Nousaine wrote:
BTW - yes, I've heard a LOT of god-awful flabby and chuffy subs
over the years. It's not rocket science anymore, but it does
require a better than $30 15 inch speaker.
There ain't nosuch thing as a $30 15 AFAICT. Even those cheap instrument
speakers aren't all that cheap.
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=290-345
There is. Unfortunately. I see $60 15 inch sub listed as well, and
we all know that retail pricing is at least double what a major
speaker company buys them for.
Please; this woofer is not a 15-inch "subwoofer". Go ahead and try to make a
subwoofer out of it .... I dare you :-)
Heh. You and I know that - but tell the speaker makers.
Even Tannoy's under $1000 speakers are cheap crud
that almost anyone could out-do. Among the best
cheap crud available, mind you, but a "kit" doesn't
require even $400 in materials to equal them, even
if you are paying retail pricing.
So your condemnation of Bose applies to everybody else too? IMO folks like
Paradigm, Celestion and PSB were licking the crap out of DIY speakers a decade
ago.
That was a decade ago, though. The gap has shrunk to very small
differences if you have the time and skill to do a proper design.
Often, it's because you can use the same driver that they use
in the speaker you are copying but get a model or entire line
better version from the maunfacturer and still be under budget due
the insane markups.
But, IMO, at about $1000 or so, it starts to get to where the
major manufacturers decide to care and do some real testing
and designing.(say, Tannoy Saturn as compared to their MXm line).
Indeed at a PSACS Meeting held at Bosch?Blaupunkt a decade ago where
memberes were encouraged to bring any DIY project in to be measured and
documented with the Blaupunkt B&K measurment gear (we had a poured concrete
3-way 'egg' shaped speaker and another dozen+ of speakers and a few amplifiers)
and a $300 pair of Celestion 6.5-inch 2 ways used as monitors in the lab
literally 'blew-away' any of the DIY speakers. Let me say that again ....
destroyed ann the DIY efforts.
Sure. I suspect that with the advent of decent software and
better drivers today, it is much closer. Ellis Audio, for instance,
does exactly this. From what I hear, it's a decent enough speaker,
though why he doesn't makke a tower in addition, I don't know.
Oh - and there are materials today that they didn't have 10 years
ago, like MDF that is roughly 50% harder.
I don't know about the measurements, but the construction is well
documented as many people have pulled them apart to take a look.
Again; you said that Bose had 30-40% distortion at some unspecified output
level. I asked first "how do you know this?" and later "who has documented
this?"
I'll have to look for it - but I do remember running across that figure
as being typical of systems like Bose(5-6 inch woofers in a box) when
run at decent levels. Many so called "subs" also resonate like mad.
Of course, even Kef and Paradigm and Tannoy and so on use cheap
as posible materials in most anything other than their flagship
models. I'd certainly not use screws and plastic veneer and
the wires they use.
Why not? If it doesn't affect the sound why does it matter?
Well, sure - but a small part of the speaker IS construction
and asthetics.