmasked/undistorted tone of his bass. I deliberately used the word “opportunity” because now we have to convert those accurate VC movements into sound waves and if we fail to do it, we will not get good tone out of our bass drivers. Good example of this kind of failure is JBL 1501Al bass driver. It has very very very smartly designed underhung motor, but its moving system is crap and the result is a lack of tone in its sound.
 
OK, now let’s imagine we have kind of ideal situation and our voice coil follows exactly the signal waveform and amplitude. We have to convert those movements in air molecules excitation, and this excitation should mimic exactly the VC movements. We further realize that we are not only deeply sunk in the swamp, but we are on the bottom of the swamp. 

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Hi Petar,

When I revived this long dormant thread, and asked you about the fallout from your efforts with the Scanspeak drivers, little did I imagine that this would provide me eventually with a glimpse into the science or dark arts, depending on how one perceives it, of making drivers. As you make abundantly, vividly and succintly clear, the construction aspects of building a driver wilst retaining some degree of control over how it will eventually sound are so complex that I am not surprised that most people, no matter how good their playbacks otherwise might be, would never dream of building their custom-made drivers with every slightest element tailor made to fit in with their vision and understanding of Sound. Whether it in the end works or not, it is an experience that in itself must give one a profound connection with the listening experience. I am truly amazed as I would have thought that control over every aspect of construction such as the magnetic assembly, the voice coil assembly, the making of the cones, the long, arduous and painstaking iterative process of trial and error involved would require specialist tooling that would not be easy to come by unless one is in the business of making drivers.

It is quite different to the experience of going on ebay, buying a random pile of drivers and by an incremental but oh so predictable process of elimination, which may well end not because of ensuing success but because of the accumulation of frustration and fatigue, reach a point where one declares the results perfect or 'just good enough,' to which most of us are condemned.


 haralanov wrote:

 
There are many other factors, affecting the tone at LFs, but the people who are really interested into this, are going to learn those factors by themselves. 
 


I am really curious in the drivers you are building but doubt most people are going 'to learn those factors by themselves.' The skills, the time, the resources are unlikely to be present that can support such an endeavour even if the interest is there. So to indulge my curiosity, if you do not mind, if and when your system is up and running, please let me know and I shall pay you a short visit to Bulgaria (direct flights to Sofia leave less than half an hour from here) and listen to your playback, if that's not too much bother.

Best regards,
Rakesh


 

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