PiAlign questions: ideal vs enclosure Q (and Kappa15LF looks sweet!)

Hey Wayne et all,

I just have the left tweeter crossover to finish on my Theater Seven Pis.

Goodness Gracious!!!

These things can play loud and clean! When cranked the bass blurs my vision and the percussion is so sharp it feels like you're getting slapped in the face (but no sibilance)! Air guitar is impossible to resist! I could go on and on ... Wayne, you da man!

When using PiAlign I sometimes notice a huge difference between ideal Q and encl Q.

Ex:

Rat Shack 1197
Fs=85Hz
Qt=0.37, Qd=2.7
Vad=0.17 cuft (4.9 l)
Ideal Q=40
Encl Q=10

Eminence Kappa15LF
Fs=39Hz
Qt=0.38, Qd=2.6
Vad=5.6 cuft (159 l)
Ideal Q=19.5
Encl Q=6.6

Wayne, what's going on? Is it possible to get closer to the ideal Q or is the calculated encl Q as close as it gets? How does this affect performance?

By the way, the Kappa15LF may be the road to a poor man's Pro Four Pi (small cab JBL 2226 kick ass speaker). PiAlign gives a 25.5" x 17.5" x 12" cab with a 4.6" diam x 10" port (LDF vol=300, wood=1.5). The Kappa15LF has good Xmax (5.5mm), OK Zmax (86) and low Qms (6 so no mud motor!). The freq response looks good (no big peak at 2k) but the high Le (1.27mH) will require a zobel. Wayne, maybe you should audition a few pairs and see if you want to offer them as an official Pi product. :-)

Cheers,
Jeff



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