Author Topic: single full range drivers  (Read 5968 times)

Offline AJ Soundfield

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Re: single full range drivers
« Reply #15 on: December 15, 2017, 02:46:40 PM »
Nick, if you want to do a "quick 'n nasty, drop in" enclosure for that driver, the PE BR-1 https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-br-1cab-br-1-6-1-2-2-way-speaker-cabinet-pair--300-645?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pla would work.
Unless you have 100 tweeters laying around like I do, you would also need a pair of these https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-dc28f-8-1-1-8-silk-dome-tweeter--275-070 to fill the hole. Around $100 total. Not an uber finish, but certainly better than raw MDF. :D
It's made for a 165mm woofer, the Alpair is 164. The port is not perfect but it will work just fine for that 0.5cu ft.
No routing, no cutting. Screw in drivers, add a bit of damping, wire to terminal on back and fire up.
You can even connect/utilize  the tweeter later as a supertweeter if desired, to add a bit of air >12k or so.

cheers,

AJ
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Offline Nick B

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Re: single full range drivers
« Reply #16 on: December 15, 2017, 06:19:29 PM »
Nick, if you want to do a "quick 'n nasty, drop in" enclosure for that driver, the PE BR-1 https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-br-1cab-br-1-6-1-2-2-way-speaker-cabinet-pair--300-645?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pla would work.
Unless you have 100 tweeters laying around like I do, you would also need a pair of these https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-dc28f-8-1-1-8-silk-dome-tweeter--275-070 to fill the hole. Around $100 total. Not an uber finish, but certainly better than raw MDF. :D
It's made for a 165mm woofer, the Alpair is 164. The port is not perfect but it will work just fine for that 0.5cu ft.
No routing, no cutting. Screw in drivers, add a bit of damping, wire to terminal on back and fire up.
You can even connect/utilize  the tweeter later as a supertweeter if desired, to add a bit of air >12k or so.

cheers,

AJ


AJ, that is a very, very interesting idea and simple and inexpensive. I’m going to check it out. As to the tweeter cutout, I might just use a decorative cover of some sort.
Thanks!
Nick
Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
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Offline P.I.

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Re: single full range drivers
« Reply #17 on: December 16, 2017, 12:06:20 PM »
  So is it soup yet ??


charles


It’s warming up.... Called Parts Express today and they already gave me a refund. So I’m gonna place the order for the Mark Audio drivers. I’m just about there picking a cabinet. Too bad I can’t get it by Christmas 🎅🏽
I will be very curious as to your upcoming review of the Mark Audio drivers.  Never tried them, but a simple physical inspection show a well though out and well truned piec.

Party on!!!   :beer:
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Offline gander

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Re: single full range drivers
« Reply #18 on: December 18, 2017, 04:18:03 PM »
 I have been talking with Nick, and the drivers I got are the Mark Audio A10P  6 1/2 inch drivers, with the “enable” modification by Dave at planet10-HiFi.com. 

Bottom line, I highly recommend this driver.  I get loads of detail, a very warm sound and plenty of bass.  However… 

First of all, according to Dave, this is probably the maximum size that he would use for details and definition, and sufficient bass. I got my pair and I have been playing them for about a month, and I just today put them into new larger cabinets of my own design and they sound better than I have ever heard before. So they are really great drivers.

 However, just dropping them into a premade speaker cabinet with premade 5 1/2 inch cut outs will not work with these drivers. If you look at the Mark Audio diagram and specs for the speakers, it looks like it should be a perfect 5 1/2 inch cut out hole.  However, this is wrong.  I tried this size cutout in another cabinet and it totally does not work; It is too big.  They require a 5 1/4 inch cut out which will allow them to seat in snuggly.  And you want them snug. The screw in holes are right next to the edge of the cut out, which I don’t appreciate but it is what it is, so the cut out hole cannot be even a tiny bit too big, or one or two of the screws will try to screw in to air.  So unfortunately it is not necessarily true that a standard cut out will always work. You have to always look at the speaker itself and try it.
Of course, if a hole is a bit too small you can always make a little bigger. But if the hole is too big you cannot make it smaller.  Kind of like cooking and putting in too much salt.

Another thing about these drivers, while they sound better than any driver I have used yet, the frames are actually scientifically designed and made of plastic! So you can’t just screw in screws with some kind of power driver. And you need a metric hex key of the correct size. The screws are included with the speakers. FYI.  Some of the oddest speakers I have come across, but they seem to work really well. Caveat emptor.

Gary
Oppo 103, SSD drive
DIY ultra low capacitance power cords, ICs and speaker cables
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Offline Nick B

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Re: single full range drivers
« Reply #19 on: December 18, 2017, 04:54:36 PM »
I have been talking with Nick, and the drivers I got are the Mark Audio A10P  6 1/2 inch drivers, with the “enable” modification by Dave at planet10-HiFi.com. 

Bottom line, I highly recommend this driver.  I get loads of detail, a very warm sound and plenty of bass.  However… 

First of all, according to Dave, this is probably the maximum size that he would use for details and definition, and sufficient bass. I got my pair and I have been playing them for about a month, and I just today put them into new larger cabinets of my own design and they sound better than I have ever heard before. So they are really great drivers.

 However, just dropping them into a premade speaker cabinet with premade 5 1/2 inch cut outs will not work with these drivers. If you look at the Mark Audio diagram and specs for the speakers, it looks like it should be a perfect 5 1/2 inch cut out hole.  However, this is wrong.  I tried this size cutout in another cabinet and it totally does not work; It is too big.  They require a 5 1/4 inch cut out which will allow them to seat in snuggly.  And you want them snug. The screw in holes are right next to the edge of the cut out, which I don’t appreciate but it is what it is, so the cut out hole cannot be even a tiny bit too big, or one or two of the screws will try to screw in to air.  So unfortunately it is not necessarily true that a standard cut out will always work. You have to always look at the speaker itself and try it.
Of course, if a hole is a bit too small you can always make a little bigger. But if the hole is too big you cannot make it smaller.  Kind of like cooking and putting in too much salt.

Another thing about these drivers, while they sound better than any driver I have used yet, the frames are actually scientifically designed and made of plastic! So you can’t just screw in screws with some kind of power driver. And you need a metric hex key of the correct size. The screws are included with the speakers. FYI.  Some of the oddest speakers I have come across, but they seem to work really well. Caveat emptor.

Gary

Thanks for the heads up. It seems nothing is easy nowadays. I’ll check all this out.  I sent an email already to Mark Audio and their mailbox is full. I could do a Bose boombox or just imagine how good everything sounds until I get a new speaker. Now that would be cheap!
Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

Offline gander

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Re: single full range drivers
« Reply #20 on: December 18, 2017, 05:39:39 PM »
 Typically in Audio, I think that “easy“ is run-of-the-mill, mediocre, middle of the road average stuff that they think will appeal to most people. The last 10 percent is always a tough road.
Oppo 103, SSD drive
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Offline gander

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Re: single full range drivers
« Reply #21 on: December 18, 2017, 06:56:45 PM »
 Let me clarify this. Easy doesn’t necessarily mean mediocre, but... I have found that easy generally works 90 percent of the time, or adds complexity. My system is moving closer and closer to simple (Active crossover with multiple drivers, multiple amps, extra interconnects and extra speaker wires to single drivers with one amplifier and no crossover), and it is sounding better and better. IMHO

Gary
Oppo 103, SSD drive
DIY ultra low capacitance power cords, ICs and speaker cables
Audio Note 2.1B DAC
Tortuga LDR passive pre
Primaluna Dialogue4 tube, Hegel H90 int amp
DIY speakers w/8” Rullit field coil FR drivers

Offline Nick B

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Re: single full range drivers
« Reply #22 on: December 19, 2017, 07:02:07 AM »
Thanks for the input and clarification, Gary. You have a great knowledge base with all of the experimentation you continue to do. Your enthusiasm is constant and you always look for ways to make things sound better....and your system always sounds quite good!


Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

Offline gander

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Mark Audio A10P cutout
« Reply #23 on: December 19, 2017, 07:07:05 AM »
I reached out to Dave at planet10 hi-fi about the Mark Audio A10P driver cut out size  being too big in the posted spec, and I was right, in that the actual cut out size should be smaller. Dave provided me with an updated spec for that driver showing the smaller cut out size. The older spec on the Mark Audio website is incorrect. The correct cut out is about 5 1/4 inches, not 5 1/2 inches. I went by their posted spec and made a 5 1/2 inch cut out for that driver and discovered that (1) the cut out size was too big, and (2) once you cut a hole too big you cannot make it smaller! In this case one or two of the screws tried to screw into air because the hole was too big. Also a problem with this driver as I think I stated, is that the screw in holes are right next to the edge of the cut out hole, so the cut out needs to be snug. First time I have ever seen this kind of thing.

In this case, if you didn’t already have the A10P driver and try it, you would never know there was a problem until it was too late and you bought a premade cabinet with a hole that is too large. This is true of premade cut outs in premade cabinets. They make those for a specific driver, but that may not be right for your driver.  So, unless the cut out hole size in the premade cabinet is exactly what you need, either it will be too big and you  may not be able to use it at all, or it may be too small and you still have to take a jigsaw and make the cut out a little larger.

What a fun hobby!

Gary
« Last Edit: December 19, 2017, 07:38:34 AM by gander »
Oppo 103, SSD drive
DIY ultra low capacitance power cords, ICs and speaker cables
Audio Note 2.1B DAC
Tortuga LDR passive pre
Primaluna Dialogue4 tube, Hegel H90 int amp
DIY speakers w/8” Rullit field coil FR drivers

Offline StereoNut

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Re: single full range drivers
« Reply #24 on: December 20, 2017, 09:43:24 AM »
 
...Kind of like cooking and putting in too much salt.

Gary

Oh contraire, Gary!  If you've got a pot of soup, stew, etc... that's too salty, drop in a couple of peeled potatoes. They'll soak up the extra salt. Then just pull them out of the pot and toss them. Viola! Dinner is served and saved.  :D

SN
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Offline richidoo

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Re: single full range drivers
« Reply #25 on: December 20, 2017, 09:59:24 AM »
Nice one Bill!  :thumb:
I always wondered why leftover potatoes always need more salt.

Thanks Gary for sharing your expertise with 10P. I want to try that bad boy. I like that it has no wizzer. It's always a good idea to wait for your drivers to arrive to measure them before cutting the hole. And it's always good idea to set the circle jig 1/16" too big instead of risking being 0.001" too small.