Posted by Wayne Parham [ 66.139.42.150 ] on August 07, 2005 at 14:44:46:

In Reply to: Re: 'way down deep' Article posted by Tomservo on August 07, 2005 at 13:40:28:

Listen, everything you've done has been interesting to me, and I think all your designs have been pretty clever. You've done some cool stuff, and I've always been impressed. Not that you need to hear that from me, but I wanted to say it anyway.

The areas where we have gotten sideways were all a result of what I perceived as you and Mark Seaton pushing too hard, and exaggerating things to a point where your comments weren't reflecting the truth any longer. I thought the comments you made were either too self-promotional or too exaggerated or both.

This is a good example. The commutated motor idea is cool for large movements. But the linear motor is a more accurate positioner at low levels. 'Nuff said. There's no reason to justify or explain these things, it's just how they are. That's why engineers pass over commutated DC motors for disk drives, they're just no good at making the tiny movements needed to position between tracks. They use linear motors or stepper motors with pulleys instead. Same thing for relatively low levels in home loudspeaker systems. If they're running just a few watts, a linear motor is a better choice, as you surely must agree.

As for the 12 π basshorn, I'm really excited about how it's coming. It's not meant for home hifi, and I don't see much reason for a basshorn like that for rooms small enough to have a 30" door. It's for outdoor and large indoor areas. From the models and predictions, it looks like it will be a winner.

I've been building horn loudspeakers for 25 years. So it's not as if I were new to this sort of thing. But I'd rather have a direct radiator for the bottom octave than a peaky horn. Of course, I'm not saying all horns are peaky. I have always been a horn advocate. But I am saying that the scale of a basshorn makes them prone to being peaky, and I've seen a lot of them that I thought were too peaky. The 12 π basshorn has nice response even in halfspace, so I'm satisfied with it.

I'm very proud of what I've come up with. It looks like it will really be a winner. I've addressed the things that concerned me the most, and still stayed with a truck pack sized cabinet. Harmonic distortion is reduced by using a push-pull arrangement. Odd harmonics are reduced by being out of the passband. The response is nice even when used alone, and really good when used in groups. And radiated heat is removed better with the heat exchanger. So I think it's a pretty good design.

Replies: