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What point do I use to Time Align drivers

djnagle

djnagle

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Hi All, I have JBL 4530 scoop bass bins with JBL 2225H woofers, Edgarhorns with JBL 2441 compression drivers, and Big Ass Heil tweeters. I want to time align all three drivers and for the tweets and mids, that is easy.....there is a chrome band around the 2441 and I can see the plan of the Heil diaphragm so I know where those line up, but at what point on the woofer do I take and the starting point??? Cheers.
 
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I may be wrong but I have always measured to the point where the dust cap meets the cone, essentially at the voice coil, as the acoustic center. It seems
like I read that somewhere years ago...
 
To be exact you need to measure it acoustically, but a close approximation is the middle of the voice coil. Usually it'll be the middle of the top plate (the one between the magnet and basket. That should get you close.

Ray
 
Time Aligning a speaker is NOT just a matter of physical placement. Your crossover has to have corrections for ea. speakers paricular characteristics. Thats why speaker co.'s spend thousands of dollars on test equip. to get it right. I am not saying alighning the drivers wont help, but it is much more involved than that............:thmbsp:
 
In this case, I am using a Behringer 3400 active crossover and three amps. I am making stands for my Edgarhorns and Heil and want to line them up as best possible. Cheers.
 
In the case of making stands for the various components, make the stands adjustable so you can move the various drives back-n-forth with respect to each other.

I have slots on the base plate of my tweeter holding bracket to do just this. I then played a six-cycle tone burst right at the crossover frequency and started moving the tweeters. It is amazing how much difference a 1/4" can make. Adjust it until is sounds like a single sound source, as opposed to two different drivers working together. It will also be loudest and clearest when properly aligned.
 
AudioSoul said:
Time Aligning a speaker is NOT just a matter of physical placement. Your crossover has to have corrections for ea. speakers paricular characteristics. Thats why speaker co.'s spend thousands of dollars on test equip. to get it right. I am not saying alighning the drivers wont help, but it is much more involved than that............:thmbsp:
Click to expand...


Correct...remember the DQ10s with the staggered array. The point was that the SOUND was supposed to ARRIVE at the listener at the correct time, which depended on the wavelengths of the individual frequencies (or something approximating that).
 
I remember hearing a Klipsch engineer talk about the rotation of the phase response or some technical stuff like that?? (all that is above me)

They're right... you might improve the sound but I'd speculate you'd never get it as accurate as the factory.

I actively biamp and use delay in my crossover. I've created another setting with the delay taken out. I didn't hear any blatent differences. I asked what should I look for and I think was told if I put some sharp transients on (rim shots??) that if I could focus on the crossover point, I might then hear the differrence in time.

I've never done that! too lazy and don't udnerstand it well enough. I put the delay back in and simply enjoy the sound. :thmbsp:
 
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