After some testing in open air of a bunch of driver combinations tonight I settled upon the Wavecor WF168WA05 midwoofer (NLA), the Dayton PC83-8 and the Beston RT003C Ribbon tweeter for the compact 3-way build to replace the NS10M's in the drum recording station.
They all have great response/extension and tone used together (not very scientific but just my critical ears after a lot of mixing sessions with a known good reference monitoring system (SSA-VSX).
I have tried to like the Epique 180's I received from PE but they are obvious duds - the cones sound like rustling leaves and the motors are noisy - just sound distorted sitting face up bridged across boards with no vibration transmitted to the heavy bench where all other drivers tested sound much, much cleaner. It's like the fibers of the cone are vibrating and passing air through their weave and the VC vents have air-rushing/chuffing - I am not at all impressed.
I think I would like to try coating/sealing the cone on the worst one of the pair but not sure what product to try to seal the cone - something brush-able that won't effect the adhesives used in their construction.
I wouldn't condemn a woofer for how it sounds in that situation. Why not put it in a large baffle or in a box for initial testing? That woofer and OPAL1 have a lot of good reviews there must be something good about it.
If you are bent on trying to 'fix' what you hear, a thin coat of Aleene's tacky glue should do the trick.
I would do it carefully on the front side (it dries clear), using a turntable or lazy Susan to rotate the driver as the applied layer is spread evenly with a piece of card stock. Then go over it with a brush or sponge to remove excess if needed and let it dry.
Meniscus used to do this with a set of Silver Flute woofers and 'The Wet Look' treatment to make a poor man's Seas CA series woofer.
@ Ken - I guess I need to get busy and build the ~10L boxes and make test baffles for the driver assortment.
@ Ben - I think the brown Gorilla glue (PU) will work (in place of Aleene's glue) and I have some on hand but will hold-off for now.
@ Drew - Former (VC) rubbing is a definite possibility as one shipping/packaging box was corner-cracked from a drop/blow and one driver is much worse than the other but both suffer from the same noises at different drive levels so I doubt the distortion/rustling will go away in-box - but we will see.
Thanks for the responses, guys - gives me a sanity check and plan for approaching the issue.
Comments
https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-DMA80-4-3-Dual-Magnet-Aluminum-Cone-Full-Range-Driver-4-Ohm-295-586?quantity=1
These are superb, have copper in the motor. Inexpensive, and small frame.
FYI - actual cone diameter of the CHN-110 is 4.25" (excludes inverted surround).
Nice looking drivers - just got them today.
After some testing in open air of a bunch of driver combinations tonight I settled upon the Wavecor WF168WA05 midwoofer (NLA), the Dayton PC83-8 and the Beston RT003C Ribbon tweeter for the compact 3-way build to replace the NS10M's in the drum recording station.
They all have great response/extension and tone used together (not very scientific but just my critical ears after a lot of mixing sessions with a known good reference monitoring system (SSA-VSX).
More as it progresses . . .
I have tried to like the Epique 180's I received from PE but they are obvious duds - the cones sound like rustling leaves and the motors are noisy - just sound distorted sitting face up bridged across boards with no vibration transmitted to the heavy bench where all other drivers tested sound much, much cleaner. It's like the fibers of the cone are vibrating and passing air through their weave and the VC vents have air-rushing/chuffing - I am not at all impressed.
I think I would like to try coating/sealing the cone on the worst one of the pair but not sure what product to try to seal the cone - something brush-able that won't effect the adhesives used in their construction.
Suggestions (based upon experience) please?
I wouldn't condemn a woofer for how it sounds in that situation. Why not put it in a large baffle or in a box for initial testing? That woofer and OPAL1 have a lot of good reviews there must be something good about it.
If you are bent on trying to 'fix' what you hear, a thin coat of Aleene's tacky glue should do the trick.
I would do it carefully on the front side (it dries clear), using a turntable or lazy Susan to rotate the driver as the applied layer is spread evenly with a piece of card stock. Then go over it with a brush or sponge to remove excess if needed and let it dry.
Meniscus used to do this with a set of Silver Flute woofers and 'The Wet Look' treatment to make a poor man's Seas CA series woofer.
InDIYana Event Website
Rubbing former maybe? I have yet to run a test on the 150s I got from the garage sale so IDK what they sould like unmounted yet.
@ Ken - I guess I need to get busy and build the ~10L boxes and make test baffles for the driver assortment.
@ Ben - I think the brown Gorilla glue (PU) will work (in place of Aleene's glue) and I have some on hand but will hold-off for now.
@ Drew - Former (VC) rubbing is a definite possibility as one shipping/packaging box was corner-cracked from a drop/blow and one driver is much worse than the other but both suffer from the same noises at different drive levels so I doubt the distortion/rustling will go away in-box - but we will see.
Thanks for the responses, guys - gives me a sanity check and plan for approaching the issue.