Paducah Home Theater Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 I should know this, but it just occurred to me that prior to the explosion of the popularity of PC's, it might be a little harder to get decent test equipment for measuring speakers. So what did they use back in the day? In the recent enough past, some nice spectrum analyzers were readily available even if computers weren't mature yet, but those were't available until like the late 60's. What about like the 30's, 40's, and 50's? How did Paul test the Klipschorn in 1946? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 oscilloscopes? frequency sweeps plotted to graphs? db meters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 You can determine things like Fs, or the low end roll-off of a vented cabinet, (F3?) with a AC voltmeter (like a VTVM or some such) and a signal generator using sine waves. I have the procedure written down somewhere but can't find it at the moment... It's the cheap way to go about it. A guy can watch the needle on the AC voltmeter and plot a graph to find the two peaks and the null between the two peaks to determine the F3 of a vented cabinet. Most generally there will be two peaks but not always. I guess it depends on the alignment, driver parameters, etc. This may not even relate to the question you are asking... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted July 10, 2016 Author Share Posted July 10, 2016 This may not even relate to the question you are asking... Mostly wondering about crossovers. I assume he didn't design them by ear. Nowadays you'd look at the graph of the frequency response and whatnot. Not sure how you'd figure this out 70 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Richard Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 Measurement grade mics and a sensitive voltmeter, then hand plotting the result. Later, chart recorders. Much later, instruments designed for the purpose which allowed for crude distortion measurements. Even later, TDS and spectrum analysis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivervalleymgb Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 I have it down somewhere for measuring woofers. Still have all the old equipment to do it. I always made custom frames to suspend speakers in air to do measurements. Much easier with modern software! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted July 15, 2016 Share Posted July 15, 2016 I have it down somewhere for measuring woofers. Still have all the old equipment to do it. I always made custom frames to suspend speakers in air to do measurements. Much easier with modern software! Now that is seriously cool! Dedicated audio nut for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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