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About Vance Dickason

Vance Dickason has been working as a professional in the loudspeaker industry since 1974. A contributing editor to Speaker Builder magazine (now audioXpress) since 1986, in November 1987 he became editor of Voice Coil, the monthly Periodical for the Loudspeaker Industry, today published by KCK Media Corp. His globally acclaimed book Loudspeaker Design Cookbook is now in its 8th Edition, published by KCK Media. A life member of the Audio Engineering Society, Vance received the 1995 AES Citation Award for his long term contribution to audio education, and the 2013 Beryllium Award, Lifetime achievement from ALMA (Associating of Loudspeaker Manufacturers and Acoustics, now ALTI Association). Since 2001, he also does business as Vance Dickason Consultancy based out of Portland, Oregon, working as an independent engineering consultant to loudspeaker manufacturers.

All items written by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: B&C Speakers DE990TN Compression Driver

January 17, 2018 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: B&C Speakers DE990TN Compression Driver

The compression driver I examined here came from B&C Speakers and is the “little brother” to the titanium diaphragm DE1090TN compression driver featured in the August 2016 issue of Voice Coil magazine. As with the DE1090TN, the DE990TN was coupled with B&C Speakers’ ME90 80° × 60° constant directivity horn. The DE990TN has a 36 mm (1.4”) throat diameter and is driven by a titanium diaphragm with a 86 mm (3.4”) diameter voice coil wound with aluminum wire. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, July 2017.

Test Bench: SEAS E0060-08/06 6.5” King Coax

December 27, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: SEAS E0060-08/06 6.5” King Coax

The driver featured in this Test Bench is the new E0060-08/06 6.5 “King Coax” from SEAS. Recognized for several years for its high-performance coaxial midrange/tweeter drivers, SEAS developed this new driver at the request of a studio monitor customer who wanted a compact three-way monitor and asked SEAS to develop a midrange + tweeter coax. The King Coax received its name from the copper ring under the tweeter, which resembled the look of a crown. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, June 2017.

Test Bench: D4400Ph Compression Driver from PRV Audio

December 6, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: D4400Ph Compression Driver from PRV Audio

In this Test Bench, Voice Coil characterizes the second of two new compression drivers from Brazilian pro sound OEM PRV Audio. Following the Test Bench of the D4400Ti-Nd, in this characterization Vance Dickason looks at the D4000Ph compression driver, a ferrite version. The D4400TiPh is part of a series of 2” throat 4” diameter voice coil compression drivers, in this case complemented with PRV Audio’s WGP22-50 2” bolt on 60° × 60° waveguide. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, May 2017.

Test Bench: The New D4400Ti-Nd Compression Driver from PRV Audio

November 29, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: The New D4400Ti-Nd Compression Driver from PRV Audio

Voice Coil characterizes a new compression driver from Brazilian pro sound OEM PRV Audio, a company that started operations in 2006, created by a group of former executives and engineers from one of Brazil’s most prestigious loudspeaker manufacturers, and which has not stopped producing high quality products. This edition of Test Bench looks at the D4400Ti-Nd compression driver, complemented with PRV Audio’s WGP22-50 2” bolt on 60° × 60° waveguide. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, May 2017.

Test Bench: ETON 29HD2 Magnesium/Ceramic 28mm Dome Tweeter

November 11, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: ETON 29HD2 Magnesium/Ceramic 28mm Dome Tweeter

These Test Bench samples came from Germany. From Eton I received the 29HD2, its neodymium motor tweeter, with a fairly rich feature set that includes an aluminum faceplate, a 28 mm diameter magnesium diaphragm with a ceramic coating on both sides protected by a cosmetically attractive grill/phase plug, and driven by an aluminum former wound with round copper-clad aluminum wire (CCAW). This article was originally published in Voice Coil, April 2017.

Test Bench: Accuton C30-6-358 High-End Tweeter

November 6, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Accuton C30-6-358 High-End Tweeter

The samples for this Test Bench came from respected German home/car audio OEM transducer manufacturer Accuton. I received the Accuton C30-6-358, its new “Cell Concept” neodymium motor ceramic diaphragm 30 mm tweeter. The Accuton C30-6-358 is an interesting tweeter for several reasons. The mounting system, which is part of the “Cell Concept,” is definitely unique, with its proprietary clapping mechanism. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, April 2017.

Celestion CDX1-1447 Compression Driver with H1-7050 “No Bell” Horn

November 1, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Celestion CDX1-1447 Compression Driver with H1-7050 “No Bell” Horn

This Test Bench is about Celestion's CDX1-1447 1” ferrite motor compression driver coupled with Celestion’s H1-7050 ‘No Bell’ 70° × 50° horn. Features for the CDX1-1447 include a one piece polyimide diaphragm and surround, with an exit (throat) diameter of 25.4 mm (1.0”). The horn is a new and rather innovative design. The H1-7050 “No Bell” is a cast-aluminum exponential flare-type horn with a 70° × 50° radiation pattern. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, March 2017.

Test Bench: FaitalPRO HF142 Compression Driver Coupled with LTH142 60°×50° Horn

October 26, 2017 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: FaitalPRO HF142 Compression Driver Coupled with LTH142 60°×50° Horn

Test Bench of the HF142 1.4” neodymium motor compression driver with the LTH142 60° × 50° horn, from Italian pro sound OEM FaitalPRO. Features for the HF142 include a ketone polymer diaphragm, with proprietary perforated suspension for acoustic tuning and a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) modeled and optimized four-slot annular phase plug. The phase plug’s design and its coupling with the diaphragm uses Faital’s proprietary simulation / modeling software. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, March 2017.

The SB Acoustics Satori TW29BN Beryllium Dome Tweeter

October 11, 2017 by Vance Dickason

The SB Acoustics Satori TW29BN Beryllium Dome Tweeter

For this Test Bench, SB Acoustics sent its new high-end Satori line neodymium 29 mm beryllium dome tweeter, the TW29BN. Features include a 29 mm wide surround beryllium diaphragm sourced from Materion, a non-reflective cast-aluminum rear cavity, a two-part aluminum faceplate with integrated mechanical decoupling, dual balanced compression chambers, a high-saturation neodymium ring type motor magnet with a T-shaped pole and dual copper cap shorting rings. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, February 2017.

SB Acoustics Satori MR13P-4. A New Home Audio 5.25” Midrange Driver

October 4, 2017 by Vance Dickason

SB Acoustics Satori MR13P-4. A New Home Audio 5.25” Midrange Driver

The subject of this month’s explication is the SB Acoustics 5.25” MR13P-4 Satori midrange. As with the MR16P-4, the MR13P-4 is nominally a midrange version of the SB Acoustics MW13P-4 5.25” woofer, but with higher sensitivity and shorter Xmax. The MR13P-4 is built on a cosmetically attractive six-spoke frame that has a minimal reflective footprint behind the cone to reduce reflections and a completely open area beneath the spider mounting shelf for enhanced cooling— both highly desirable attributes. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, February 2017.

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