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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

SB Acoustics Satori MR13P-4. A New Home Audio 5.25” Midrange Driver

October 4, 2017 by Vance Dickason

SB Acoustics Satori MR13P-4. A New Home Audio 5.25” Midrange Driver

The subject of this month’s explication is the SB Acoustics 5.25” MR13P-4 Satori midrange. As with the MR16P-4, the MR13P-4 is nominally a midrange version of the SB Acoustics MW13P-4 5.25” woofer, but with higher sensitivity and shorter Xmax. The MR13P-4 is built on a cosmetically attractive six-spoke frame that has a minimal reflective footprint behind the cone to reduce reflections and a completely open area beneath the spider mounting shelf for enhanced cooling— both highly desirable attributes. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, February 2017.

Visit the Klipsch Museum of Audio History - Support the Heritage Museum Association

September 25, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Visit the Klipsch Museum of Audio History - Support the Heritage Museum Association

The Klipsch Museum of Audio History is officially open since July 2017. Jim Hunter, who was Paul Klipsch’s number one engineer for many years, as well as the former Engineering Manager, and Manager of Engineering Operations at Klipsch, was tasked by the company to form the Klipsch Heritage Museum Association, Inc, upon recently retiring back to Hope, Arkansas. The Klipsch Museum of Audio History contains milestone Klipsch products, test equipment, audio source components, and even some early manufacturing equipment.

B&C Speakers 6MBX44 MBX Mid-Bass Woofer

September 21, 2017 by Vance Dickason

B&C Speakers 6MBX44 MBX Mid-Bass Woofer

This edition of Voice Coil Test Bench characterizes the 6.5” 6MBX44 driver, from Italian pro sound OEM, B&C Speakers. The new MBX series of pro sound mid-bass woofers is especially well suited for small two-way loudspeaker applications. Features for the 6MBX44 include a proprietary four twin spoke cast-aluminum frame, enhanced voice coil cooling, curvilinear waterproof paper cone and inverted paper dust cap, and a neodymium ring magnet. This article was published originally in Voice Coil, January 2017.

The MR16P-4 6.5” Satori Midrange from SB Acoustics

September 13, 2017 by Vance Dickason

The MR16P-4 6.5” Satori Midrange from SB Acoustics

The subject of this Test Bench is the recent SB Acoustics 6.5” MR16P-4 Satori midrange, which is nominally a midrange version of the SB Acoustics MW16R-4 (first reviewed in the November 2011 issue of Voice Coil) with higher sensitivity and shorter Xmax. The original Satori MW16R, while looking cosmetically similar to the Scan-Speak Illuminator 18WU series, was a well-designed driver that has established itself as a true high-end home audio competitor. This article was published originally in Voice Coil, January 2017.

New Driver Technology from Fibona Acoustics

September 6, 2017 by Vance Dickason

New Driver Technology from Fibona Acoustics

Fibona Acoustics, founded in 2015 and headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, has introduced a new patented driver technology Enclosure Magnet Coaxial Transducer (EMCT), developed by Milad Kahfizadeh, an industry veteran and the company's founder. The design has a shallow coaxial design of the diaphragm, a self-containing enclosure, and high sensitivity, with improved high frequency sound dispersion.

Test Bench: Dayton Audio DSA175 Designer Series 6.5” Woofer

August 23, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Dayton Audio DSA175 Designer Series 6.5” Woofer

This month’s Test Bench samples came from US OEM, Dayton Audio. I received a home audio 6.5” woofer, the DSA175, from the brand’s popular Designer Series of aluminum cone woofers. Each product in this line incorporates proprietary stamped steel frame with a thin mounting lip that enables front mounting without insetting the driver (surface mounted), high relative XMAX, with paper cones for the DS series and aluminum cones for the DSA series. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, December 2016.

Test Bench: B&C Speaker 8MBX51 Midbass Woofer

July 20, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: B&C Speaker 8MBX51 Midbass Woofer

This month’s Test Bench is part of B&C Speakers' MBX series of mid-bass woofers, the 8MBX51. The MBX series offer acoustic designers a new range of high efficiency, wide bandwidth alternatives that were not previously available from B&C Speakers, and are especially well suited for two-way loudspeaker applications. Features for the 8MBX51 are fairly impressive. Cosmetically speaking, this is also a good looking driver. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, November 2016.

Test Bench: Faital Pro HF108R Compression Driver

July 12, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Faital Pro HF108R Compression Driver

This month’s Test Bench samples came from a premier Italian Pro Sound OEM driver manufacturer. From Faital Pro, I received the HF108R compression driver coupled with a LTH102 60° × 50° horn. The HF108R is the latest in Faital Pro’s series of Ketone Polymer diaphragm 1” compression drivers. I reviewed the HF108 compression driver in April 2015, and included some data on the HF108R. However, this transducer is different enough that it deserves a separate review. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, November 2016.

Test Bench: Wavecor SW223BD03 8.75-Inch High XMAX Subwoofer

July 1, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Wavecor SW223BD03 8.75-Inch High XMAX Subwoofer

For this Test Bench, Vance Dickason characterizes Wavecor’s new 8.75” high XMAX subwoofer, model SW223BD03. As Dickason reminds us, this new subwoofer is part of the brand's rather extensive line of subwoofers — ranging in size from 2.75” to 12”. Voice Coil featured the 4 Ω version of this device, the SW223BD02, in the April 2015 issue. Wavecor’s SW223BD03, which is the 8 Ω version. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, October 2016.

Test Bench: A Redesigned DE990TN-8 1.4” Compression Driver from B&C Speakers

June 28, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: A Redesigned DE990TN-8 1.4” Compression Driver from B&C Speakers

The compression driver/horn that I received for testing in this edition of Test Bench was the redesigned B&C Speakers DE990TN-8, a 1.4” neodymium motor compression driver with a titanium diaphragm coupled with the ME90 horn. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, September 2016.

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