Elwood Posted January 28, 2001 Share Posted January 28, 2001 I went out and listened to the RF3's and was surprised to find the woofers were made of aluminum. Are they coated with something to keep them from sounding like a "soda can"? P.S. Nothing in the $800 range can beat the RF3's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted January 28, 2001 Share Posted January 28, 2001 I've read they are. Jake "We're on a Mission from God." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilH Posted January 29, 2001 Share Posted January 29, 2001 They are ceramic coated aluminum woofers and are stiff and lightweight yet resonant behavior is extremely reduced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted January 29, 2001 Share Posted January 29, 2001 Aluminum can be treated ("anodized") so that the surface layer of aluminum oxide becomes a very, very hard ceramic material that is just about impervious to aging or corrosion. This is why some critical aircraft fasteners are made out aluminum alloys. Do a web search for 2024T4, or 6061T6, and you'll find some fascinating products. Aluminum anodized speaker cones form a sandwich composit with an aluminum core between two layers of hard, stiff ceramic, for all practical purposes. This is a terrific material for speaker cones. One of the most exotic drivers I'm aware of is the tweeter used by JMLab in their Utopia series of speakers. They call the material this tweeter is fashioned out of "tioxid" and it's basically the same idea, using titanium instead of aluminum. Tweeter itself costs buku dollars. Ray ------------------ Music is art Audio is engineering Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elwood Posted January 29, 2001 Author Share Posted January 29, 2001 quote: Originally posted by Ray Garrison: This is why some critical aircraft fasteners are made out aluminum alloys. Do a web search for 2024T4, or 6061T6, and you'll find some fascinating products. I am familiar with the 6061T6. I am in the sheetmetal fabrication business. Are the RF3 cones made of T6? ------------------ "It's 106 miles to Chicago. We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted January 30, 2001 Share Posted January 30, 2001 BTSOM but they dound dang good... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted January 30, 2001 Share Posted January 30, 2001 Uh, that is, "...they SOUND dang good..." stupid keyboard fff space jjj space f space j space fff space Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Adams Posted January 31, 2001 Share Posted January 31, 2001 >This is why some critical aircraft >fasteners are made out aluminum alloys. Finally....a topic I know something about. Uhhh, sorry Ray, but that's not quite true. None of the critical fasteners we use on aircraft are aluminum. All are either steel (stainless or "plain") or titanium with a smattering of Inconel thrown in. Yes, we use aluminum fasteners, but they are used in multiples in order to carry tensile or shear loads. And while these loads are critical to the aircraft structure, one can have failures of several fasteners without impacting the integrity of the aircraft structure. I apologize to the board for being off-topic. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. Tom Adams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted January 31, 2001 Share Posted January 31, 2001 Thanks for the update, Tom. Guess I was thinking about aircraft more in line with my proclivity for old Heritage speakers in a two channel setup... what were the critical fasteners in, say, a Curtis P40 Warhawk made out of? Betcha it wasn't Inconel 718. And the P40 has a MUCH warmer, richer and more dynamic sound than, say, an A10... Ray "'74 La Scalas RULE!" Garrison Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted February 5, 2001 Share Posted February 5, 2001 The aluminum driver isn't exactly new. I'm (soon to be) replacing two pair of Technics R&B Series SB-7 and SB-3's. They were made about 1982 (think that's when I bought them). They are using a honey-comb design. On top of that the driver face is flat and not conicle. The tweeter is (I think) a ribbon style although I've been told by my ultra techie sibs that they could be Heil (spelling) tweeters. These things don't have a lot of low end so I had to get a Yamaha NS-W2 sub to back them up. Can't wait to get a pair of KLF-20's in mahogony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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