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This worth getting?.. (Peavey content)

#81
Quick Update: the Altec came in finally non-damaged.

It's actually 16" speaker as its a tad bigger in diameter.


I was able to get it halfway mounted screwing only a couple screws just to do a quick test. It sounds greats at low volume, but when I turned up the volume on the Guild head the speaker didn't get any louder.

Could this be due to the fact that the speaker wasn't fully mounted to the baffle?
 
#82
Hard to say specifically what may be going on, but if the speaker isn't mounted in such a way that the front and back speaker waves are preventing from interacting in "free air" (i.e potentially cancelling each other out) you need to fix that issue first.
 
#84
There are degrees to this, but the best way to illustrate the problem is if you have a speaker simply hanging from the ceiling in no enclosure at all. In that case the pressure waves created by the front and back of the speaker will tend to cancel each other out and provide very little volume, especially at lower frequencies. You always want to be sure that the sound waves from the front of the speaker are isolated from the back of the speaker - this is why the baffle board even in open back combos and those with a tuned port.

I would say that if you don't have the speaker firmly flush mounted to the baffle board, then it's hard to draw any fair conclusion from the test you ran. A speaker needs to be firmly anchored to the baffle board to work properly in terms of producing the best possible sound. I hope that helps.
 
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#85
Al Kraft said:
There are degrees to this, but the best way to illustrate the problem is if you have a speaker simply hanging from the ceiling in no enclosure at all. In that case the pressure waves created by the front and back of the speaker will tend to cancel each other out and provide very little volume, especially at lower frequencies. You always want to be sure that the sound waves from the front of the speaker are isolated from the back of the speaker - this is why the baffle board even in open back combos and those with a tuned port.

I would say that if you don't have the speaker firmly flush mounted to the baffle board, then it's hard to draw any fair conclusion from the test you ran. A speaker needs to be firmly anchored to the baffle board to work properly in terms of producing the best possible sound. I hope that helps.
Click to expand...


It's does. I'll be properly mounting the speaker this weekend.
 
#86
BassGreaser said:
It's does. I'll be properly mounting the speaker this weekend.
Click to expand...
Once you get that speaker properly secured in the cabinet, you'll have a fair idea of how the package is going to sound. Given that the enclosure itself wasn't specifically designed/optimized for the characteristics of that particular speaker you may need to make some adjustments to get the most out of the set-up.

That could include changing port size/venting and/or adding some acoustic damping material to inside of the enclosure. When you're not doing things by modelling and mathematics it's really trial and error, but since this is more of a fun project for you that's not necessarily a bad thing. :)

Good luck getting it all assembled!
 
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#87
Al Kraft said:
Once you get that speaker properly secured in the cabinet, you'll have a fair idea of how the package is going to sound. Given that the enclosure itself wasn't specifically designed/optimized for the characteristics of that particular speaker you may need to make some adjustments to get the most out of the set-up.

That could include changing port size/venting and/or adding some acoustic damping material to inside of the enclosure. When you're not doing things by modelling and mathematics it's really trial and error, but since this is more of a fun project for you that's not necessarily a bad thing. :)

Good luck getting it all assembled!
Click to expand...

Just did another test fit and got the speaker mounted much better.

It is very efficient (sounds as loud as my two 210AV run together), had great low end, amazing detail in the midrange, and extremely clear highs.

Makes the 210AV cabs sound muffled, dull and very dark.

Next step is to properly mount the speaker and line the inside of the cab somewhat is its bare right now.
 
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#88
image.jpeg


Here is the Altec 421-8H during the test fit.
 
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#89
BassGreaser said:
Just did another test fit and got the speaker mounted much better.

It is very efficient (sounds as loud as my two 210AV run together), had great low end, amazing detail in the midrange, and extremely clear highs.

Makes the 210AV cabs sound muffled, dull and very dark.

Next step is to properly mount the speaker and line the inside of the cab somewhat is its bare right now.
Click to expand...
Glad it's working out well! It is always surprising to me how just a small amount of acoustic leakage around the baffle can cause phase cancellation that dramatically attenuates certain frequencies.

I would recommend not gluing or permanently securing the acoustic material until you see whether it helps or hurts relative to getting the sound you're most happy with. There are some cabs (GK Neo 112 II for instance) where the consensus during the final voicing fine tuning that the team actually liked the cab better unlined. I own two of them and sound great to me without an ounce of acoustic damping material inside. They are the only unlined cabs I've ever owned, but i can't argue with the result.
 
#90
Al Kraft said:
Glad it's working out well! It is always surprising to me how just a small amount of acoustic leakage around the baffle can cause phase cancellation that dramatically attenuates certain frequencies.

I would recommend not gluing or permanently securing the acoustic material until you see whether it helps or hurts relative to getting the sound you're most happy with. There are some cabs (GK Neo 112 II for instance) where the consensus during the final voicing fine tuning that the team actually liked the cab better unlined. I own two of them and sound great to me without an ounce of acoustic damping material inside. They are the only unlined cabs I've ever owned, but i can't argue with the result.
Click to expand...

Yes I was shocked as well when I first heard the speaker for the second time.

Generally speaking: How does acoustic damping fact the tone of the cab/speaker? I was thinking of just lining the back panel to start with.
 
#91
BassGreaser said:
Yes I was shocked as well when I first heard the speaker for the second time.

Generally speaking: How does acoustic damping fact the tone of the cab/speaker? I was thinking of just lining the back panel to start with.
Click to expand...
I would start with the back panel as well. Without the use of modelling programs it's hard to predict what the result will be or where you will reach diminishing or negative returns for your effort.

I'm slightly out of my element here, but the reasons for use of damping materials and expected outcomes are slightly different between sealed and ported enclosures. Some of the effects are the same in each but occur to a different degree. In the case of your ported cab, the principal benefits would be to reduce the effect/impact of standing waves and potentially eliminate/reduce the presence of resonant frequencies.

As with most things, you can't assume that if a little is good, a lot will be really good. At some point the acoustic material may actually start to negatively impact the cabinet tuning and cause something like significantly improved bass at some frequency accompanied by a very annoying dip at another. Back first, then the bottom, then the top, then the sides would be my experimental approach. Others may have a better idea. Enjoy the experiment!
 
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