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I was wondering which tweeter(CTS or Vifa) would be more durable in the dusty environment of the car's rear deck? and what would you say is the difference in sound between the two? (I've heard of the CTS-Motorola in the Studio 2's I helped a friend build.) Thanks! G.
Re: Still studying the 1 Pi's in the car
The CTS piezo's are practically indestructable. The paper cone is not exposed to sunlight because it is shrouded by the horn. Even if the mouth faces the sun, the only exposure is through the small slits so the diaphragm is still protected over most of its surface. I've had them mounted in cars facing forward, and I've had them pointing up against a diagonal window. Naturally, this is the worst position, since debris can fall into them. But the truth is that there isn't really that much debris that would fall in unless you're throwing popcorn around inside or something. Dust is heavier in a moving car, but it tends to stick to any surface, no matter whether its facing up or forward. So I can vouch for the durability of the CTS tweeter in a car. And they sound great too. I haven't had any experience with the durability of Vifa tweeters. My guess is that the thing that's gonna kill them is UV. That tends to dry out paper cones and sun bleach them white. So this might really be a problem with the Vifa's, since they're fully exposed. Then again, it might not. They do sound very nice, so I think you'll be happy with them in that regard.
Hi Wayne and all, Is there any problem having the port firing into the trunk, the speakers suspended from the rear deck with the drivers firing into the passenger compartment of the car? This makes the speaker somewhat like an infinite baffle, yes? Garland
There's no problem with the cabinet working as a Helmholtz resonator, whether the port fires into the trunk, the cabin or into freespace. But you're right that it does make an interesting situation. Both the cabin and the trunk are (lossy) sealed chambers of relatively small size so cabin gain boosts bass by approximately 12dB/oct. But the port generally only has frequencies below about 100Hz whereas the front of the loudspeaker is wideband, having both bass and treble.