Page description

About Vance Dickason

Vance Dickason has been working as a professional in the loudspeaker industry since 1974. A contributing editor to Speaker Builder magazine (now audioXpress) since 1986, in November 1987 he became editor of Voice Coil, the monthly Periodical for the Loudspeaker Industry, today published by KCK Media Corp. His globally acclaimed book Loudspeaker Design Cookbook is now in its 8th Edition, published by KCK Media. A life member of the Audio Engineering Society, Vance received the 1995 AES Citation Award for his long term contribution to audio education, and the 2013 Beryllium Award, Lifetime achievement from ALMA (Associating of Loudspeaker Manufacturers and Acoustics, now ALTI Association). Since 2001, he also does business as Vance Dickason Consultancy based out of Portland, Oregon, working as an independent engineering consultant to loudspeaker manufacturers.

All items written by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: The New 7.5” MT19CP-8 Coincident Coaxial Driver from the SB Acoustics Satori Line

February 12, 2025 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: The New 7.5” MT19CP-8 Coincident Coaxial Driver from the SB Acoustics Satori Line

The new 7.5" coaxial driver from SB Acoustics' prestigious Satori line is built on a rather stylish aluminum-cast frame, totally open below the spider, with a cone featuring SB's proprietary Egyptian Papyrus material with a three-roll coated cloth-type surround, driven with a 1.52" diameter voice coil and neodymium magnet. The 1" tweeter is comprised of a coated cloth-type dome diaphragm, powered by a neodymium motor, which incorporates a resonant back chamber design.

Test Bench: Purifi Audio PTT10.0X04-NAB-01 10” Midbass Woofer

January 29, 2025 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Purifi Audio PTT10.0X04-NAB-01 10” Midbass Woofer

The eagerly awaited Purifi Audio PTT10.0X04-NAB-01 10" Midbass Woofer is the sixth Purifi driver to be examined in Test Bench. This 4Ω woofer features extensive proprietary technology that includes the constant Sd surround, cone edge stiffening ring, and low magnetic hysteresis motor design. The PTT10.0X04-NAB-01 exhibits some very unique engineering that can be finally characterized.

Test Bench: The 5" MR13TX-4 TPCD Midrange from SB Acoustics’ Satori Line

January 1, 2025 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: The 5" MR13TX-4 TPCD Midrange from SB Acoustics’ Satori Line

This latest MR13TX-4 midrange from SB Acoustics is part of the fast-growing Satori line of high-end transducers. A dedicated 5" midrange driver, the MR13TX-4 is the 10th TPCD TeXtreme diaphragm transducer to be featured in Test Bench. In terms of features, the MR13TX-4 is built on a proprietary two-piece cast-aluminum frame, completely open below the BIMAX spider for cooling. The cone assembly consists of a curvilinear inverted single piece "bowl" shaped TeXtreme cone and an inverted NBR surround, driven by a 1.2" diameter voice coil and a neodymium motor.

Test Bench: B&C Speakers’ DE640-16 Compression Driver

December 18, 2024 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: B&C Speakers’ DE640-16 Compression Driver

The B&C Speakers DE640-16 Compression Driver is a 1.4" exit design, which along with the recent DCM414 midrange and the DE360 models represent a line of two-point suspension ring radiator type compression diaphragms. The DE640-16 features a 65mm (2.6") Polymer diaphragm and neodymium ring magnet and is specified for a recommended crossover frequency around 1kHz, and a 140W continuous power rating. For this Test Bench, the DE640-16 was matched with the Eighteen Sound XT1464 elliptical flare horn.

Test Bench: The M3 Carbon Midrange Car/Home Audio Transducer from Stereo Integrity

December 4, 2024 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: The M3 Carbon Midrange Car/Home Audio Transducer from Stereo Integrity

This Test Bench explores an interesting transducer from Stereo Integrity, a company founded in 2001, targeting the home and automotive audio markets. The Stereo Integrity M3 is a 3.5" carbon fiber midrange driver with neodymium motor, only 52mm (2") in depth. The M3 includes a black woven carbon fiber/paper sandwich curvilinear cone and 1.1 convex dust cap, with suspension provided by a synthetic copolymer surround plus a flat 55mm diameter cloth spider.

Test Bench: B&C Speakers 1” DH450-8 Compression Driver

November 21, 2024 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: B&C Speakers 1” DH450-8 Compression Driver

The DH450-8 ultra-compact compression driver from B&C Speakers incorporates a 1.7" high temperature Polymer diaphragm driven by a 44mm voice coil wound with aluminum wire on a high Qm Kapton former. Its most fascinating feature is the patent-pending phase plug with a deliberately twisted internal channel, which is intended to improve the overall frequency response. For this characterization, the DH450-8 1" neodymium driver is measured along with the B&C Speakers ME10v2 90x60 hyperbolic cosine flare horn, made from injection-molded ABS. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, August 2024

Test Bench: Scan-Speak D3004/606200 Tweeter from Its Illuminator Line

November 6, 2024 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Scan-Speak D3004/606200 Tweeter from Its Illuminator Line

The Scan-Speak D3004/606200 is a 1" compact tweeter from its Illuminator Line, and features the new generation of Metamodal TPCD diaphragms. Scan-Speak has been participating in Composite Sound's metamodal development program, and the new D3404 tweeter is the first to be released. It features a low resonance, injection-molded rear chamber, SD-2 neodymium motor, large-roll coated cloth surround, and black anodized machined aluminum faceplate. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, July 2024.

Test Bench: Scan-Speak 15W/8534T00 Classic Line 5.5" Woofer

October 23, 2024 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Scan-Speak 15W/8534T00 Classic Line 5.5" Woofer

This Test Bench characterizes the new Scan-Speak 15W/8534T00 woofer, which fills the gap in the Classic family for a compact high-performance 5.5” (15cm) midbass driver. It is based on the design principles of the popular 18W/8545 continuing the tradition with a slim frame aluminum chassis, Symmetrical Drive (SD) motor system, low loss linear rubber suspension, and updated with a brand-new cone material called Phenomax.

Test Bench: Faital Pro's 10PR330 10" PA Woofer

October 2, 2024 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Faital Pro's 10PR330 10" PA Woofer

The 10PR330 is Faital Pro's new high-power handling 10" woofer intended for line arrays and large PA systems, or as a midbass driver in multiway systems — and apparently it has also been also used successfully in bass guitar applications. The cone assembly for the Faital Pro 10PR330 woofer consists of a curvilinear paper cone along with a very stiff coated dust cap. Compliance is supplied by a coated polycotton cloth M-roll type surround and from a cloth-type flat spider.

Test Bench: Wavecor’s New WF211PA01 8.25" PA Woofer

September 25, 2024 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Wavecor’s New WF211PA01 8.25" PA Woofer

The driver characterized in this Test Bench is a new 8.25" paper cone woofer, which is only the second pro audio design from the Wavecor, renowned for its high-end home hi-fi drivers. The company decided to expand its catalog with new OEM pro audio woofers, and the WF211PA01 is basically a smaller version of the WF259PA01 10" woofer explicated in the February 2024 issue of Voice Coil. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, June 2024.

«
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
...
32
33
»