Tweet
Yes, improved significantly. Not perfect by any any means, but much more listenable if you are willing to spend another $60 or so on the mods I did.
As noted in the original PETT Wolf-authored thread on this new speaker from Dayton, the tweeter is the jewel. The woofer definitely isn't. Nor is the token amount of fiberfill used.
The Dayton DC160-4 is a great drop in replacement with much better specs, a coated paper cone and a PE recommended closed box volume of 0.23 cu. ft - almost exactly what the -AIR has.
Meas. T/S parameters on the two DC160-4s I bought showed a Qts of 0.37 vs 0.64 for the factory woofer. 60 Watts power handling. The factory woofer is marked 30W. Basic SPL eff. is about the same. Le = 0.62 for the DC160-4 and 0.78 for the factory woofer.
I also removed the very thick and useless paperboard gasket from around the DC160-4 frame. This must be done carefully so the rubber surround below it isn't damaged. I did this because I was suspicious it might contribute to some of the diffraction ripples seen in the Holm plots.
The next thing I did was reverse the tweeter polarity connections at the back of the tweeter like the other modder did. Also added considerably more stuffing. About 10 inches of stripped R-13 OCFG insulation.
Replaced the 3 ohm tweeter resistor with a 12W Mills 6 ohm resistor because the highs were measuring and playing a bit hot. Lastly, I added a 1 mH air core coil (20 ga.) in series with the woofer.
With these changes box Fc dropped from 90 hz to 73 hz and Q from 1.6 to a more respectable A.S Q of 0.9. With my room gain, I claim a freq. response of +5 -10dB from 40 to 20 kHz and a slight drop in efficiency from 87 [email protected] to 86 dB. Not an audiophile speaker with ruler flat response, but for $ spent, well worth it.
Below are some Holm test measurements taken with the grilles off.
On axis @ 1M blu line, red line - factory woofer close mic'd - B652-AIR as rec'd from P.E. Note the 1-2 kHz hump in the woofer response.
On axis @ 1M, DC160-4 woofer close mic'd, extra stuff and 1 mH coil & 6 ohm resistor. Note the sharp rolloff of the woofer above 4 kHz.
Response with tweeter leads pos. to pos. neg to neg.
Dayton DC160-4 close mic'd in B652-AIR cabinet, with FG stuffing and 1.0 mH coil. The 1-2 kHz hump no longer present. Also note how smoothed down the response hump is in the 100 hz range.
Close up of the Tweeter's polar plots taken at 1M. Blu=on axis, Red=45 deg, grn=30 deg.
I've been listening to the speakers for a couple of days now and really like the smooth transition from woofer to tweeter. I use the speakers with a powered 8 inch sub to fill in the lowest 2 octaves a little. However, standing alone on my 26 inch cherry speaker stands, these guys hold up quite well on their own. I plan to add an inexpensive binding post block to each speaker to make hooking them up to my stereo easier. With grilles on, the modded speakers weigh almost 2 1/2 lbs heavier than factory weight.
Lastly, while I'm installing the binding post blocks, I may install a brace up the inside of each sidewall.
Next summer's CAS speaker shoot out will be their premier.
As noted in the original PETT Wolf-authored thread on this new speaker from Dayton, the tweeter is the jewel. The woofer definitely isn't. Nor is the token amount of fiberfill used.
The Dayton DC160-4 is a great drop in replacement with much better specs, a coated paper cone and a PE recommended closed box volume of 0.23 cu. ft - almost exactly what the -AIR has.
Meas. T/S parameters on the two DC160-4s I bought showed a Qts of 0.37 vs 0.64 for the factory woofer. 60 Watts power handling. The factory woofer is marked 30W. Basic SPL eff. is about the same. Le = 0.62 for the DC160-4 and 0.78 for the factory woofer.
I also removed the very thick and useless paperboard gasket from around the DC160-4 frame. This must be done carefully so the rubber surround below it isn't damaged. I did this because I was suspicious it might contribute to some of the diffraction ripples seen in the Holm plots.
The next thing I did was reverse the tweeter polarity connections at the back of the tweeter like the other modder did. Also added considerably more stuffing. About 10 inches of stripped R-13 OCFG insulation.
Replaced the 3 ohm tweeter resistor with a 12W Mills 6 ohm resistor because the highs were measuring and playing a bit hot. Lastly, I added a 1 mH air core coil (20 ga.) in series with the woofer.
With these changes box Fc dropped from 90 hz to 73 hz and Q from 1.6 to a more respectable A.S Q of 0.9. With my room gain, I claim a freq. response of +5 -10dB from 40 to 20 kHz and a slight drop in efficiency from 87 [email protected] to 86 dB. Not an audiophile speaker with ruler flat response, but for $ spent, well worth it.
Below are some Holm test measurements taken with the grilles off.
On axis @ 1M blu line, red line - factory woofer close mic'd - B652-AIR as rec'd from P.E. Note the 1-2 kHz hump in the woofer response.
On axis @ 1M, DC160-4 woofer close mic'd, extra stuff and 1 mH coil & 6 ohm resistor. Note the sharp rolloff of the woofer above 4 kHz.
Response with tweeter leads pos. to pos. neg to neg.
Dayton DC160-4 close mic'd in B652-AIR cabinet, with FG stuffing and 1.0 mH coil. The 1-2 kHz hump no longer present. Also note how smoothed down the response hump is in the 100 hz range.
Close up of the Tweeter's polar plots taken at 1M. Blu=on axis, Red=45 deg, grn=30 deg.
I've been listening to the speakers for a couple of days now and really like the smooth transition from woofer to tweeter. I use the speakers with a powered 8 inch sub to fill in the lowest 2 octaves a little. However, standing alone on my 26 inch cherry speaker stands, these guys hold up quite well on their own. I plan to add an inexpensive binding post block to each speaker to make hooking them up to my stereo easier. With grilles on, the modded speakers weigh almost 2 1/2 lbs heavier than factory weight.
Lastly, while I'm installing the binding post blocks, I may install a brace up the inside of each sidewall.
Next summer's CAS speaker shoot out will be their premier.
Try again. 
Creating the corrective filters not quite as simple as usual as there is no overlap in the passbands--both sides falling off and getting jagged, but finally in the grand canyon south rim pick 4K, and window down to 140 Hz as the measurements looked reflection free out to 6-7 ms. Listened without subwoofer. Not too shabby, but clearly no miracles here bass-wise from a 6" in a 0.2 cu ft enclosure.
Comment