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"Mod Podge" speaker tweak?


akirk

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I have read in another forum about a tweak for paper speaker cones which uses a decoupage sealant called "Mod Podge" (evidently available at Wal Mart). They recommend that you use a foam brush to apply the sealant to the paper cone - three coats for the front of the cone and two coats for the rear. The speaker dust cap and surround are not coated. From what I gather, this is supposed to seal up the pores in the cone and also stiffen it, resulting in better sound. Has anybody tried this, and does it work? Is it worth the effort?

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I don't think I would do that....seems just a bit to, too, eh....I don't think the resulting sound would be good. paper cones color the sound less than any other driver material (when made properly) and I don't think modifying them would make them better of companies like eggleston would be doing it.

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I'm not sure what the point is.

Since Qes is usually 10X lower than Qms lets just ignore Qms.

Fs is inversely proportional to Mm
1/2
.

Qes is linearly proportional to Mm and Fs so this means that Qes is proportional to

Mm
1/2
. So added mass increases Qes and affects Qts (it also effects Qms but that effect is minimal).

To realize an increase of 20% in Qes the Mm has to change by 1.45X higher.

That means that you've got to add about half the moving mass of the driver in glop. It also assumes the builder has very accurate T/S parameter measurement capability at his/her disposal. I see this as a messy, potentially ruinous effort for a change in damping.

Also (last point), a simple regression will demonstrate the drivers with low Qes cost big bucks. The reason is simple, Qes is inversely proportional to (B*l)
2
. So, the bigger the motor the higher the electrical damping of the transducer. Adding mass to the cone offsets the effect you pay for in motor cost.

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Yes, you do reduce Fs.

Say you increase Mm by 1.4X, then Fs drops to 84% of the value it was before you added the glop.

That also means Qes increases by 1.18X (since it goes as the sq. rt of Mm).

Since Qes is inversely proportional to (B*l)2, a reduction in B*l product to about .90 of its original value will yield an increase in Qes by 1.18X.

So, as far as Qes goes, adding the glop is NO DIFFERENT than reducing the flux density in the gap by 10% OR reducing the length of wire in the coil by 10%.

Either way the damping afforded by the motor structure is reduced. There is no *good* or *bad* Qes but when you consider the $$$ of drivers, the lower the Qes the higher the cost gets.

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Sensitivity vs Bl-product (B l).

Big surprise! Force is equal to i x (B l) where i =current running thru the voice coil. The force is the force applied to the cone at the cone apex by the voice coil.

If (B l) is large, the force is large, the SPL which is force/area for a given power level is then large.

sens%20vs%20bl.jpg

post-2963-13819248819306_thumb.jpg

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I got a heat rash on my butt that looks like your charts. Thats an awful lot of words for a geeky answere. But as I pick my self up off the floor....A simple answere would suffice... SOME LOWER EXTENSION IN BASS & LOWER EFFIENCY. MINE IS STILL REVERSIBLE. Paint your walls not your speaker cone. John I got my pair of 2123,s but Im going to use them on some thing else. Also still editing K papers.

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----------------

On 8/22/2003 8:33:28 PM Maron Horonzak wrote:

I got a heat rash on my butt that looks like your charts.

>>I didn't need to know that. Next time I'll post blue data points!

John I got my pair of 2123,s but Im going to use them on some thing else. Also still editing K papers.
>>Good! Nice driver. I found that they work best in pairs, the coverage between 3-5kHz is better.

----------------

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The increase in mass with resulting change in TS paramters is one thing. But another consideration is the change in the material properties themselves. The cone material, construction, and shape also affects the resonant modes of the cone (piston) itself. The cone should be going straight in and out, but at high frequencies it vibrates in different modes. Think of a kettle drum: depending on how the musician hits it, it will sound different.

This is called moding, or cone breakup. These modes will add colloration/distortion to the sound.

Mod Podge may make the cone stiffer, but it may also be less damped.

One of the main effors of speaker research is into materials that will push the cone moding frequency higher and higher. This is why you also see many high end audiophile type speakers with 6 inch cones crossed over at 2-3Khz.

Also why the Klipsh reference have very rigid ceramic cones and can work well till almost 2KHz

Another point: How do you know what this mod podge will age like? Put it on and in 5-10 years it may change in ways you wont like.

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----------------

On 8/22/2003 8:33:28 PM Maron Horonzak wrote:

A simple answere would suffice... SOME LOWER EXTENSION IN BASS & LOWER EFFIENCY. MINE IS STILL REVERSIBLE.

----------------

Adding mass to the cone affects the electromechanical action of the driver. It affects the Fs, Qes, Qms and Qts which means it affects the basic design of the system as a whole. A change in Qes of, say 30%, in more than enough to negate the design alignment of a high quality system. To *understand* what adding mass to the cone means is quite involved.

Adding mass is useful only if you know how you are affecting the system. Most DIYers (myself included) do not have the experimental resources to make the acoustic measurements to determine the cause and affect relationships.

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