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Speaker Analysis for Armchair Critics

Hello everyone,
There’s a very important discipline called "Speaker Analysis" or "Speaker Testing" which though complicated, is brilliantly illustrated in this breakdown of the B&W 685.


http://www.audioexcite.com/?page_id=6070

Speaker analysis is to measure each of the components both separately and as they come together in a complete system. It is a part of creating a new loudspeaker, but it can also be used to analyze an existing speaker, to understand it and perhaps to make it better.  I prefer the term Analysis because it better reflects that the goal is not merely quality assurance, but to build a complete electro acoustical understanding of the system as a whole so changes can be considered, and their final results predicted.


This particular article does just that, and comes up with a couple of suggestions for re-working the crossover to end up with hopefully a better end result. At the very least, it is a significantly different speaker at the end, and achieves a far greater level of change than cables can.


I share this with all of you just as an example of the work that goes into making a loudspeaker from parts, and the tools, and how much of what we hear has to do with choices made in the crossover.


Best,

Erik
erik_squires
audiokinesis
2,711 posts
 
Erik wrote: " I share this with all of you just as an example of the work that goes into making a loudspeaker from parts, and the tools, and how much of what we hear has to do with choices made in the crossover. "

Your post and that article are a welcome respite from repeated accusations by one person on this forum of being a scammer because I’m a loudspeaker designer. Thank you Erik.

"... the goal is not merely quality assurance, but to build a complete electro acoustical understanding of the system as a whole so changes can be considered, and their final results predicted."

Imo a complete acoustic understanding would include a great deal more off-axis data. This is just my opinion.

" This particular article does just that, and comes up with a couple of suggestions for re-working the crossover to end up with hopefully a better end result. "

I agree with the direction of all of the changes the author made. I probably would have reduced the output of the tweeter in the crossover region even more that he did, to partially offset its excess off-axis energy at the bottom end of its passband.

Duke
avanti1960
1,405 posts
 
the big thing I took away was how honest the reviewer was about the sound.  you NEVER see this in "pro" or online amateur reviews.  
kenjit
1,771 posts
 
I agree with the direction of all of the changes the author made. I probably would have reduced the output of the tweeter in the crossover region even more that he did, to partially offset its excess off-axis energy at the bottom end of its passband.
Yes. B&W must have made a silly mistake and overlooked that. 
erik_squires OP
15,641 posts
 
Duke @audiokinesis

You are killing me.

😆😆😆


I meant to say that "the goal of speaker analysis is..." 

and for consumers, this is a decent introduction, not a comprehensive guide.


audiokinesis
2,711 posts
 
"... for consumers, this is a decent introduction, not a comprehensive guide."

It is a FAR MORE THAN DECENT introduction!

The process I use is pretty much what the author did. Once the first iteration is built, even if the measurements look good, I use my ears to tell me whether it’s "right" or not. And if not, then I gather data to figure out what isn’t right, which in turn points me towards what to do about it.

Duke

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