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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: Eminence N314X TeXtreme Compression Driver

July 28, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Eminence N314X TeXtreme Compression Driver

This Test Bench focuses on a very special new Eminence product, the new N314X 1.4" compression driver. The N314X is the first compression driver that uses TeXtreme composite for a diaphragm. TeXtreme thin-ply carbon is a novel type of material that is used in applications that require a high degree of stiffness performance in combination with ultralight weight. Designed for use with 1.4” throat horns, the N314X compression driver has a 35.6 mm (1.4”) throat diameter driven by a 3" diameter voice coil wound with round copper-clad aluminum wire (CCAW) on a non-conducting polyimide former driving the TeXtreme diaphragm and PEN surround. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, May 2020.

Test Bench: Eminence’s Tour Grade NSW4018-8 18” Woofer

July 22, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Eminence’s Tour Grade NSW4018-8 18” Woofer

Vance Dickason characterizes a very high power handling 18" woofer from Eminence’s recently announced Tour Grade pro sound product line, the NSW4018-8. The Tour Grade family consists of two 18" options, including the ferrite magnet FSW4018-8, the neodymium magnet NSW4018-8, and the massive neodymium magnet 21” NSW6021-6, and was developed over two years to support the undisputed growth of professional audio. Applications for the new Eminence NSW4018-8 include use as a bass driver in multiway systems, or as a dedicated subwoofer in bass reflex designs. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, May 2020.

Test Bench: The Celestion CDX14-3040 Compression Driver

July 8, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: The Celestion CDX14-3040 Compression Driver

The transducer Celestion sent for this Test Bench joins the extensive CDX line of neodymium motor compression drivers. Designed for use with 1.4” throat horns, the CDX14-3040 is driven by a 75 mm (3") diameter voice coil wound with edge-wound copper clad aluminum wire (CCAW) on a non-conducting former driving a single-piece titanium diaphragm and surround. Celestion also supplied its new 1.4” H14-7050 70°x50° constant directivity horn. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, April 2020.

Test Bench: The 18NDLX Imperium Woofer from Fane

July 1, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: The 18NDLX Imperium Woofer from Fane

In this Test Bench, Vance Dickason receives the latest 18NDXL Imperium, a very high power handling 18" low-frequency woofer from British brand Fane. Designed by this revitalized company with a rich history, the 18NDXL Imperium includes uses as a bass driver in multiway systems or as a dedicated woofer in bass reflex or horn loaded designs. The feature set for the 18NDXL is like most high-performance pro sound drivers, rather substantial. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, April 2020.

Test Bench: The Punktkilde AUGWL0016-JN02 6.5" Midbass Driver

June 17, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: The Punktkilde AUGWL0016-JN02 6.5" Midbass Driver

In this Test Bench, Vance Dickason characterizes a home audio transducer from Eastech’s Punktkilde line, more precisely the AUGWL0016-JN02 6.5" midbass driver. This is a new model from the Punktkilde brand that features a unique Magnesium-Lithium (Mg-Li) alloy flat profile cone with a 2" diameter convex dust cap out of the same material. As Dickason notes, this is a very nice looking woofer worth taking a closer look. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, March 2020.

Audio Precision APx500 Flex Audio Analyzer — Hands-On

May 27, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Audio Precision APx500 Flex Audio Analyzer — Hands-On

Vance Dickason writes about the Audio Precision APx500 Flex Audio Analyzer and shares his hands-on experience with this latest affordable analyzer solution, designed to work with third-party USB audio recording interfaces. Dan Knighten, AP's VP of Product Development, and Michael Martin, AP's Product Marketing Manager, brought a complete system to Dickason's place and assisted him in performing a series of R&D type measurements on the same driver featured in a Test Bench column. Which means, readers can compare the readings and results directly! This article was originally published in Voice Coil, March 2020.

Test Bench: Radian Audio 835PB 1.4” Ferrite Compression Driver

April 29, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Radian Audio 835PB 1.4” Ferrite Compression Driver

This Test Bench explication focused on the 835PB ferrite 1.4” aluminum diaphragm compression driver, from Radian Audio Engineering. Features for the 835PB 3" diaphragm, 1.4" exit, compression driver includes a 3” polyimide voice coil former with a copper clad aluminum edge wound ribbon wire voice coil, a self-aligning field replaceable diaphragm assembly, and the most important feature, a proprietary processed and hardened aerospace-grade aluminum alloy diaphragm over a three slit phase plug. The 835BP is also available with a beryllium diaphragm. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, February 2020.

Test Bench: LaVoce WAN103-01 High-Power 10” Midbass Driver

April 22, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: LaVoce WAN103-01 High-Power 10” Midbass Driver

For this Test Bench, Vance Dickason characterizes the new WAN103.01 10" woofer from Italian OEM transducer manufacturer, LaVoce. All LaVoce products are designed at its headquarters in Potenza Picena, Italy, but with the logistic and price advantage of being manufactured at its purpose-built ISO 9001-certified production facility in China. The WAN103.01 is a high-sensitivity and high-power 10" driver, with a substantial feature set, which has been designed with line array and mid-bass applications in mind, using an elegant heavy duty die-cast basket and FEM optimized motor structure and suspensions.

Test Bench: Oberton ND72CT/HB 1.4” Compression Driver

April 1, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Oberton ND72CT/HB 1.4” Compression Driver

This article focuses on another pro sound OEM new to Voice Coil’s Test Bench, Oberton of Bulgaria. For this characterization, Oberton supplied the recently released ND72CT/HB 1.4" compression driver along with the H-1464 1.4” cast aluminum 60° × 40° constant directivity horn. The ND72 has two iterations available - a cotton composite diaphragm with polycotton surround - The ND72CT - and an alternative dome, named the Hybrid Dome, using a combination of carbon composite diaphragm with a center cotton composite “patch” that reduces break-up modes - the ND72HB. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, January 2020.

Test Bench: LaVoce DF10.172K 1” Compression Driver

March 25, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: LaVoce DF10.172K 1” Compression Driver

Vance Dickason welcomes a new company that, for the first time, submitted products for characterization. The DF10.172K is a new 1" compression driver from LaVoce, an Italian company founded in 2008 by Elettromedia, with its R&D center located in Potenza Picena, Italy, and manufacturing based in Jiashan, China (near Shanghai), its own purpose-built ISO 9001-certified production facility. LaVoce submitted the 1” DF10.172K compression driver combined with its own HD1003 cast aluminum 90°×40° exponential horn. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, January 2020.

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