How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic. Read 18349 times.

Ultralight

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 381
How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« on: 8 Jun 2011, 06:05 am »
Still a newbie and learning.  Appreciate all the responses on this forum to my previous queries. 

Quick question from noodling around on the web.  Saw the speaker below.  How does a speaker that size and with a single driver produce 20-20khz?     Is it highly overclaimed? 

http://www.decware.com/newsite/HORN.html

Thanks in advance for any help in understanding.

Thanks,
UL

ps: I see that anyone can purchase a pair of the drivers for under $230 total so its not some hyper expensive exotic driver.

planet10

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 1925
  • Frugal-phile (tm)
    • planet10-hifi
Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #1 on: 8 Jun 2011, 06:28 am »
Within reasonable constraints (ie +/3 dB, +/5 dB) it doesn't. Some drivers in the right box are getting 40-20k thou.

Very few loudspeakers can do 20-20k. VERY FEW.

dave

Ultralight

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 381
Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #2 on: 8 Jun 2011, 06:48 am »
planet10,

THANKS.  40-20K is still incredibly impressive to me - and preclude the use of a sub in most cases.  This reminds me that I need to give you a call and discuss the possibility of getting something from you.  Still learning.

I did hear an incredible single driver that's probably horn design a couple of days ago.  I think it was a 5" or so driver and was just breathtaking in the type of application I have - nearfield from about 4 feet away. Of course, I wasn't willing to pawn my first born AND second born to acquire that.

Thanks again.

UL

chrisby

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 772
Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #3 on: 8 Jun 2011, 07:39 am »
planet10,

THANKS.  40-20K is still incredibly impressive to me - and preclude the use of a sub in most cases.  This reminds me that I need to give you a call and discuss the possibility of getting something from you.  Still learning.

I did hear an incredible single driver that's probably horn design a couple of days ago.  I think it was a 5" or so driver and was just breathtaking in the type of application I have - nearfield from about 4 feet away. Of course, I wasn't willing to pawn my first born AND second born to acquire that.

Thanks again.

UL

OK, we bite,  what was it?

as Dave suggested,  a lot of multiways would have trouble with a "solid" 20-20K of the sort pictured in the Decware graphics


edit:  as your own PS suggests you understand,  the drivers in a single-driver/wide-band speaker system are (arguably only a small) part of the story  - often much of which is fiction or hopeful thinking

sebrof

Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #4 on: 8 Jun 2011, 07:43 am »
Still a newbie and learning.  Appreciate all the responses on this forum to my previous queries. 

Quick question from noodling around on the web.  Saw the speaker below.  How does a speaker that size and with a single driver produce 20-20khz?     Is it highly overclaimed? 

http://www.decware.com/newsite/HORN.html

Thanks in advance for any help in understanding.

Thanks,
UL

ps: I see that anyone can purchase a pair of the drivers for under $230 total so its not some hyper expensive exotic driver.

I guess tehcnically any speaker will do 20Hz, just like any little econo car will do 200 mph (if you drive it over a cliff with a tail wind). It's putting something out at 20Hz but way way down from average output.
In your follow up post you mentioned expensive full rangers you heard. From what I've seen there are a lot of similar speakers to the ones you mention at reasonable prices (< $2K or so).
Sounds like you are considering DIY?

planet10

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 1925
  • Frugal-phile (tm)
    • planet10-hifi
Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #5 on: 8 Jun 2011, 07:58 am »
40-20K is still incredibly impressive to me - and preclude the use of a sub in most cases.

It may reach 40, but won't move as much air as a sub. Best of both worlds is a good FR gently high passed at 60-100 hz, with 2 or more powered woofers below. Relieving the FR of low bass really helps with dynamics & high level reproduction... and with midrange finesse.

Quote
I did hear an incredible single driver that's probably horn design a couple of days ago.  I think it was a 5" or so driver and was just breathtaking in the type of application I have - nearfield from about 4 feet away. Of course, I wasn't willing to pawn my first born AND second born to acquire that.


Not necessarily. For nearfield like that something like Frugel-Horn Mk3 can go a looong ways.

dave

planet10

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 1925
  • Frugal-phile (tm)
    • planet10-hifi
Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #6 on: 8 Jun 2011, 08:00 am »
Sounds like you are considering DIY?

In the single driver world, the best boxes are diy -- or not far removed from it.

dave

JohnR

Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #7 on: 8 Jun 2011, 09:17 am »
Headphones will do 20-20,000 Hz. As sebrof indicates, there's more to it than that though. At the bottom end, output is (severely) limited by excursion requirements. At the top end, all (*) drivers reduce the angle over which they radiate as they go up in frequency. (*) OK, almost all. I guess the point is that there's more to it than a couple of numbers - loudspeakers radiate into 3D space, and the input variables to any "spec" (should) include not just frequency but also output level.

But, horses for courses and all that. I like single-driver speakers, I'm listening to one now. Someone said something recently about the 21 flavours of icecream.

JLM

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 10668
  • The elephant normally IS the room
Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #8 on: 9 Jun 2011, 09:26 pm »
Just keep in mind that the 20 - 20,000 Hz mantra is an old bit of marketing hype that has never gone away.  Except for huge pipe organs, 32 Hz is the bottom for "real" music.  Old timers looked for 80 - 8,000 Hz (being limited to low powered tube amps).

The manufacturer's specs look impressive and Tang-Bang has been putting out some respected drivers of late.  The neodymium magnet, Fs of 45 Hz, Xmax of 5 mm, and $122 USD price via parts express are all impressive, especially for a 5 inch driver.

In terms of bass output its all about the laws of physics.  Big drivers go lower and are more efficient.  Cabinets only effect 300Hz and below, again bigger is better.  But I just don't see how any 5 inch driver could reach anything close to 20 Hz in room at "reasonable" spls (and I'm no headbanger), especially an 88 dB/w/m driver with 6 wpc amps.  And that "horn" design looks more like a sealed cabinet that has a small horn "leak" than anything I've seen.  Maybe the laws of physics change in Peoria?

planet10

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 1925
  • Frugal-phile (tm)
    • planet10-hifi
Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #9 on: 9 Jun 2011, 09:55 pm »
And that "horn" design looks more like a sealed cabinet that has a small horn "leak" than anything I've seen. 

The offical class is BVR (Big Vent Reflex). Earliest ones are things like the Jensen UltraFlex. More recent are the Replikons, the original Spawns (Bruce, Iris, Harvey) and the Spawn Changs.

dave

Ultralight

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 381
Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #10 on: 9 Jun 2011, 10:59 pm »
Thanks everyone for the comments.

Chrisby, I wasn't trying to be coy.  Just figure no point mentioning a $18K single driver speaker, albeit with internal amplification.   The speaker I heard is the Earo High Definition ULF model.  5" driver I think.  I heard the speaker by itself without any sub.

I wonder how that 5" Tang Band compare with the Mark Audio drivers.

Thanks again.

UL

nickd

Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #11 on: 9 Jun 2011, 11:29 pm »
20hz??? :scratch:
I'm not convinced. Very nice box design though. If it will output 20hz at all, the IMD must be off the chart at 20khz

The Decware Co does have some very creative designs and great marketing skills. I'm a "two way + sub" kind of fellow but I still want to play with a pair of those. :green:

planet10

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 1925
  • Frugal-phile (tm)
    • planet10-hifi
Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #12 on: 9 Jun 2011, 11:42 pm »
the IMD must be off the chart at 20khz...  I'm a "two way + sub" kind of fellow

I'm a 1-way with multiple woofers guy, but mostly have the woofers disconnected,

Decware shows a graph, but it is terminus output seperate from driver output. It ignores the relative phase and separation of the 2 sources. Without a combined output everything below ~300 hz is meaningless.

dave

Retsel

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 11
Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #13 on: 20 Mar 2012, 09:19 pm »
The Kleinhorn is probably the most extreme backhorn one could imagine, and it cannot achieve 20 hz to 20K hz.  See:

http://www.passdiy.com/pdf/KleinHorn2.pdf

Retsel

Æ

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 859
Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #14 on: 20 Mar 2012, 09:33 pm »
Still a newbie and learning.  Appreciate all the responses on this forum to my previous queries. 

Quick question from noodling around on the web.  Saw the speaker below.  How does a speaker that size and with a single driver produce 20-20khz?     Is it highly overclaimed? 

http://www.decware.com/newsite/HORN.html

Thanks in advance for any help in understanding.

Thanks,
UL

ps: I see that anyone can purchase a pair of the drivers for under $230 total so its not some hyper expensive exotic driver.


As others have stated, most full range drivers are not capable of 20-20Khz. Since most adults cannot hear 20Khz it isn't absolutely necessary anyway. When it comes to bass there is no replacement for displacement. A big 12" - 15" full range in a large enclosure would be your best bet if you are wanting to get a lot of deep bass.

FullRangeMan

  • Volunteer
  • Posts: 20027
  • To whom more was given more will be required.
    • Never go to a psychiatrist, adopt a straycat or dog. On the street they live only two years average.
Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #15 on: 20 Mar 2012, 10:59 pm »
Still a newbie and learning.  Appreciate all the responses on this forum to my previous queries. 

Quick question from noodling around on the web.  Saw the speaker below.  How does a speaker that size and with a single driver produce 20-20khz?     Is it highly overclaimed? 

http://www.decware.com/newsite/HORN.html

Thanks in advance for any help in understanding.

Thanks,
UL

ps: I see that anyone can purchase a pair of the drivers for under $230 total so its not some hyper expensive exotic driver.
How does a speaker that size and with a single driver produce 20-20khz?
A fullrange driver is different from a woofer, the designer chooses certain characteristics that favor the desired result(full range performance) as a small voice coil, a very light cone, a very loose suspension, huge gauss power on the GAP, etc., and manipulating these all characteristics it is possible to get a good sound.

Fortunately, to get great sound is not necessary 20-20.000Hz performance, as a low bass can be up by the box(usually a big box).
The old-fashioned materials are paper cone, cloth suspension, Alnico magnet(to the sweetest harmonics), aluminium frame is good to coller the voice coil, but brass chassis are much better to the sound quality.

geowak

Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #16 on: 20 Mar 2012, 11:16 pm »
I do not know the technical side of it, but I know some Chinese companies are building speakers based on the old Western Electric single driver design. Most notably Line Magnetic Audio.

I heard one of these speakers at my dealer and it DID sound very good.

Russell Dawkins

Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #17 on: 21 Mar 2012, 12:14 am »
The Kleinhorn is probably the most extreme backhorn one could imagine, and it cannot achieve 20 hz to 20K hz.  See:

http://www.passdiy.com/pdf/KleinHorn2.pdf

Retsel
This is my favorite example of what tends to happen when an audiophile is let loose with zero moderating effect by significant other or neighbor!



Æ

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 859
Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #18 on: 21 Mar 2012, 12:17 am »
!

Is that a ribbon tweeter I see? Well, if it is, then technically it isn't a 1 way system

doug s.

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 6572
  • makin' music
Re: How does a single driver do 20-20,000 hz?
« Reply #19 on: 21 Mar 2012, 01:07 am »
Is that a ribbon tweeter I see? Well, if it is, then technically it isn't a 1 way system

if i am not mistaken, that's a 3-way system - those black tubes are subwoofers, me-thinks.  personally, being more interested in results than being a "purist", when it comes to full-range speakers, i see nothing wrong w/this type of "3-way" speaker.

doug s.