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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: Omega Audio ODT29 Cloth Dome Tweeter

January 7, 2021 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Omega Audio ODT29 Cloth Dome Tweeter

On this Test Bench, Vance Dickason offers a characterization of the ODT29 fabric dome tweeter from Omega Audio, an OEM transducer manufacturer new to the pages of Voice Coil. The company, headquartered in Holon, Israel, was founded in 1978 when the founder of Omega Audio, Levi Mordechai left Morel. All of Omega Audio’s ODT line of tweeters, dome midranges are handmade in the company's facility, from dome coating to coil winding and motor assembly. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, October 2020.

Test Bench: Scan-Speak 21WE/4542T00 Ellipticor Midwoofer

December 30, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Scan-Speak 21WE/4542T00 Ellipticor Midwoofer

This Test Bench article focuses on the Scan-Speak Ellipticor 21WE/4542T00 midrange woofer, an impressive looking driver. The motor design for the Ellipticor 21WE/4542T00 is again an AirCirc multi-magnet and patented SD design, using an elliptical two-layer voice coil wound with round copper wire on a titanium former. Motor parts include polished front and back plates for the neodymium magnets that incorporates a 12 mm diameter rear vent for additional cooling. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, October 2020.

Test Bench: SB Acoustics Satori TW29TXN-B-4 TeXtreme Diaphragm Tweeter

November 19, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: SB Acoustics Satori TW29TXN-B-4 TeXtreme Diaphragm Tweeter

In this Test Bench article, Vance Dickason focused on a home audio TeXtreme diaphragm tweeter from SB Acoustics' Satori line, the TW29TXN-B-4. What makes this tweeter so special is that it has a new TeXtreme diaphragm, a novel type of material that is used in applications that require a high degree of stiffness performance in combination with ultra-light weight. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, September 2020.

Test Bench: The LT2 Ribbon Transducer and Waveguide from Radian Audio Engineering

November 12, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: The LT2 Ribbon Transducer and Waveguide from Radian Audio Engineering

For this Test Bench, Vance Dickason characterized the LT2 Ribbon Transducer and corresponding waveguide from Radian Audio Engineering. This is effectively a smaller version of the LT6 ribbon transducer reviewed in the July 2020 issue of Voice Coil, but offering much more diverse possibilities, as Vance Dickason discovers. And as the compact LT2 shows, this was designed to be more of a hi-fi or home theater substitute for any high frequency driver. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, August 2020.

Test Bench: The 140FCD 1” Compression Driver from REDCATT

November 3, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: The 140FCD 1” Compression Driver from REDCATT

This Test Bench edition characterizes the 140FCD 1" compression driver from REDCATT, a relatively new OEM pro sound driver manufacturer - a privately held, international company established in 2014 and based in FuMing Industrial City, DongGuan, China. The core management team at REDCATT has been sourcing and building transducer components, sub-assemblies and systems in China for more than 25 years, and its team members have been working around the world for the biggest companies in the audio market with direct R&D and manufacturing experience. This article was published originally in Voice Coil, August 2020.

Test Bench: The LD25X High-End Tweeter from Creative Sound Solutions

October 7, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: The LD25X High-End Tweeter from Creative Sound Solutions

This Test Bench article addresses an interesting home audio tweeter from Creative Sound Solutions (CSS). The company sent Voice Coil its latest high-end tweeter, the LD25X, a special driver with a unique dual-gap patented XBL2 motor. CSS licenses the XBL2 technology from inventor Dan Wiggins for two of their woofers and for the LD25X tweeter. The XBL2 motor features a short voice coil traveling between two gaps, allowing for a higher Xmax than most conventional motors can provide. The LD25X tweeter features a 25mm silk dome diaphragm and flat silk surround, in a 73 mm diameter six screw cast-aluminum faceplate anodized semi-flat black. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, July 2020.

Test Bench: The SEAS L19RNX1 Prestige Titan Series Woofer

October 1, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: The SEAS L19RNX1 Prestige Titan Series Woofer

In this edition of Test Bench, Vance Dickason characterizes the recently announced SEAS L19RNX1 woofer from the company's new Prestige Titan Series. The L19RNX1 is the second woofer in this new 19 cm series of SEAS woofers, the first being the W19NX001 Excel Graphene-coated magnesium cone woofer. The L19RNX1 7” woofer uses a frame that is completely open beneath the spider mounting shelf, and with a small 12 mm diameter pole vent, so substantial air can be pumped past the voice coil and over the front plate. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, July 2020.

Test Bench: Oberton ND45 Pro Sound Compression Driver

September 2, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Oberton ND45 Pro Sound Compression Driver

For this Voice Coil Test Bench, Vance Dickason characterized the ND45 compression driver from Oberton, which has been in development for some time, and is an improved version of the company's previous ND2545 design. The ND45 was submitted along with the H-960 1" throat PBT-PET 90x 60º constant directivity horn. The ND45 has a 44 mm (1.75”) diameter two-layer voice coil wound with aluminum wire wound onto a Kapton former driving a polyester sandwich diaphragm and vented surround, with the entire assembly being field replaceable. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, September 2020.

Test Bench: Radian Audio Engineering’s LT6 Horn-Loaded Ribbon Planar Device

August 27, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Radian Audio Engineering’s LT6 Horn-Loaded Ribbon Planar Device

In this article, Vance Dickason measures the Radian Audio Engineering's LT6 Horn-Loaded Ribbon Device, part of an expanding series designed by 35-year loudspeaker engineering veteran Igor Levitsky for the Californian manufacturer. The LT6 is a pro sound driver but was designed to be a more hi-fidelity substitute for 1" compression drivers, and that is a direct result of Levitsky extensive experience in designing high-end residential, and cinema sound systems. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, June 2020.

Test Bench: Eminence’s NSW6021-6 21” Neodymium Low-Frequency Woofer

August 19, 2020 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Eminence’s NSW6021-6 21” Neodymium Low-Frequency Woofer

This Test bench measures the massive Eminence NSW6021-6 21" neodymium low-frequency woofer, part of the company's recently announced Tour Grade series. This family of pro audio woofers consists of two 18" options, including the Ferrite Magnet FSW4018-8, and the Neodymium Magnet NSW4018-8 that appeared in the March 2020 Test Bench. The NSW6021-6 is a very high power handling 21" woofer, designed over two years to support the requirements of touring sound professionals who want to move more air, more efficiently, and without failures in a wide range of applications and venues. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, June 2020.

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