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.

This is certainly a very heterogeneous edition of Voice Coil. It features a special report about manufacturing in Vietnam, complete with a directory and a list of trade shows. Igor Levitsky returns to offer valuable details about the latest Radian Audio Engineering LT2/LT6 Ribbon Planar transducers. James Croft reviews a "Venting System for Vehicle Speaker Assembly patent," recently granted to Harman. And, Vance Dickason characterizes the ND45 1" compression driver from Oberton, and the TW29TXN-B-4 TeXtreme diaphragm tweeter from SB Acoustics' Satori line. Voice Coil September 2020 is now available online and in print.

Oberton has announced the company's latest 1-inch exist high neodymium frequency compression driver. The ND45 is an improved version of the company's ND2545 model, now incorporating a new phase plug, new dome with vented suspension and copper inductance ring, all aiming to improve its sound characteristics and ensure very low distortion at high sound levels. As Oberton highlights, the smooth impedance response of the ND45 in the crossover region will ensure perfect results with passive crossovers.

This Test Bench focuses on a very special new Eminence product, the new N314X 1.4" compression driver. The N314X is the first compression driver that uses TeXtreme composite for a diaphragm. TeXtreme thin-ply carbon is a novel type of material that is used in applications that require a high degree of stiffness performance in combination with ultralight weight. Designed for use with 1.4” throat horns, the N314X compression driver has a 35.6 mm (1.4”) throat diameter driven by a 3" diameter voice coil wound with round copper-clad aluminum wire (CCAW) on a non-conducting polyimide former driving the TeXtreme diaphragm and PEN surround. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, May 2020.

The transducer Celestion sent for this Test Bench joins the extensive CDX line of neodymium motor compression drivers. Designed for use with 1.4” throat horns, the CDX14-3040 is driven by a 75 mm (3") diameter voice coil wound with edge-wound copper clad aluminum wire (CCAW) on a non-conducting former driving a single-piece titanium diaphragm and surround. Celestion also supplied its new 1.4” H14-7050 70°x50° constant directivity horn. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, April 2020.

This Test Bench explication focused on the 835PB ferrite 1.4” aluminum diaphragm compression driver, from Radian Audio Engineering. Features for the 835PB 3" diaphragm, 1.4" exit, compression driver includes a 3” polyimide voice coil former with a copper clad aluminum edge wound ribbon wire voice coil, a self-aligning field replaceable diaphragm assembly, and the most important feature, a proprietary processed and hardened aerospace-grade aluminum alloy diaphragm over a three slit phase plug. The 835BP is also available with a beryllium diaphragm. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, February 2020.

In this very strong edition of Voice Coil, focused on up-to-date topics for loudspeaker professionals, we discuss the industry's Asian supply chain, how a new carbon composite dome compares with Beryllium and Titanium products, and James Croft reviews a recent electrostatic loudspeaker (ESL) patent. Vance Dickason focuses his attention on two innovations coming from Eminence, in two extreme product categories. The new Eminence NSW4018-8 18" Tour Grade Woofer, and the new N314X 1.4" compression driver, which is the first to use TeXtreme composite material for the diaphragm. Download your copy now!

This article focuses on another pro sound OEM new to Voice Coil’s Test Bench, Oberton of Bulgaria. For this characterization, Oberton supplied the recently released ND72CT/HB 1.4" compression driver along with the H-1464 1.4” cast aluminum 60° × 40° constant directivity horn. The ND72 has two iterations available - a cotton composite diaphragm with polycotton surround - The ND72CT - and an alternative dome, named the Hybrid Dome, using a combination of carbon composite diaphragm with a center cotton composite “patch” that reduces break-up modes - the ND72HB. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, January 2020.

As scheduled, Voice Coil April 2020 is now available in print and digital, connecting loudspeaker professionals in these challenging times. This month, Mike Klasco (Menlo Scientific) discusses Mobile Audio and Microspeakers, which is also the topic of this month's updated directory. James Croft reviews a patent from Harman, while Vance Dickason characterizes the new 18NDLX Imperium woofer from Fane and the CDX14-3040 compression driver from Celestion. Download now and start reading!

Vance Dickason welcomes a new company that, for the first time, submitted products for characterization. The DF10.172K is a new 1" compression driver from LaVoce, an Italian company founded in 2008 by Elettromedia, with its R&D center located in Potenza Picena, Italy, and manufacturing based in Jiashan, China (near Shanghai), its own purpose-built ISO 9001-certified production facility. LaVoce submitted the 1” DF10.172K compression driver combined with its own HD1003 cast aluminum 90°×40° exponential horn. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, January 2020.