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Myna-TBFC This is the first time I’m loading the Seas U18RNX in a 27 liters bass reflex. I want to see how much difference a larger box will make in the bass. Since my Seas 27TBFC tweeter is already mounted, I might as well use her. Furthermore, sharing the same tweeter will make comparison with the Starling-TBFC more relevant.
The Black plot in Fig 1 is the RAW response of the Seas U18RNX. She is one of the few woofers with a very graceful roll-off. No ugly cone breakup. The Blue plot is with my Low Pass network tuned to the bass level.
The Red plot in Fig 2 is the Seas 27TBFC tweeter adjusted for the U18RNX. The two drivers are crossing at about 2kHz.
The Black plot in Fig 3 is the passband of the crossover. There is a slight dip at 2.5kHz and 5kHz. They look like baffle edge diffraction. It’ll be interesting to see whether they’ll go away when I use a waveguide with the 27TBFC.
Fig 4 is the final frequency response of the Starling-TBFC. There is a bite at 5kHz but it’s something I can live with. I don’t think I can hear anything amiss at that frequency. If it’s at 700Hz~3kHz, that would be problematic.
When I flipped the tweeter wires around, it resulted in a null (Fig 5). It is not that deep but good enough. There’s no point trying to get a deep notch and in the end, destroying the sound. The tip of the null centers at 2.1kHz.
The U18RNX in the Myna-TBFC exhibits a fast transient. At 90%, she’s at 300 microsec. In the last 10%, she slows to hit the apex at 400 microsec.
The Waterfall (Fig 7) and Toneburst (Fig 8) plots don’t show any anomalies. There are some excess energy at 1kHz~2kHz which last for 10 cycles.
The Spectrogram (Fig 9) hot streak at about 1.2kHz, followed by some delayed spots. They are largely dissipated by 5 msec.
The Excess Group Delay recorded the Myna-TBFC at 5.66 msec at 45Hz. Bass Reflex Alignment
27 liters seems to be the optimal volume for the Seas U18RNX. This is based on my Thiele & Small parameters derived by DATS. If you’re using Seas spec sheet, it’s only 16 liters. You can use anything from 16 liters to 27 liters if you don’t have the means to extract the T/S from you woofer. Myna-TBFC vs Starling-TBFCThis is where it gets interesting. Both of these designs use the Seas 27TBFC tweeter. So it boils down to the woofer. It is in the bass that the U18RNX beats the ER18RNX. She is more dynamic and forceful. This is the only woofer that is “complete”. By that, I mean she does bass and mids perfectly. The only other woofer that can do this is the Scanspeak 15WU. Myna-TBFC vs Myna-DXTIn this comparison, it’s about the different volumes and the effects on the bass. On paper, the TBFC’s 27 liters is the optimal volume. However, I lost the magic in the U18RNX. The bass is nowhere close to the 15 liters Myna-DXT. There’s no bass texture in this larger box. Neither is the bass as forceful. Personally, I would go for the 15 liters Myna-DXT. Same woofer, different volumes, sounds totally different. Unless otherwise stated, all measurements were made in Full Space (4 pi) with the mic at 36 ins, tweeter axis. Impulse Window=5ms. No smoothing applied. |
February 3, 2021Projects
Fig 1 – Black plot=U18RNX RAW Response • Baffle Width=9-1/2″
Fig 2 – Blue plot=U18RNX Low Pass • Red plot=Seas 27TBFC High Pass
Fig 3 – Black plot=Myna-TBFC Passband
Fig 4 – Myna-TBFC Frequency Response
Fig 5 – Myna-TBFC Null
Fig 6 – Step Response
Fig 7 – Waterfall
Fig 8 – Toneburst Energy Storage
Fig 9 – Spectrogram
Fig 10 – Excess Group Delay
Fig 11 – U18RNX box modelling