Bandor 50mm

inrank · « **on:** 31 Oct 2007, 02:25 pm »

hi,

i have a pair of older Bandor 50mm Drivers, currently they are in a 1.2L closed box, does anyone know of any other applications for them? (prefably running full range like in a TL/BiB/Horn etc?)

this will be for low level listening in a small 11ft square room

jrebman · « **Reply #1 on:** 31 Oct 2007, 03:22 pm »

I don't know much about them so really can't help, but maybe Ed Schilling will chime in with some ideas for you. He says these are among the best drivers he's heard, and that says something. I know he doesn't/can't use them because they aren't appropriate for his horn design, but maybe he can give you some tips on what kind of design they would be good for.

-- Jim

inrank · « **Reply #2 on:** 31 Oct 2007, 04:05 pm »

thanks, some one said they had made a small Transmission Line for them, which sounds of interest, as a guess it would be quite small, which sounds nice, for maybe some very small cute floorstanders, i welcome ideas

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #3 on:** 31 Oct 2007, 04:13 pm »

I'd do what I did with a pair of 5 inch full rangers - mount them in a very skinny floor standing transmission line that can be positioned right next to a chair with the drivers at sitting ear height.
This way they can be turned towards you for an extreme near field listening experience - like headphones, but better, and turned towards the room (or not) for other times.

This set up has the big advantage of making minimum intrusion of your music into the rest of the house/apartment. In this case it also makes up for the very limited output capability of these very fine drivers - favorites of Nelson Pass, too.

jrebman · « **Reply #4 on:** 31 Oct 2007, 04:22 pm »

Just curious, how much does a pair of these cost -- delivered to the U.S., of course?

-- Jim

inrank · « **Reply #5 on:** 31 Oct 2007, 04:30 pm »

they are £61 each here, but i got mine cheap, as they are an old model

(£25/Pair ($50/Pair

))

jrebman · « **Reply #6 on:** 31 Oct 2007, 04:36 pm »

Oh. I was under the impression that these were in the same range as the Jordans -- several hundred a pair -- at least from what I can remember.

Might make for a decent small room line array with 4 to 6 pairs.

-- Jim

Ed Schilling · « **Reply #7 on:** 31 Oct 2007, 05:41 pm »

Well, I've had them for many years. They should NOT be used in anything except a sealed box. And I would not go larger than what Doreen recommends. They NEED the small box to keep from (easily) exceeding their excursion limits. They are very easy to damage when not in a sealed box. The first sign of damage will be a slight rattling or distortion. It will be slight and not obvious all the time, but don't worry, it'll get bad enough to hear all the time sooner or later.

I just gave my last working pair away. I loved them but Metallica is out of the question with a single pair and multiples ruin the "magic". My favorite speaker outperforms them in all of the areas I find more important.

I have not used them in anything but a small sealed box. Except for the usual "stick them in a lot of things just for kicks experiments".

I think, but am not sure, that 1.2 L is too large.....my hazy memory seems to think that 1/10 of a cubic foot was the number. But The real number should be easy to find.

Doreen (Bance) Jordan told me many years ago "just do what you love, Ed, it'll come to you",when I told her "I wish I could make a living building speakers". I said....."I doubt it". Damn! She was right! Her drivers helped convince me the one way was the best way.

I'd still use them (and offer a system around them) if I did not ever listen to music at "live" volumes every now and again. When used with a sub and a high power amp and kept within their spl limits they are incredible.

Ed

inrank · « **Reply #8 on:** 31 Oct 2007, 05:42 pm »

on the bandor website, "The free air cone resonance is typically 65 Hz and the recommended acoustical loading for all versions is a sealed, internally damped enclosure of 1.5 litres."

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #9 on:** 31 Oct 2007, 05:57 pm »

OK, scratch the transmission line idea and make it sealed.

You could make it skinnier than the Zigmahornets and make it into a floor standing lamp base.

inrank · « **Reply #10 on:** 31 Oct 2007, 05:59 pm »

well i have them in a sort of Omni-Directional idea at the moment, mabye an extension of that, a tall thin tower

Edit - Added Picture

inrank · « **Reply #11 on:** 31 Oct 2007, 06:23 pm »

like this....

with say the top part around 1Litre sealed , all out of 25mm MDF or Plywood then below that could be mass filled with sand etc.....

Ed Schilling · « **Reply #12 on:** 31 Oct 2007, 06:51 pm »

inrank, are yours 8 or 16 oms? I had both. If Doreen says "1.5L" well then, there you go. But in any case smaller is better than larger with them. Good luck and have fun.
Ed
BTW...the upward firing works well against a wall (Allison) but the Bandors are too inefficient to pull it off, IMO.

JLM · « **Reply #13 on:** 1 Nov 2007, 09:25 am »

Neat! 65 Hz is plenty low enough to cross to a sub, the price ain't bad at all, and that 1.5 L (90 cu. inch) volume is tiny.

From the review on the Bandor site, "This is not the speaker system (referring to these drivers matched to a dual voice coil bandpass passive sub) for those who like their music loud and heavy..." so I guess Ed would think it fine for little girls with acoustic guitars.

Hope no one mistakes the little up firing speaker as an ash tray.

inrank · « **Reply #14 on:** 1 Nov 2007, 11:42 am »

yeah 'i think' i have the 8Ohm versions, and i was thinking of adding a sub aswell, maybe one with a high pass built in at around 80/100Hz which might also help aswell

ohenry · « **Reply #15 on:** 1 Nov 2007, 02:26 pm »

Quote from: JLM on 1 Nov 2007, 09:25 am

Neat! 65 Hz is plenty low enough to cross to a sub, the price ain't bad at all, and that 1.5 L (90 cu. inch) volume is tiny.

From the review on the Bandor site, "This is not the speaker system (referring to these drivers matched to a dual voice coil bandpass passive sub) for those who like their music loud and heavy..." so I guess Ed would think it fine for little girls with acoustic guitars.

Hope no one mistakes the little up firing speaker as an ash tray.

Don't be overly concerned by Ed's "100dB at the couch" requirement and the Bandor site's warning. Thanks to Ed, I have "borrowed" his pair and with a small sub they can get loud enough for my 13x15 ft. kitchen. They really are amazing little drivers and I have them mounted in a very unflattering location. With the proper set up, a nimble sub, and fed a quality signal, these things could be wonderful. Just don't push them beyond their intended use.

jrebman · « **Reply #16 on:** 1 Nov 2007, 03:07 pm »

Henry,

You mean something like The Cube?

That's what I'm thinking anyway.

I did a few calculations and mentally sketched out a couple of ideas for these yesterday, and I think I can come up with a fairly nice, albeit unconventional design for these that won't be difficult to build and should reduce or eliminate standing waves in the cabinet.

-- Jim

P.S. -- How muchpower are you feeding them?

ohenry · « **Reply #17 on:** 1 Nov 2007, 03:30 pm »

Quote from: jrebman on 1 Nov 2007, 03:07 pm

...P.S. -- How muchpower are you feeding them?

I was using them with ASL Wave 8's @ ~8 watts/channel. Recently, I switched over to a Peter Daniel kit amp at ~40 watts/channel. The bass is a little cleaner, although the little push-pull Waves never ran out of gas and were enjoyable.

It'll be interesting to see your design ideas...

JLM · « **Reply #18 on:** 2 Nov 2007, 08:49 am »

Anyone have experience with the bigger Bandor drivers?

Still rather small (non-beaming) but according to their site a bit more efficient and handle more power.

jrebman · « **Reply #19 on:** 6 Nov 2007, 09:41 pm »

JLM,

It looks like the larger drivers are meant as bass drivers and probably won't have enough upper extension to be considered wideband, full range, or whatever is the fashionable word this week.

Bandor never replied to my emails, so I guess that's one less potential project.

-- Jim