Fizzlemizzle Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I've been wanting to test the parameters of a few of my drivers so I could do some custom builds. It looks like I'm never going to find the center I'm looking for, and not for a price I'd like to pay. I'm not sure I could justify buying the tester just to get a few measurements, as cool as they are - I've been spending more money than I should be (common theme here?). If anyone would be willing to let me borrow theirs for a few days I would really appreciate it. I could paypal gift you the cost of the unit, and upon return you could send me back the deposit. I'd also be very appreciative if someone could PM me parameters of woofers they've tested or found. I'm not sure how Klipsch would feel if they were posted on here so I'd rather just get them in private. Also, for those who have used it, is it accurate enough to model correctly? I've been using WinISD alpha, which as you may know is full of bugs, but it seems to model my subwoofer drivers right. Any suggestions for better software? Thanks everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Bum Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Perhaps there is a local shop willing to let you use theirs. That's what I have done (a big thanks to Don the Sound Doctor in Loveland, CO). It really doesn't make much sense to invest in a bunch of testing gear for a one-off project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeFord Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 The latest Dayton test system is $99 with a free scale or something, last one sold on ebay was $80, looks like $20 to rent a new one. The benefit seems to be its the "for dummies" way of doing speaker building, you pay to skip learning how to do the tests. Other route I've considered is the USB calibrated mic path and related software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzannucci Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 The latest Dayton test system is $99 with a free scale or something, last one sold on ebay was $80, looks like $20 to rent a new one. The benefit seems to be its the "for dummies" way of doing speaker building, you pay to skip learning how to do the tests. Other route I've considered is the USB calibrated mic path and related software. I'm not sure I would label the Woofer tester a "for dummies" tool. It is actually a necessary tool used to understand phase and impedance. It allows you to extract a large number of measurements in a very short period of time that are necessary for the basic design of crossovers and boxes. To do all the measurements manually that WT3 can do in 2 minutes would take a very long time unless you had a boatload of tools and like to manually plot everything. As far as the Omni-Mic or other similar devices, they are very helpful in understanding end results so you measure and correct things like frequency response and understand levels of distortion. Many folks would just use it for managing frequency response though quite expensive for that. Suffice it to say is that the two different tools don't really intersect. You can use the info gained from each to develop a fine speaker system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeFord Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Good tool for understanding that techy stuff, but you also have the option of not understanding and plugging the numbers from the tester into a box designer and run with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzannucci Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Good tool for understanding that techy stuff, but you also have the option of not understanding and plugging the numbers from the tester into a box designer and run with it. MikeFord, True but how do you get those numbers, from the tester? [^o)] I guess you should have at least a woofer tester to be able to find the appropriate Fo along with being able to measure in box to verify your venting / tuning is as you would like. If you want to do a crossover, the tools are a requirement unless you know how to measure and plot manually. If you are building a box, you might be able to use what you have on a spec sheet and hope. I have measured a number of drivers that should have been the same but were not. Specs are only a "reasonable" guideline. Fizzlemizzle, If you don't know what drivers you want and you are seeking other info from members, I'd suggest just buying WT3. It sounds like you will be using it for a while. If you don't want to buy one, then just use your sound card to generate tones / frequencies, and using a known resistor in series with the driver, voltage (requiring a VOHM or some type of meter) you can plot each of the values yourself that you could get out of woofer test using Ohm's Law. http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/%E2%80%8Chbase/electric/ohmlaw.html Won't be a pretty but will be just as effective and cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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