Rookie Dumb Questions

[ColoradoTom]

Ok, so here I am one of the noobs, and let us postulate that Jon creates a final design for the M12ta and decides to use Accuton units. My question is this, in this scenario I will be spending nearly $1000.00 US on two tweeters and two midrange drivers :E . Since I’m fairly new at this I don’t have any measurement tools to test the speaker drivers themselves. How confident am I going to be that the units are fairly well matched from the distributor?

Second question is this, if I decided to purchase the equipment to measure things how do you go about creating matched sets. I assume that Madisound isn’t going to be especially happy about me returning a bunch of $250.00 to $400.00 speakers until I find the match I want.

Third, just how closely to things have to match, are there any guidelines?

Fourth thing, doesn’t it seem that the Scan-speak R2904/7000 tweeter with the ring radiator is showing up in a lot of designs recently? I think it is in both the Magico and the Hansen King V.2 and yet I don’t think I’ve heard it mentioned here at all. Is it just a case of too many drivers and too little time??

Thanks in advance............... ;x( ;x(

Tom

[chasw98]

How confident am I going to be that the units are fairly well matched from the distributor?

Not confident at all. They will grab 2 units from a carton and pack them and send them to you. You are relying on the quality control of the manufacturer. You might ask Madisound to hand pick and match a pair for you for a little extra money.

Second question is this, if I decided to purchase the equipment to measure things how do you go about creating matched sets.

If you only have 2 drivers and they do not measure the same, you cannot do anything. If you have 4 or 6 drivers, you can look at the results of measuring and pick the 2 that match the closest. Hopefully, the 2 that match will be very close to the manufacturer's specifications.

Third, just how closely to things have to match, are there any guidelines?

That would be a question for Jon!

Chuck

[ThomasW]

Here's the deal, to accurately test them you'd need to invest $1000 for measurement gear, then learn how to use it. The learning curve for something like Praxis is a bit steep.

The latest accuton drivers Jon's tested are quite uniform from unit to unit. So I won't worry about them being out of spec.

If there were gross anomalies (like a defective driver) you could diagnose that with a more modest test setup.

[ColoradoTom]

Here's the deal, to accurately test them you'd need to invest $1000 for measurement gear, then learn how to use it. The learning curve for something like Praxis is a bit steep.

The latest accuton drivers Jon's tested are quite uniform from unit to unit. So I won't worry about them being out of spec.

If there were gross anomalies (like a defective driver) you could diagnose that with a more modest test setup.

Thanks Chuck and Thomas....

Sounds like once you get into the higher end designs the manufacturer does a better job of producing within acceptable guidelines. Money wouldn't be as much of a probelm as time to learn - guess I'll stick to my ears for now... they're cheap and I'm reasonably good at using them. :B

Thomas... looks like the weather will be such that I can actually roll out my table saw from within the garage this week!!!

Tom

[Evil Twin]

Accutons are shipped in matched pairs from the factory.

The ring radiators are nice above 3 kHz, but don't do well lower down; distortion is higher.

Some people like distortion- it catches the ear, adds texture, liveliness....

A better choice from that manufacturer is the 66000.

[ThomasW]

Accuton is like buying Bentley or a Rolls.

If you want to setup a nice low buck test rig, buy the Behringer ECM8000 ($50) send it to Kim G for a cal file ($40). Then buy the M-Audio Moble Pre (~$130 or so), a low buck boom mic stand ($20) and use a freeware test program (Room EQ Wizard) or use TrueRTA ($100). The learning curve for this is minimal and will give you a good idea what's going on.

Kim Girardin
Wadenhome Sound
1400 Homer Rd. Suite 2
Winona, MN, 55987, USA
Phone: 507-454-8844
E-mail: kmgrdn@luminet.net

[ColoradoTom]

Accuton is like buying Bentley or a Rolls.

If you want to setup a nice low buck test rig, buy the Behringer ECM8000 ($50) send it to Kim G for a cal file ($40). Then buy the M-Audio Moble Pre (~$130 or so), a low buck boom mic stand ($20) and use a freeware test program (Room EQ Wizard) or use TrueRTA ($100). The learning curve for this is minimal and will give you a good idea what's going on.

Kim Girardin
Wadenhome Sound
1400 Homer Rd. Suite 2
Winona, MN, 55987, USA
Phone: 507-454-8844
E-mail: kmgrdn@luminet.net

Ordered and on the way...................

Thanks Thomas!! :T

Tom