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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

FaitalPRO 2FE24 Pro Sound 2.5" Full-Range

September 1, 2022 by Vance Dickason

FaitalPRO 2FE24 Pro Sound 2.5" Full-Range

The focus for this Test Bench is the 2FE24 2.5” full-range driver from FaitalPRO, an interesting small diameter full-range design suitable for pro audio applications such as PA line source speakers. The 2FE24 is built on a proprietary injection-molded polycarbonate four-spoke frame, and the cone assembly consists of an uncoated paper cone and dust cap, low loss half-roll NBR surround, and elevated cloth spider. Powering the cone assembly is a neodymium ring magnet and a milled return cup fitted to a 19mm diameter voice coil wound with aluminum wire on a Kapton former. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, May 2022.

Test Bench: The E180HE-44 Full-Range Subwoofer from the Dayton Audio Epique Line

August 25, 2022 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: The E180HE-44 Full-Range Subwoofer from the Dayton Audio Epique Line

In this article, Vance Dickason characterizes the E180HE-44 woofer, from the Dayton Audio Epique lineup. As with the E150HE from the same range, the E180HE-44 uses the patented Multiple Magnet Air Gap (MMAG) technology, invented by Enrique Stiles and patented by Step Technologies. The E180HE is a scaled up (7") version of the E150HE, and has a similar feature set but with a secondary magnet system comprised of six ferrite disks, which act as magnetic “diodes” pulling the flux from the main magnet into the top 7mm gap. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, May 2022.

Test Bench: Beyma’s New 1” CD1ND Compact Polyimide Diaphragm Compression Driver and TD-194 Horn

July 28, 2022 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Beyma’s New 1” CD1ND Compact Polyimide Diaphragm Compression Driver and TD-194 Horn

This Test Bench focuses on Beyma’s new 1" CD1ND Compact Polyimide Diaphragm Compression Driver, a product oriented for demanding professional audio applications. The 1” throat uber-compact CD1ND compression driver delivers a “high-quality” cost-effective option for studio monitors or stage monitors, as possible examples. The Beyma CD1ND uses a 1” diameter edge-wound voice coil, driving the field-replaceable diaphragm and lightweight neodymium ring magnet motor. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, April 2022.

Test Bench: The AMT 23CM1.1-C Air Motion Transformer from Mundorf

July 20, 2022 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: The AMT 23CM1.1-C Air Motion Transformer from Mundorf

The AMT 23CM1.1-C high-end Air Motion Transformer is the second model from the series launched by Mundorf. Following the explication of the U80W Mundorf AMT, published in the March 2022 issue of Voice Coil, Vance Dickason dives deeper into the series and proprietary diaphragm material used in all the Mundorf AMTs. Features for the Mundorf AMT 23CM1.1-C include a pleated AMT diaphragm, an optimized injection-molded rear chamber and flat round metal face plate, rated for 125W power handling with a minimum second-order 2.2kHz high-pass network. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, April 2022.

Test Bench: Eighteen Sound NSD1095N Compression Driver and XT120 Horn

June 22, 2022 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Eighteen Sound NSD1095N Compression Driver and XT120 Horn

The NSD1095N is a 1" throat compression driver with a compact footprint for “high quality” sound applications in professional audio, from studio monitors or stage monitors to high-power sound reinforcement cabinets. It uses a field replaceable True Piston Motion (TPM) TiN coated titanium diaphragm, extending the frequency response by 25% and incorporates a proprietary phase plug architecture that has been designed to give a smooth coherent wave front at the horn entrance across the whole working frequency range.

Voice Coil Test Bench The U80W Air Motion Transformer from Mundorf

June 16, 2022 by Vance Dickason

Voice Coil Test Bench The U80W Air Motion Transformer from Mundorf

As a respected manufacturer of high-quality condensers and crossover components, Mundorf is also capitalizing on the industry's “renaissance” in AMTs and now offers five models in this updated U series, each driver having the same width, but different heights. The U80W AMT model features a 63mm x 19mm pleated proprietary AMT diaphragm, an optimized rear chamber, a flat face plate with an optional secondary aluminum face plate, and is rated for 80W power handling and 94dB sensitivity. The U Series is the fourth in Mundorf's AMT portfolio. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, March 2022.

Voice Coil Test Bench SB Acoustics’ MW19TX-8 Home Audio TPCD (TeXtreme) Cone Midbass Driver

June 2, 2022 by Vance Dickason

Voice Coil Test Bench SB Acoustics’ MW19TX-8 Home Audio TPCD (TeXtreme) Cone Midbass Driver

The Satori MW19TX-8 TPCD cone 7.5" woofer is the fourth TPCD diaphragm transducer to be explicated in Test Bench, the first being an Eminence compression driver and the remaining all woofers from SB Acoustics. The high-end MW19TX-8 has a substantial feature set with similar features as the rest of Satori series with TPCD cones, impressing immediately by its distinctive cosmetics and subjective performance, which this characterization illustrates.

Loudsoft FINE Suspension Nonlinear FEA Spider and Surround Design Program

May 25, 2022 by Vance Dickason

Loudsoft FINE Suspension Nonlinear FEA Spider and Surround Design Program

An overview of Loudsoft's latest FINE Suspension Nonlinear FEA Spider and Surround Design software. This new transducer engineering tool, specific to the development of speaker surrounds and spiders (dampers), allows for the simulation of different types of surrounds and spiders from imported DFX files or created from templates with parameters selected by the user, and then outputs the compliance curves similar to the Kms and Cms curves measured by Klippel DA2 or KA3 analyzers.

Test Bench: Wavecor WF275BD01 10.75” Home Audio Woofer

April 27, 2022 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: Wavecor WF275BD01 10.75” Home Audio Woofer

Part of a new series of drivers announced in October 2020 by Wavecor, this woofer could also be advantageous in high-powered studio monitors. This high-power design targets home audio and home theater applications, including two-way (with larger ribbon/AMT drivers, or compression driver/horn combinations) and three-way speakers. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, January 2022.

Test Bench: SB Acoustics’ Satori MW13TX-4 5” TPCD Cone Midbass Driver

April 21, 2022 by Vance Dickason

Test Bench: SB Acoustics’ Satori MW13TX-4 5” TPCD Cone Midbass Driver

TPCD is the acronym for Thin-Ply Carbon Diaphragm, which is essentially the technology developed in Sweden by Oxeon to create a new-generation material with properties that are now well-proven for speaker cones and domes. The Satori MW13TX-4 TPCD cone 5” woofer is the fourth TPCD diaphragm transducer to be explicated in Test Bench, and this one has a substantial feature set, including a single piece bowl-shaped TPCD cone and NBR surround. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, January 2022.

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