My pair of buyout truncated SIG180's just showed up. Nice frames and all that but I now know why they are buyouts (rejected by the OEM). The attachment point of the voice coil former to the concaved aluminum cone is super visable and not very pretty to say the least. Not sure if these pictures of each one really show how bad they look to the naked eye. Pretty fugly to be honest.
I have seen a few pics online (of the real SIG divers not the factory buyouts) where it looks a little like that. In those cases it is hard to tell if it is better or worse in person and the poster wasn't bringing it up.
I guess I'd have to see them in person, because that faint ring looks very symmetrical, so not very off putting to me.
.... other than I'm not a fan of the dust capless cones anyway.
What's weird is that I can feel the raised ring running my finger over it. The ND series never had that. That's ok, for my application they will work just fine. Both of them measured spot on to each other and very very close to the factory specs.
Moving forward I'll be taking all new measurements tomorrow and/or Sunday with the new SIG180-4 truncated buyout woofers. This project may require a complete redesign of the xo, but honestly I don't expect wholesale changes. The SIG buyout drivers appear to have more voltage sensitivity and better distortion compared to the simpler motor design of the GF180-4 driver. That said the overall project is more driven by the OB mids' performance IMHO. Get that right and I'll have fun project to enjoy listening to.
Took the measurements. Redesigned the xos and listened for a few hours. I like the overall concept. But even after adding some baffle wings the TC9FD's just don't play low enough to meet the omni woofers. So I have plenty of cheap plywood, plenty of drivers on my shelf, and plenty of time to make new baffles with different drivers. Updates will be coming.
I'm going to cut some new baffles that are wider and try the Tang Band W5-2143 and ??? tweeter. The tweeter will need to be able to play much lower than the little Peerless could due to the wider baffle.
It's supposed to be a bit warmer here the next couple of days. I plan to make some test baffles out of some cheap 5/8" particle board. Drivers will be surface mounted so I can make the baffles with only my jigsaw. Too cold to do routering out on the driveway. Yeah, there will be some extra diffraction but this is just a test so I can guage where these drivers can play. Might end up being a 4 way... passive xo 4 way!
I got the test baffles cut this morning. Just free handed them with my Bosch saber saw. Far from perfect but good enough to take measurements and gauge what these drivers can do on these baffles.
Comments
My pair of buyout truncated SIG180's just showed up. Nice frames and all that but I now know why they are buyouts (rejected by the OEM). The attachment point of the voice coil former to the concaved aluminum cone is super visable and not very pretty to say the least. Not sure if these pictures of each one really show how bad they look to the naked eye. Pretty fugly to be honest.
You could put dust caps on them.
It does suck that they didn't disclose that in the listing.
If they measure ok then I'll keep them because as omni woofers I don't have to sit and look at them. If they measure bad then they are going back.
If it fits with your visual schema, a thin coat of white paint on the cone may partially (or fully) hide the deformed area.
The regular sigs are the same. I can see the vc imprint on those also
https://www.jfcomponents.com/
It's not quite as visible on my pair, but definitely there.
InDIYana Event Website
Just EnABL them!
Tom I wish I could hit the WTF and LOL. I do think it was a cool look.
I have seen a few pics online (of the real SIG divers not the factory buyouts) where it looks a little like that. In those cases it is hard to tell if it is better or worse in person and the poster wasn't bringing it up.
I personally see nothing that bothers me but - each to his own.
If they sound good, I'd just use them.
I guess I'd have to see them in person, because that faint ring looks very symmetrical, so not very off putting to me.
.... other than I'm not a fan of the dust capless cones anyway.
What's weird is that I can feel the raised ring running my finger over it. The ND series never had that. That's ok, for my application they will work just fine. Both of them measured spot on to each other and very very close to the factory specs.
Speaker grill time?
‘dust cap’ sticker
Moving forward I'll be taking all new measurements tomorrow and/or Sunday with the new SIG180-4 truncated buyout woofers. This project may require a complete redesign of the xo, but honestly I don't expect wholesale changes. The SIG buyout drivers appear to have more voltage sensitivity and better distortion compared to the simpler motor design of the GF180-4 driver. That said the overall project is more driven by the OB mids' performance IMHO. Get that right and I'll have fun project to enjoy listening to.
Took the measurements. Redesigned the xos and listened for a few hours. I like the overall concept. But even after adding some baffle wings the TC9FD's just don't play low enough to meet the omni woofers. So I have plenty of cheap plywood, plenty of drivers on my shelf, and plenty of time to make new baffles with different drivers. Updates will be coming.
What if you sealed the TC9, it might allow it to go a little lower than open.
Defeats the purpose.
Right!
I'm going to cut some new baffles that are wider and try the Tang Band W5-2143 and ??? tweeter. The tweeter will need to be able to play much lower than the little Peerless could due to the wider baffle.
What about the open back GRS PT2522 ?
They are not on my shelf.
It's supposed to be a bit warmer here the next couple of days. I plan to make some test baffles out of some cheap 5/8" particle board. Drivers will be surface mounted so I can make the baffles with only my jigsaw. Too cold to do routering out on the driveway. Yeah, there will be some extra diffraction but this is just a test so I can guage where these drivers can play. Might end up being a 4 way... passive xo 4 way!
I got the test baffles cut this morning. Just free handed them with my Bosch saber saw. Far from perfect but good enough to take measurements and gauge what these drivers can do on these baffles.
You free hand better than a stationary scroll saw.
Can't wait to measure this latest prototype. Hoping the wider baffle width and larger midbass can better meet the omni woofer lower:
Those look pretty cool, Craig.