Expanded Perspectives on Loudspeaker Enclosure Materials with Voice Coil March 2019

Voice Coil March 2019 is now available and this issue focuses on the vital, but seldom addressed, topic of loudspeaker enclosure materials. Mike Klasco reviews and looks ahead at all the materials and design approaches for loudspeaker enclosures, and the edition also includes a complete directory for sourcing vendors in this area. James Croft reviews a Coaxial Centerbody Point-Source (CCPS) Horn Speaker System patent, and Vance Dickason characterizes three new tweeters on Test Bench.

2018 was another record-breaking year for audioXpress.com with visits and users doubling the figures compared to our record year in 2016. Want to know which of the topics and stories published online in 2018 were the most popular? We looked at the most-read articles of 2018 in audioXpress.com (which also includes selected articles from Voice Coil magazine), and we created this Top 10 list of news stories and online articles. Here are the results!

In this edition, audioXpress pays tribute to one of its most esteemed and prolific writers, Ron Tipton (1936–2018). In our cover feature, Scott Dorsey details his fascinating visit to the Library of Congress National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. Tom Perazella concludes the construction of his flagship Egg Speakers, Andy Lewis explains more about Back EMF, Peter Lehmann shares his time-alignment design for a two-way speaker, and Ethan Winer shares his experience with the affordable LabNation SmartScope USB oscilloscope. And that's just the start of another great edition, now available in print and online.

Once again, audioXpress focuses on loudspeaker building, design, and testing in its September edition. We have three great speaker DIY projects that are certain to inspire our readers, Geoff Hill explains how speaker measurements are evolving under the latest Audio Engineering Society (AES) efforts, and Richard Honeycutt writes about modulation distortion in loudspeakers. We interviewed Crispin Herrod-Taylor, the designer of the amazing SoundBuckets portable speakers, we explain all you need to know about the latest HDMI Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC) specification, and Ward Maas tells the story of Infineon's new energy-efficient multi-level amplifiers.

In this review, Oliver A. Masciarotte shares his experience with the surprising SB Acoustics Rinjani and Ara speaker kits, which feature the high-end Satori TW29R Tweeter, the MW16P-4, and the MW16P-8 midwoofers from the brand. Masciarotte had the opportunity to live for some weeks with these exquisite Rinjani speakers - a name inspired by the famous volcano mountain in Lombok, Indonesia, a place of immense natural beauty. This article was originally published in audioXpress, September 2017.

This year we thought our readers would like to know which of the topics and stories published online in 2017 were the most popular for our community. We looked at the most-read articles of 2017 in audioXpress.com (which also includes selected articles from Voice Coil magazine), and we created this Top 10 list of news stories and online articles. Here are the results!

In May 2016, following the Munich High End show, audioXpress published a short article preview of SB Acoustics' highly anticipated new drivers, including the brand's flagship TW29BN high-end beryllium dome tweeter, part of its Satori top performing range. The new drivers, also included new midrange and midwoofer drivers using new proprietary cones made with Egyptian papyrus fibers, available in 5" to 9.5" sizes. Thomas Perazella, an esteemed frequent contributor to audioXpress, had an idea for a new speaker project using those drivers!

For this Test Bench, SB Acoustics sent its new high-end Satori line neodymium 29 mm beryllium dome tweeter, the TW29BN. Features include a 29 mm wide surround beryllium diaphragm sourced from Materion, a non-reflective cast-aluminum rear cavity, a two-part aluminum faceplate with integrated mechanical decoupling, dual balanced compression chambers, a high-saturation neodymium ring type motor magnet with a T-shaped pole and dual copper cap shorting rings. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, February 2017.

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.

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.