replacement speakers

[HarryM]

Anybody checked out the electro mavin speakers on ebay.He's advertising them as replacements for AR.Any chance they would be air suspension speakers made in north america.I wouldn't think of useing them in an AR cabinet but if they were a good quality air suspension speaker they could be used to home build a good set of speakers.It's just me coming up with silly ideas.

While I'm thinking about it,how can you tell by looking at a speaker if it's air suspension or not.Are no holes in the magnet and a sealed dust cap indicators.I may have read this on this forum but I don't recall.

[JKent]

Well, he's marketing it as a replacement for JBL and Cerwin Vega--speakers that sound nothing like ARs! However, all the specs are listed so someone who is knowledgeable in that area may be able to tell you how they compare to AR specs. Then of course there's the mounting size.

If you are into DIY speaker building (something that requires a good deal of technical know-how that I lack), Apex Jr is a good resource. For example, he has some NHT 8" woofers (nice) for 11 bux and Infinity 10" woofers for 12.50:

http://www.apexjr.co...eakerstuff.html

Kent

[HarryM]

Thanks for the link Kent.

I don't know that I would get into building my own speakers when you can pick up very good vintage speakers needing surrounds and caps for fairly cheap.I also don't think I would do it unless I was quite sure I was going to have a high quality and great sounding speaker when I was done.Then there's something to be said for building a pair of speakers from scratch with all new components and building your own cabs.I wouldn't have a clue where to start with selecting speakers that would work well together.Then there's the cross over which is way beyond me.It's just ideas the pop into my head from time to time.

[michiganpat]

looking at the specs of the 12" 8 ohm driver (item 330505290682), the Fs is 36 hz (about 15hz higher than the AR 12" woofer)

Qts is > .8, so you're going to get a hump on bass response, even if you went infinite baffle

Vas (assuming mM actually is Liters) is ~ 4 cubic feet, so at best if going sealed you're going to need a BIG box (quick simulaiton shows an AR3 size box having a Q of ~1.4, with a 37.db peak at 72 hz, an F3 of 45 hz and an F10 of about 32 hz. it needs 8 cubic foot to get a sytem Q under 1.

looking at the 10" actually listing AR replacement I see the same thing, Fs and Qts too high to work well as a replacement. it needs an Fs in the 20-25hz, and a Qts in the .4-.65 range to work good in an AR2ax sized cabinet. with a Vas in the 55-60L range

I wonder who actually makes them....kinda have the look of the goldwood HD ones parts express sells

[HarryM]

Thanks michiganpat,you've explained very well why they won't work.

Let me ask you this,when you set out to build a speaker what is your main objective.Is it to try and reproduce a specific sound like the AR sound.How do you go about deciding what woofers,mid ranges and tweeters to use.Do you build your own xovers.Is it just about the building process or is the outcome the most important part.Do you build the speakers to the cab or the cab to the speakers.Or is it a combination of all of it.