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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 - Dayton Audio ES180Ti-8 7” High-End Midbass Woofer
December 8, 2015 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench - Dayton Audio ES180Ti-8 7” High-End Midbass Woofer

In this test, Vance Dickason characterizes a 7” midwoofer from Dayton Audio’s Esoteric Series of home-audio oriented drivers. The ES180TI-8 is a very good-looking driver with a well thought out neodymium magnet motor design, FEA designed. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, December 2014.
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Test Bench - Celestion CF1840JD 18” subwoofer
November 27, 2015 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench - Celestion CF1840JD 18” subwoofer

This Test Bench analysis discusses Celestion CF1840JD pro sound 18” woofer. The CF1840JD is a fairly high power handling woofer rated at 1,000 WRMS (AES standard), featuring a substantial ferrite finite element analysis (FEA) optimized motor assembly, an 18” Kevlar-loaded paper cone and large 5.5” diameter paper dust cap. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, December 2014.
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Test Bench - Acustica Beyma’s 12CXA400Nd 12” Pro Sound Coaxial Driver
November 24, 2015 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench - Acustica Beyma’s 12CXA400Nd 12” Pro Sound Coaxial Driver

Pro sound OEM driver manufacturer Acustica Beyma's extensive line of pro sound coaxial drivers now includes the 12CXA400Nd 12” coaxial driver. Applications for 12” drivers include floor monitors for stage use, studio monitors, or any requirement where baffle space is limited. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, October 2014.
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Test Bench - Tymphany Peerless SLS-85S25CP-04-04 3.5” Woofer
November 16, 2015 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench - Tymphany Peerless SLS-85S25CP-04-04 3.5” Woofer

The Tymphany SLS-85S25CP-04-04 mini-woofer is extensively used in TV soundbars, pedestal soundbars (soundbars that contain down firing subwoofers that double as a TV stand), docking stations/Bluetooth powered speakers, and desktop speakers (e.g., the Sonos products, Jambox, and many others). For two-way applications in these categories, this LS-85S25CP-04-04 is a good example of what works.
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Test Bench - BMS 18S450 18” Pro Sound Subwoofer
October 21, 2015 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench - BMS 18S450 18” Pro Sound Subwoofer

Voice Coil characterizes an 18” pro sound subwoofer from BMS Speakers, a noted German pro sound company. The BMS 18S450 is high power handling woofer rated at 1,200 WRMS. It weighs a moderate (for an 18”) 32 lb. Features for the 18S450 are rather substantial and include a proprietary eight-spoke cast-aluminum frame. This article was originally published in Voice Coil August 2104.
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Test Bench - B&C Speakers 12NDL88 12” Woofer
October 12, 2015 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench - B&C Speakers 12NDL88 12” Woofer

This Test Bench is about the 12NDL88 from Italian pro sound OEM, B&C Speakers. The 12NDL88 is a new 12” high sound pressure level (SPL) woofer, with a neodymium motor and a continuous power handling rating of 1,400 W (700 W RMS). This article was originally published in Voice Coil, August 2015.
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An Interview with Patrick Turnmire
September 8, 2015 by Vance Dickason

An Interview with Patrick Turnmire

This interview was published in Voice Coil August 2013. Nearly 10 years since Patrick Turnmire, of Redrock Acoustics, had started providing Voice Coil with valuable Klippel data for Vance Dickason’s the Test Bench column. In this interview Patrick Turnmire explains his work with his company, Redrock Acoustics.
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Listen Releases SoundCheck 14 - Now Also Available for Mac OS X
August 20, 2015 by Vance Dickason

Listen Releases SoundCheck 14 - Now Also Available for Mac OS X

Listen, Inc., has released SoundCheck 14. This new version of the company’s audio measurement software includes many features to simplify user setup, such as a redesigned setup wizard that guides you through the process of copying your settings and sequences to the new version. SoundCheck 14 is also the first software version available as a native 64-bit application for use on Mac OS X.
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New Speaker Drivers for 2015 from B&C Speakers
July 20, 2015 by Vance Dickason

New Speaker Drivers for 2015 from B&C Speakers

Italian loudspeaker specialist B&C Speakers introduced several new drivers and improved solutions since NAMM 2015 and the 2015 ProLight+Sound show in Frankfurt. In addition to the new MBX woofer series, B&C Speakers released three new titanium diaphragm compression drivers, two large diameter subwoofers, two midbass drivers, and three sealed back midrange devices.
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Klippel’s Three-Day Lecture on Sound Quality of Audio Systems
March 4, 2015 by Vance Dickason

Klippel’s Three-Day Lecture on Sound Quality of Audio Systems

Registrations are open for engineers active in audio product and loudspeaker design, research & development and quality control and all interested students wishing to attend the 3 day lecture “Sound Quality of Audio Systems - Modeling, Measurement, and Control”” by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Klippel at Dresden University of Technology, March 23-25, 2015.
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