[FedUp]

Would an Eminence Alpha 10A speaker be ok to use as a budget woofer in
a 2 way speaker cabinet?
(i.e. I am not sure of what kind of tweeter would be used with it -
that seems to be easier to figure out
what to purchase).

This would be for home stereo use at moderate volume levels....

Here is one link to this speaker:

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=290-403

Also, what would be considered a "high-end" type woofer, if one wanted
to spend hundreds of dollars
for a 10" woofer, for example? Anyone have a good experience with a
particular type of woofer?
I have some small Paradigm Atom speakers and I have no clue to how
much the drivers in them cost,
considering at the time of purchase, the speakers were fairly
inexpensive.

Thanks for any advice on this.

--- Entfred

[Arny Krueger]

"FedUp" wrote in message


Would an Eminence Alpha 10A speaker be ok to use as a
budget woofer in a 2 way speaker cabinet?

I don't think so.

What's the application?

I see a relatively high efficiency, relatively poor dynamic range at the
lowest frequencies.

If you're working with tubed amps, then I guess you have to do what you have
to do. Even so, I think that you can do better with B&C but at a higher
price.

(i.e. I am not sure of what kind of tweeter would be used
with it - that seems to be easier to figure out
what to purchase).

You need a fairly high-efficiency tweeter, probably one with a waveguide
(horn)

This would be for home stereo use at moderate volume
levels....

Real bass at moderate levels still requires respect and careful engineering.
A speaker this size should have 9-12 mm Xmax, easily.

Here is one link to this speaker:

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=290-403

Live sound, anybody? But not really good live sound.

Also, what would be considered a "high-end" type woofer,
if one wanted to spend hundreds of dollars
for a 10" woofer, for example?

Again, look at the B&C catalog. They are among the "bang for buck" leaders
in high quality, high efficiency speakers. You can pay easily pay twice as
much and not get anything better.

For 2-way home audio, 6.5 to 8 inches are about the limit for the low end,
if you're crossing over to dome tweeters.

Anyone have a good
experience with a particular type of woofer?

By implication. I'd buy something different whether the application was home
audio or live sound.

I have some small Paradigm Atom speakers and I have no
clue to how much the drivers in them cost,

Not a lot, given that they are purchased in very large quantities. 2 way
speakers are among the most difficult of all kinds of speakers to get really
right. There's a lot to be said for letting value/performance companies like
Paradigm do your work for you.


considering at the time of purchase, the speakers were
fairly inexpensive.

Also, atoms are very modest in terms of bass extension and dynamic range.
But they sound good if you treat them right, and put a good subwoofer under
them. Subwoofers are a relatively easy project compared to doing a 2-way
from scratch. (Hint! Hint!)

[FedUp]

On Sep 23, 9:17=A0am, "Arny Krueger" wrote:
"FedUp" wrote in message



Would an Eminence Alpha 10A speaker be ok to use as a
budget woofer in a 2 way speaker cabinet?

I don't think so.

What's the application?

The application is for recording bands, jam sessions in a basement.
Recording gear used: Olympus LS-10, an old Fostex VF08, occasionally
use some other stuff, like Mac laptops.


I see a relatively high efficiency, relatively poor dynamic range at the
lowest frequencies.

If you're working with tubed amps, then I guess you have to do what you h=
ave
to do. =A0Even so, I think that you can do better with B&C but at a highe=
r
price.

I might be using a Denon 100 watt per channel receiver to drive the
speakers.


(i.e. I am not sure of what kind of tweeter would be used
with it - that seems to be easier to figure out
what to purchase).

You need a fairly high-efficiency tweeter, probably one with a waveguide
(horn)

This would be for home stereo use at moderate volume
levels....

Real bass at moderate levels still requires respect and careful engineeri=
ng.
A speaker this size should have 9-12 mm Xmax, easily.

Here is one link to this speaker:

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...mber=3D290-403

Live sound, anybody? But not really good live sound.

Also, what would be considered a "high-end" type woofer,
if one wanted to spend hundreds of dollars
for a 10" woofer, for example?

Again, look at the B&C catalog. They are among the "bang for buck" leader=
s
in high quality, high efficiency speakers. You can pay easily pay twice a=
s
much and not get anything better.

For 2-way home audio, 6.5 to 8 inches are about the limit for the low end=
,
if you're crossing over to dome tweeters.

=A0Anyone have a good
experience with a particular type of woofer?

By implication. I'd buy something different whether the application was h=
ome
audio or live sound.

I have some small Paradigm Atom speakers and I have no
clue to how much the drivers in them cost,

Not a lot, given that they are purchased in very large quantities. 2 way
speakers are among the most difficult of all kinds of speakers to get rea=
lly
right. There's a lot to be said for letting value/performance companies l=
ike
Paradigm do your work for you.

considering at the time of purchase, the speakers were
fairly inexpensive.

Also, atoms are very modest in terms of bass extension and dynamic range.
But they sound good if you treat them right, and put a good subwoofer und=
er
them. Subwoofers are a relatively easy project compared to doing a 2-way
from scratch. (Hint! Hint!)

I have an old subwoofer - an Event. It is small, but fairly powerful.
I have mixed feelings about using subwoofers.
It sounds kind of bizarre to me having one subwoofer in the middle of
a pair of stereo speakers, but I have heard
that low freq. sounds are difficult to detect spacially as much or
something like that! Maybe it is just a matter of
getting used to it. I like having all the sounds coming out of one
speaker, like a guitar amp does...

[FedUp]

Dick,

Thanks for your explanations. I am not that familiar with the
technical aspects of stereo speakers except for primitive experiments
swapping cheap speakers in various cabinets over the years.

I don't want a harsh, dead sounding speaker sound, which from what you
are telling me and another post on this thread is telling me that the
Celestion is not optimum for my application (i.e. home stereo
speakers).

A few of my friends and I have various old speaker cabinets lying
around with blown out speakers, so building something that sounds good
may not ever be necessary. I have EPI speakers that have radio shack
woofers after the woofers rotted out and I was looking for some cheap
speakers.
I did replace one EPI tweeter with a fairly good tweeter from a
speaker store that has gone out of business many years ago. I only see
mail order now, which
is probably cheaper, anyway.... The Radio Shack woofers don't get that
low freq. (can't remember the model no.), but they sound ok...
The Atoms sound much better, but the EPIs blow the doors off the Atoms
as far as volume goes, obviously, and the EPI original tweeter that
still
works is outstanding and so is the replacement tweeter in the second
speaker. So, overall the EPIs are probably even in "listening
pleasure" to the
Atoms, but the Atoms have a quality you can't get with the EPIs - the
"spatial separation".

I can possibly go with another 10" woofer at some point that is higher
quality than an inexpensive Celestion - in other words,
might be worth saving my money for. This might be overkill for what I
have in mind -
it really is just for basement recording of various musicians and
myself - it is not for any professional recording applications, though
with the Olympus LS-10,
you can get really great recordings, if done carefully. My Fostex
VF-08 is dated, but has a nice punchy sound - especially on the bass
side, that I can't
get with the Olympus. It is true that I would love to have speakers
that get a deep bass sound - where when I record a bass guitar, you
can hear it half-way
realistically, instead of a minature version of a bass guitar. It
really is a matter of considering what is the "best bang for the
buck".

When you boil down all this, it might even make sense to just go out
and get some decent speakers with the drivers already installed and
everything working
ok, if I am willing to spend the bucks to get a sound that is much
better than the Atoms, which of course, are the bargain speakers of
the century. I had one
stereo store tell me that I would have to spend five times as much to
get something truly better sounding, except for volume and bass, of
course, which no
tiny speaker can really excel at.
I have a friend who has the Mackie Studio powered monitors - I think
it was close to a grand for the pair. Many other choices. was
intrigued with the
Celstion idea, due to the cheapness and having the old blown-out
speaker cabinets lying around.

Now, if you want to hear what one great speaker sounds like, check out

http://www.youtube.com/entfred

Click on Bussard plays a 78 from his record collection.
I tried panning to the speaker in the corner- altec lansing cabinet
with two 15" woofers, I believe, and other drivers in there, too. Joe
paid quite a bit decades
ago for this mono speaker cabinet and I was blown away when I first
heard this speaker cabinet. That is what I would want the most -
something huge like
that!

The only other big "home stereo" speaker I remember hearing (not
including stereo stores or the old hi-fi shows...) was a Klipsch that
was several feet high.

--- Entfred

On Sep 23, 9:15=A0pm, Dick Pierce wrote:
FedUp wrote:

=A0 Would an Eminence Alpha 10A speaker be ok to use as a
=A0 budget woofer in a 2 way speaker cabinet?

No, for a variety of reasons.


But describe, in more detail, what you want your system to be
like, because tHAT will determine the selection of woofers.