High Efficiency Speaker Asylum

my ignorant biased view of reflex, Karlson and pipe speakers

75.109.11.25

freddyi

imo "smooth graph" or "xxx alignment" means little if a speaker is audibly droning (one tone) on bowed-bass passages or fails to play drum-beats with dynamic gradation. (good horn can do this)
I"m not a fan of reflex and what limited t-line/pipe experinece has been poor overall with regards to perceived transient response - bowed bass did not properly render and drums were awful.
music doesn't reach steady-state - a Karlson box whether work to one's imagination or not can have low cone excursion where "it counts" - if dynamic range is desired
I think its possible to have pretty graphs and mediocre to poor sound.

Edits: 08/07/07

Follow Ups:

Old tight cones vs. new tight cones vs. floppy cones - Scholl 16:07:30 08/07/07 (1)
Hi Fred!

Been thinking�I know that�s dangerous.

It seems to me there are some fundamentals of speakers. Some of these fundamentals don�t add up.

The old fashioned no suspension speaker with a nice tight punch when flicked with a fingernail. You know, the Philips 12s or RCA SL12 etc. Boxes don�t seem to control of the bass sound. The cone itself has the bass sound. Qs and Fs are bad but sound is good. The speaker stands alone.

The modern tight suspension. That�s the B&Cs or even JBL 2226H types. Flick the cone and it�s dead. The box creates the bass. Qs and Fs all look great but need a ton of dynamite to come to life. And these types are designed to withstand all but a ton of dynamite.

The floppy suspension woofers. AR, some Pioneers, EV DL15W, Cerwin Vega and a few others that need a larger box to create the bass and when unloaded flop in the breeze. These are mostly low efficiency, rolled surround and very few stand out. But some do. When they do bass can be very articulate and dynamic. Maybe the lack of suspension resistance allows these types to track the signal better at low power. I don�t know.

What I�m thinking is that for simple enclosures in normal homes the old fashioned no suspension and floppy suspensions do the best for bass articulation. Maybe not super deep bass but Kalrsons and horns don�t have super deep bass either. The floppies need acoustic suspension to do their best but some are still articulate in bass reflex.

Otherwise people have to use large horns or crazy designs to get the bass they like. And with dips and peaks in the right places are more enjoyable then the maximum flat types.

I believe you have a good point. It isn�t necessarily about max flat or best T\S parameters or best mathematical designs. There are factors that don�t add up which make systems we like.

Later.
- RE: Old tight cones vs. new tight cones vs. floppy cones - jazz singer 05:45:00 08/10/07 (0)
  The old fashioned no suspension speaker with a nice tight punch when flicked with a fingernail. You know, the Philips 12s or RCA SL12 etc. Boxes don�t seem to control of the bass sound. The cone itself has the bass sound. Qs and Fs are bad but sound is good. The speaker stands alone.
  
  Do you have other info about these old drivers with no suspension.
  
  I'm interested. thanks

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