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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: B&C Speakers 8NSM64 Closed-Back Midrange

May 17, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: B&C Speakers 8NSM64 Closed-Back Midrange

The 8” 8NSM64 is a rather unique new pro sound midrange driver from B&C Speakers. It’s a closed-back midrange! Closed-back midranges are often associated with cheap speakers because by using a frame with no relief holes in the back, you don’t have to build a midrange chamber. In this case, the 8NSM64 is a very high-power handling (500 W continuous) 8” midrange for professional PA applications, with a reasonable volume that can be damped with absorption material. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, July 2016.

Test Bench: TB Speaker 25-2176S Dome Tweeter

May 10, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: TB Speaker 25-2176S Dome Tweeter

The new Tang Band Speaker 25-2176S 1” dome tweeter features a 25 mm wide surround coated fabric diaphragm optimized for high-frequency cutoff above 20 kHz, a unique aluminum assembly that is both self-shielding and acts as a heatsink, a unique aluminum mounting ring for screw down mounting up to 0.5” mounting depth, ferrofluid voice coil cooling and resonance damping, plus gold-plated terminals. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, July 2016.

Test Bench: Fountek NeoX 3.0 Ribbon Tweeter

May 4, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Fountek NeoX 3.0 Ribbon Tweeter

The transducer I characterized in this Test Bench is a high-end ribbon tweeter from a Shanghai, China-based company, Fountek Electronics Co., Ltd. Fountek was founded in April 2003 with a mission statement to supply strictly high-end two-channel products. We received its new third-generation ribbon tweeter, the NeoX 3.0, with an 80 mm × 12 mm × 0.15 mm thick reinforced sandwich (960 mm2 radiating area), closed-back injection-molded rear cavity with two aluminum heatsinks and a built-in transformer. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, July 2016.

Test Bench: Scan-Speak 18M-4631T00 Revelator 6.5” Midrange Driver

April 13, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Scan-Speak 18M-4631T00 Revelator 6.5” Midrange Driver

This Test Bench characterizes the Scan-Speak 6.5” 18M/4631T00 Revelator midrange driver, nominally a midrange version of the Scan-Speak 18W/8531G00 with higher sensitivity and shorter XMAX. The original Scan-Speak 18W/8531G00 was a true high-end audio classic and probably one of the most visible high-end drivers ever used in high-end loudspeakers. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, June 2016.

Test Bench: Two Beryllium Tweeters from Scan-Speak - D3004-604010 and the D3004-604000

April 5, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Two Beryllium Tweeters from Scan-Speak - D3004-604010 and the D3004-604000

In this edition of Voice Coil's Test Bench we review two beryllium dome tweeters from Scan-Speak. These two new beryllium diaphragm neodymium motor tweeters, the D3004/604010 and the D3004/604000, basically share the same platform, with the major difference being the D3004/604010 has a lower Fs due to the larger rear cavity. Both tweeters use a Materion 26-mm 99% pure beryllium dome. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, May 2016

Test Bench: Bozhen New Audio Lab CQ66 Ribbon Tweeter

March 29, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Bozhen New Audio Lab CQ66 Ribbon Tweeter

This month brought an interesting high-frequency driver to Voice Coil’s Test Bench, a new high-end ribbon tweeter from a Shenzhen, China-based company, Bozhen New Audio Lab. From Bozhen, we received the CQ66, which is the next generation of its CQ76 ribbon tweeter (featured in Voice Coil’s April 2013 issue). This article was originally published in Voice Coil, May 2016.

Test Bench: The SB42FHCL75-6 15” Subwoofer from SB Acoustics

March 14, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: The SB42FHCL75-6 15” Subwoofer from SB Acoustics

In this edition of Test Bench, we characterize the SB42FHCL75-6, a 15” home audio subwoofer from OEM driver manufacturer SB Acoustics. The SB42FHCL75-6 has an impressive feature set, with a stiff 15” cone, NBR high-excursion surround, and 6.5” diameter flat cloth spider, driven by a 3” four layer voice coil. The motor system utilizes two stacked 20-mm thick ferrite magnets sandwiched between a polished 8-mm thick front plate. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, April 2016.

Test Bench: Tang Band RT-2202S Ribbon High-Frequency Transducer

March 6, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Tang Band RT-2202S Ribbon High-Frequency Transducer

This month, I received a ribbon transducer for Test Bench analysis from Tang Band (TB) Speaker. The RT-2202S device is a closed-back ribbon tweeter with a fairly small 30 mm × 10 mm ribbon diaphragm. Features include a thin aluminum foil diaphragm, an injection-molded face plate, a metal chassis, Nd-Fe-B (neodymium) magnet, and a matching transformer. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, April 2016.

February 24, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Dayton Audio LW150-4 6” Ultra-Low-Profile Midwoofer

This edition of Test Bench characterizes Dayton Audio’s new 6” diameter ultra-low-profile midwoofer, the LW150-4. This is a new ultrathin profile cone 6” diameter midbass driver featuring a six-spoke cast-aluminum frame with a 1.5” total depth. The depth reduction is significant as the motor assembly is housed inside the frame and uses a neodymium slug and a 1.5” diameter return cup that incorporates a T-pole. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, March 2016.

Test Bench: Eminence N314T-8 with H14EA Horn and N320T-8 with H2EA Horn

February 23, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Eminence N314T-8 with H14EA Horn and N320T-8 with H2EA Horn

In this Test Bench, Voice Coil characterizes two high-end compression drivers and horns from Eminence, the N314T-8 with the H14EA horn, and the N320T-8 with the H2EA horn. Both these neodymium motor compression drivers from Eminence share pretty much the same feature set. The main difference is the N314T-8 is configured for a 1.4” throat, and the N320T-8 is configured for a 2” diameter throat. This article was originally published in audioXpress, March 2016.

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