Brian or Hank- Gasket material for small drivers (1 Viewer)

[Ronnie Ferrell]

What do you guys use for gasket material on the small Tang Band drivers you use in your bosebusters? Or do the TBs come with a gasket?

I picked up some discontinued 4" full range 40-1197 drivers at Radio Shack the other night to play around with. They were a whopping $2.97 each.


Thanks!


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[Brian Bunge]

Ronnie,

Just get some 1/4" closed cell foam from HD or Lowe's. That should work just fine your you.

 

[Ronnie Ferrell]

1/4" will be too thick for these drivers. They do not have much of a flange and are surface mount. I need something about the thickness of the gasket that comes with Danny's GR-T1 tweeters and only about 1/8" wide. I might try rolling out a thin bead of fun-tac or rope caulk.


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[Brian Bunge]

Ronnie,

You're right, 1/4" would probably be too thick. You could just use the stuff that PE sends out with all their drivers. I don't know if it's considered rope caulk or what. I do know it can permanently seal the driver to the enclosure though!

 

[Ronnie Ferrell]

Don't need the permanent bonding!

I might just slap the thing in and not worry about a gasket at all. They are only 4" drivers and the cabinet is ported. I know these thing are not going to push much air so it might not matter if they are "air-tight" sealed or not...


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[AllanRW]

Use the window sealant that PE gives you when you order from them.
This is thick enought to seal and stop the ring from the frame at the same time.
It makes taking them apart a BI-CH.But I spray all the areas with bedliner or paint them with a paint first.
Then if you have to take them apart they will with out destroying the cabinet.

I use this stuff and after 20 sets using the 3" drivers I will keep using it.
http://quicksitebuilder.cnet.com/ima...target=tlx_new
Just my 2 cents

Alhttp://quicksitebuilder.cnet.com/ima...target=tlx_new

 

[Ronnie Ferrell]

Thanks for the info Allen! WOW what an array of speakers you have there! I hate to admit it but I have only ordered one driver from Parts Express. It was a vifa tweeter for an older pair of Snell E-IIIs I have. It did not come with any gasket material so I am not familiar with the stuff you are mentioning.

Anyway I stopped by Home Depot and picked up some rope caulk. Might be the same window stuff you are referring to.

On a different note: Do the 3" and 4" TB drivers from Parts Express come with an recommended enclosure plans?



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[AllanRW]

http://greenhousestuff.com/lordburnham/glazingtape.htm

Sorry it is called Glazing tape.
The rope caulk will do the same thing.
Just make sure not to tighten to tight as the frames will show the dentsa very very easy.


Al

http://quicksitebuilder.cnet.com/wrn...eakerbuilding/

 

[Brian Bunge]

Ronnie,

The TB drivers I have didn't come with any recommended box sizes. I just played around with Unibox and decided what was the best for me and in the size enclosure I wanted. Email me if you want any specifics.

 

[Ronnie Ferrell]

Finally finished the enclosures for these little speakers. I built a 6.9 liter box tuned around 95hz. And well... They sound like, well... a $6 speaker... :frowning: Oh well...

It was fun though! And I learned a lot. This was the first time I have used any modeling programs or designed a enclosure. The low end of the enclosure sounds like it should! But the 4" full range speakers sound thin and shouty. They are not bad for near field and low volumes though.

At least I got to use the table saw and router this weekend!



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[Allen Ross]

its all about learning and exparimenting

 

[Brian Bunge]

Ronnie,

I know it's been a while, but how do you think they sound compared to the ELF 1.5 way speakers that we heard in Atlanta? They were Jim Griffin's speakers with the little dual 3" TB's.

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

Ronnie: Sorry, I didn't see your question until now. I think Brian surfs the forums every other hour
You can use the closed cell foam weatherstrip material from Home Depot or Lowes - use the narrowest - I have it in a few BoseBusters. Note that you need to do shallow insets for the drivers, as the foam will compress tremendously. I've used the sticky material from P.E., BUT it will stick to MDF and upon removal of a driver, it will tear off some MDF material. Put it on the driver flange, then coat it with vaseline, and it won't stick to your MDF. My favorite gasket material is Mortite, the rope caulk that won't harden. I wish it were available in small diameter coils.

 

[Ronnie Ferrell]

I know it's been a while, but how do you think they sound compared to the ELF 1.5 way speakers that we heard in Atlanta? They were Jim Griffin's speakers with the little dual 3" TB's.

If memory servers me well, (yeah right...) The ELF 1.5 is quit a bit better in the mid range than these are. That is where these start to sound shouty. I am guessing the little filter that is on one of the two drivers in the ELF 1.5 helps out with the shouty sound of a full range driver. I think mine go a little lower. Now in all fairness, these drivers have about 1 hour play time on them. I don't know if they need any break-in time or not. They are Fostex FE-103 knock-offs. They actually say FE-103 on the back. They are no where as good as the Fostex drivers, but then again, I paid $2.97 a piece for them...

"Chick with a guitar" music sounds really good on these. I was going to use them in my office at work,and still might, but I think they are going in the garage so I can have something to listen to when working down there.


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