Domes, domes and more domes!

Recently I have finished three new sets of speakers based on domes. Each has its own sound, yet they all sound wonderful. For a day, I put down my main open baffle speakers and tested them one by one. They were each optimized for flat response, yet there were subtle differences in sound. Perhaps due to the different phase, or off axis response? I believe each speaker sounds great. Whoever said domes do not sound good was just plain wrong. More dome based speakers to come.

Here are some pictures. Each got its own time on the woofers.

Besides the HiVi and Peerless based dome system, pictured on the woofers, I have two other dome based speakers. The one on the floor left is based on old Philips units. Tiny tweeter dome is silk based, and mid dome is paper based. I like this speaker a lot. The one on the floor right is based on Dayton soft domes, to which I removed protecting grill and front plate in order to place them closer to each other and the tweeter. Tweeter is small HiVi planar. They sound good too, but I prefer Philips based system.

bookshelfs

Some finished, some work in progress.

Full range with tweeter

Although full range speakers can measure almost flat on axis, they often beam of axis. They generally benefit from adding the tweeter. Ideally concentrically. Here are some examples.

Tang Band W5-1611SAF is 5" PP full range which according to the manufacturer has almost flat response from 100Hz to 20kHz. However, I find the driver to sound quite boring, lacking some detail and spark. How is this possible?

We do not only listen on axis. First arriving signal may be from the on axis flat response, but sound projected of axis bounces in the room and eventually reaches the listener few tens of milliseconds later. If this later arriving signal is significantly different, our brain does not like it.

This is how W5-1611SAF measured on its own. Please notice significant beaming.

I was not happy with the sound, so I added the tweeter. This is how it measures now. I like the sound and use the speakers in the bedroom system, together with the sub. Great sound. Pleasant, natural, non fatiguing.

Here is the whole system.

Another small system with betsy and tweeter