Difficult to build coaxial speaker rig?

W

wembley

Inspired
Perhaps a silly question, but there's nothing wrong with ordering a coaxial speaker such as this (RCF CX15N351 - Thomann UK Cyberstore), mounting it in a cabinet and running the Axe via a decent power amp such as the Matrix into it? Will it be more or less the same as slapping e.g. a Vintage 30 into a cabinet, or are there any pitfalls I'm not aware of with this kind of speaker?

Best,
W
 
Galo, yeah I know, I'd probably go for a 12" like you do in your rig, but this was just an example ;) By the way: Did you build your cabinet yourself (I've seen your videos, excellent tone and feel ;)?
 
No the cabinet is from Hermida...is the ported 1x12 cab...link

wembley said:
Galo, yeah I know, I'd probably go for a 12" like you do in your rig, but this was just an example ;) By the way: Did you build your cabinet yourself (I've seen your videos, excellent tone and feel ;)?
Click to expand...
 
There's no reason at all you can't do that.....there are pitfalls to it though. You'd be placing the speaker into an un-tuned cabinet for that speaker so things like bass response may not be as tight or as low down as the speaker would prefer. The second pitfall is the crossover. Again whilst any old recommended crossover would do, the difference between great cabs and very average ones is often the crossover.
 
Coaxial speakers are a different animal. I'm no expert but I have read enough to know that doing this will result in a speaker that will have a response that will not be well behaved.
 
Sixstring said:
Coaxial speakers are a different animal. I'm no expert but I have read enough to know that doing this will result in a speaker that will have a response that will not be well behaved.
Click to expand...

Sixstring; doing what? Trying to match speakers & crossover or tuning the cabinet? Or going about this as an amateur in electronics? :)
 
Not all the time my brother, mine behaves perfectly...I tried a coax with my Hermida cab as an experiment and I got lucky!!!! Did pink noise and other tests with it...I like the cab way more than the K12 I use to have. As a matter of fact it blows the K12 away to my taste and is not even bi-amp...much louder and more detail....just my 2cents.



Sixstring said:
Coaxial speakers are a different animal. I'm no expert but I have read enough to know that doing this will result in a speaker that will have a response that will not be well behaved.
Click to expand...
 
Galo said:
Not all the time my brother, mine behaves perfectly...I tried a coax with my Hermida cab as an experiment and I got lucky!!!! Did pink noise and other tests with it...I like the cab way more than the K12 I use to have. As a matter of fact it blows the K12 away to my taste and is not even bi-amp...much louder and more detail....just my 2cents.
Click to expand...
Yes in your case you scored :razz... but he is looking at a completely different driver and his results could differ.
Wembley said:
Sixstring; doing what? Trying to match speakers & crossover or tuning the cabinet? Or going about this as an amateur in electronics? :)
Click to expand...
It just seems that the speaker you are looking at is pretty expensive when compared to say the RCF Nx12 SMA which is a complete and compact package where all the homework is done for you 8). I'm not trying to deter you from doing it your self just pointing out the it can be an expensive exercise that may or may not yield good results that's all. I tried a DIY with a different type of speaker design and I didn't like what I heard after I was done. I realized then for a little extra money I could have bought a speaker cab that was done right. It was at this point I decided to leave it to the people that really know what's up with speaker designing :lol.
 
You definitely talk wisely!!! I personally advise people not to do it if they dont know what they are doing...but In my case I took a chance because I know Alf's designs...very close to the cabs that EV designed for the EV12L's and I knew that the coax I was using would probably fit in that design...again I got lucky!!!

Sixstring said:
Yes in your case you scored :razz... but he is looking at a completely different driver and his results could differ. It just seems that the speaker you are looking at is pretty expensive when compared to say the RCF Nx12 SMA which is a complete and compact package where all the homework is done for you 8). I'm not trying to deter you from doing it your self just pointing out the it can be an expensive exercise that may or may not yield good results that's all. I tried a DIY with a different type of speaker design and I didn't like what I heard after I was done. I realized then for a little extra money I could have bought a speaker cab that was done right. It was at this point I decided to leave it to the people that really know what's up with speaker designing :lol.
Click to expand...
 
I think if the speaker wasn't that expensive then the chance would be worth taking. I to, took the chance with my Beyma 12CX30 and that paid off reasonably well. Although saying all this, there would be nothing to stop you contacting your favourite speaker builder with the specs of the coax you're looking at and saying "build me something around this".

I've just put a Volt FR220 8" coaxial (with the crossover built into the speaker) into a cheap generic 8" wedge monitor. Does it sound good? Yes it does.... Could it sound even better in the right matched box with the right porting etc? Hell Yes!! But given the box and the speaker were both cheap then it was worth the experiment.
 
Lightningboy said:
I've just put a Volt FR220 8" coaxial (with the crossover built into the speaker) into a cheap generic 8" wedge monitor. Does it sound good? Yes it does.... Could it sound even better in the right matched box with the right porting etc? Hell Yes!! But given the box and the speaker were both cheap then it was worth the experiment.
Click to expand...

This is what I'm getting at, there is a point of diminishing returns that makes it not worth the hassle.
 
yes there is a point of dim. ret. but if you can find plans for a well designed box (plenty of sites list them)you get 2 for 1.$600 to $800 in materials should get you 2 asskickin' boxes.basic carpentry skills should get you there.don't fly blind,find plans for a well tested design.

Beyma has full cad drawings downloadable pdf.w/active crossover presets or passive design.(for their speakers of course.);)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom