Anybody in the NY, NJ, PA area with a woofer Tester?

[nj pheonix]

Hi,
Pretty straight forward.
I have some console pull speakers I was hoping to cobble productively into a box.
I was getting some guidance and it seems to properly do this , you need the parameters of the drivers (If I understood correctly the woofers)
If you don't have but know of one locally and could point me in the right direction that would help too.
Thanks in advance!

 

[audiomagnate]

What's a woofer tester? Secondly, console drivers are usually horrible - there are rare exceptions - and not worth messing with. Investing in the gear needed to measure the T/S parameters of a console woofer is like buying a dyno to evaluate your Yugo.

 

[bowtie427ss]

http://www.woofertester.com/

If you were striving to modify your yugo, a dyno is the VERY FIRST tool you need since you have to establish baseline parameters to be able to determine if modifications affect power, torque, fuel consumption, etc.

Console drivers are usually horrible because they were used with little or no regard for their parameters.

There are folks out there making really good sounds with cheap and horrible drivers pulled from consoles.

 

[nj pheonix]

For the record
The drivers were specifically obtained (really generously gifted to me) for their efficiency.
I wasn't ininterested in investing big money into efficient speakers now (that could change at some time.)
My next project up is maggy SEP amp based on Dave Gillespie's thread.
I expect to have a little under 4wpc to work with.
One other note.
I received drivers on the boards they were mounted on in the console intact.
I've spent a dozen or more hours listening to them as is propped up.
I realize they aren't set up the way they would be in the console but they sound quite good , bass is lacking. Which I attribute to lack of an enclosure.
Right now they're just a horribly executed OB
I also have on my radar, that by the time they could be converted , I very likely could be well into a used pair of klipsch or Altecs so I'll have to keep that in mind

 

[kaplang]

Go for it!. If they sound good to you that is all that is important. It's your ears and your money.

 

[Retrovert]

Console drivers are usually horrible because they were used with little or no regard for their parameters. There are folks out there making really good sounds with cheap and horrible drivers pulled from consoles.

Truth.

Those console drivers—particularly those installed in consoles costing the equivalent of half a new car in today's money—were generally well engineered and well made. Continuing the car analogy, the console is taking a powerful engine and mismatching it to a transmission and rear axle. Many later consoles used inexpensive crossovers with iron-core inductors to save money. Stromberg-Carlson did that in its later models. The capacitors were uniformly awful, but the 1950s and 1960s were a dark time for capacitors.

Putting a full-range console driver or three-way into the proper cabinet, and using a high-quality crossover with low DCR air-core inductors and modern film capacitors, is like night and day.

 

[woodj]

(If I understood correctly the woofers)

Are they just woofers, full range, or what?
I they are full range a crossover would not be needed (or desirable).
Can you find out if the console (speaker enclosures) had backs or were open?

 

[nj pheonix]

There were 3 drivers per channel.
A 15" Oxford woofer.
A small horn (I think is a Jensen) and a mid range.
They used 4 ceramic disc capacitors to make the crossover.
We're all on the same page to at least go to films for these

 

[nj pheonix]

The plan now is to make an infinite baffle enclosure for this.
If I hadn't mentioned already, I know little to nothing about speaker design.
There's a speaker cook book I need to read so i won't be wandering completely blind.
Never a bad thing to better understand how your toys work.
It (the project) should be worth it for the education alone. (Also it keeps me out of trouble)

 

[nj pheonix]

Can you find out if the console (speaker enclosures) had backs or were open?

As i understand there was some sort of vented fiberboard
Clearly not sealed.

I think my first effort will be sealed.
I can always add a vent later

 

[bowtie427ss]

Console drivers are generally pretty well mechanically damped. You'll probably get the flattest response and most gradual LF roll-off with a large, short,(baffle thickness) port in as large volume box as is practical for your situation, IMO.

 

[nj pheonix]

Bowtie,
You and Gordon are in full agreement!
I have a few projects ahead of these