New developments, promising science

[juggahnaught]

I'd perhaps be curious about speaker cone material. I think that right now, most are made of kevlar or something similar (metal cones notwithstanding). Lighter cone material with the same strength would feasibly lead to more precise cone travel (overcoming inertia), leading to less distortion.

However, I haven't read anything about new advancements in audio in terms of speaker design or building materials.

 

[A9X]

I think that right now, most are made of kevlar or something similar (metal cones notwithstanding). Lighter cone material with the same strength would feasibly lead to more precise cone travel (overcoming inertia), leading to less distortion.

Most are still paper of some type. Rigid cones ring like a bell at resonance, especially the Ti and Al diaphragms. Be is much better damped but, very, very expensive to make and the dust is toxic (during manufacturing, not in consumer use).
Overcoming inertia is a product of cone mass, motor strength and suspension compliance. A lighter cone is not necessarily better as it may not be as rigid and break up more easily.

 

[chris_b]

I want an 800 watt amp the size of a pack of cards and a 600 watt speaker cab the size of a cigar box, x2. Weighing less than 1lb each and sounding like a line of SVT/810's

Get back to me when these are available.

 

[juggahnaught]

Most are still paper of some type. Rigid cones ring like a bell at resonance, especially the Ti and Al diaphragms. Be is much better damped but, very, very expensive to make and the dust is toxic (during manufacturing, not in consumer use).
Overcoming inertia is a product of cone mass, motor strength and suspension compliance. A lighter cone is not necessarily better as it may not be as rigid and break up more easily.

I was thinking something like carbon fiber would be stiff and relatively light without suffering from breakup. Unfortunately, it would be expensive depending on how much material is used.

I guess it would also depend on the size-to-weight ratio of the cone. Perhaps larger cone sizes would be more feasible if the material weight scales well with larger sizes. Given the strength of carbon fiber, you could also build reinforcement into the cone itself if necessary without having to make it thicker to maintain structural integrity (think ribs or something for large cones).

All of this with a grain of salt, since I don't really know anything about carbon fiber.

 

[chadds]

Late 2021 early 22 we will see neo casters with IEM capability. Promised by mid 22 Tube emulation in these casters. Might be vapor ware but they predict WiFi and Blu-ray enhancements to these casters.

We have so much to look forward to.

 

[A9X]

I was thinking something like carbon fiber would be stiff and relatively light without suffering from breakup. Unfortunately, it would be expensive depending on how much material is used.

I guess it would also depend on the size-to-weight ratio of the cone. Perhaps larger cone sizes would be more feasible if the material weight scales well with larger sizes. Given the strength of carbon fiber, you could also build reinforcement into the cone itself if necessary without having to make it thicker to maintain structural integrity (think ribs or something for large cones).

All of this with a grain of salt, since I don't really know anything about carbon fiber.

Sure all this can be done, but don't expect to see it in MI drivers any time soon as it's expensive and part of what people describe as the tonal characteristics of MI drivers are the breakups, whether damped or undamped. Ribs etc have been done since the 50s such as the RCA LC1A (50s) and the Tannoy HPDs (70s).


I've just ordered 2 versions of an about to be released driver in both paper and Al diaphragms to test for a commissioned speaker design and might get the Be's later. I suspect, based upon pre-release data that the Al version may be very difficult to make a passive xover for.

 

[2tonic]

It's not new technology, but have any bass cabs ever used direct servo woofers?

No, the bandwidth is was too limited.

Even for use in a multi-driver cab complemented by a mid and/or high frequency driver?

Well, that wasn't your original question.
In the late 80's and early 90's, Thomas Danley had a company called Servodrive which made subs for sound reinforcement. Their design used a DC servo motor and an aramid fiber belt to turn rotational motion into linear motion, and connected to 2 opposing cones (15" or 18", I don't clearly remember) in a horn loaded enclosure. Think the reverse of a steam train or car engine, which turn linear reciprocal motion into rotational movement.
Very limited bandwidth, very efficient, could shake a building apart, and the girls loved to sit on them when they were placed across the front of the stage. Better ideas have come since.
https://gearsource.com/stock-item/intersonics-basstech-7-servodrive-subwoofer-speaker-cabinet/

Here's some retrotech to think on.

 

[A9X]

In the late 80's and early 90's, Thomas Danley had a company called Servodrive

Tom is very much still around and producing some of the most interesting speaker engineering out there.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I think bass amps days are numbered. The continuation of line array / digital mixers at lower prices and you'll see AI in the digital mixer. Just identify what each channel is, bass, vocal, guitar, kick, etc and you'll have the equivalent of an individual sound engineer on each channel and an AI "bot" to monitor the overall mix and sub mixes a thousand times per second.

 

[MVE]

Was it a thing or just a commercial.... a "quiet" dance club with only Bluetooth transmitter as a sound system. Bring your own headphones.

Wow, what a great idea.
Who needs the dance club? DJs should just set up on the balconies at airports and invite anyone waiting for their flight to come get their groove on in the middle of the concourse.
How surreal would it be to see 20 -30 creepy people dancing silently as you stand in line at Starbucks?

 

[2tonic]

Tom is very much still around and producing some of the most interesting speaker engineering out there.

Indeed he is!
He's got a home stereo/theater sub that is rather compact and produces smooth response to 15hz at ungodly levels!

 

[2tonic]

Wow, what a great idea.
Who needs the dance club? DJs should just set up on the balconies at airports and invite anyone waiting for their flight to come get their groove on in the middle of the concourse.
How surreal would it be to see 20 -30 creepy people dancing silently as you stand in line at Starbucks?

Everyday occurrence at O'hare!

 

[micguy]

Was it a thing or just a commercial.... a "quiet" dance club with only Bluetooth transmitter as a sound system. Bring your own headphones.

Disney does that - you can choose what music you want to dance to - you and your dance partner can dance to different tunes. Dating someone that likes Country, and you're a rap fan? No problem!.

 

[A9X]

I think bass amps days are numbered.

Specialty designs yes. I posted recently that I tried a Mackie Thump 15 with some minor processing and it was pretty good. If I'd added a Helix in to do cab and other emulations, I suspect the results would have been even better. We'll see in the NY as I'm going to do this again when I can borrow the big Helix a friend has.

He's got a home stereo/theater sub that is rather compact and produces smooth response to 15hz at ungodly levels!

Which one? I'm a major fan of Tom and follow all his designs and try to work them out, but I haven't seen anything I'd describe as compact, unless you're referencing it to the Matterhorn sub (that's built inside a shipping container people).

 

[2tonic]

Could be my bad. I was reading an article on a product of Danley's that I thought was recent news, but it kept reminding me of his "Contrabass" from the late 80's. Can't relocate it now, but maybe it was just a retro review or commenting on a restoration, but after seeing the following, I'm sure it was a Contrabass.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...wQFnoECAkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3NlCRvhLy34eyvJE3TT-tn

 

[A9X]

I remember the Contrabass, only from articles though, never got to see or try one in the flesh. My first Danley designs were the LABsubs. I built 4 and used them in my PA on big gigs, and they were the subs in my living room when not doing PA duty. I wouldn't do it again, but they were fun.

 

[Ethereal Thorn]

Graphene speaker designs could be the future and I could see transparent woods wireless electricity and some other stuff in that vein

 

[DJ Bebop]

Anyone read or heard of something fun in the pipeline relevant to speakers or amp tech?

Not like "product on the way" news. Like, such and such lab has shown this widget can be made with this material with these advantages, etc etc.

Posted a thread similar some time ago and can't find it to bump it, so...

Anyway. Thanks.

 

[mikewalker]

Does anyone remember those flat-panel arrays - they were like made of styrofoam(?) about an inch thick, about the size of an 8x10 but with rectangular drivers. Back in the day I was thinking that 40 or 50 of them could make a very portable PA...

 

[El Apestoso]

There's always promising stuff out there. Unfortunately most of it never pans out. That being said, iron nitride permanent magnets do actually look like a serious contender for something real. If it pans out, it could end up replacing neodymium, as it's a superior magnet in every way. There's just those not-so-little hurdles of getting it into production and getting people to adopt it, but they've got a lot of backing from some fairly major players, so we'll see.

Then you've got the holy grail of electronics, the nanoscale vacuum channel transistor. It's been in development for a long time, and the only real obstacle is the rate of electrode degradation. But once that gets figured out, it'll likely replace every other type of transistor out there.