Planar Speaker Asylum

Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share your ideas and experiences.

Return to Planar Speaker Asylum

Message Sort: Post Order or Asylum Reverse Threaded

Foil vs Wire Part II - Measurements

73.204.88.222
Posted on April 22, 2023 at 07:44:13
Joe Schmo
Audiophile

Posts: 520
Location: Palm Beach
Joined: April 21, 2008
 As a follow-up to my original post(link below), I finally had some time to measure a woofer panel using wire conductors and one using foil conductors.

The foil woofer tested is a model 1.7i and the wire woofer tested is a model 1.6qr driver panel. For each test, the woofer section was connected directly to the power amplifier through a series 4A fuse. SPL measurements were made using REW and a MiniDSP UMIK-1. DC resistance was measured with a Fluke 115.

Each panel had a DC resistance of 4.1 Ohms. For SPL measurements, each speaker was placed in the center of the room with the mic centered vertically and horizontally on the woofer section of the driver at a distance of 1.5M.

The plots below show 3.5mS Tukey 0.25(300Hz min) and 25mS Tukey 0.25(40Hz min) IR windows. I suspect the driver roll-off below 400Hz is primarily due to room modes specific to my testing environment, but none the less the relative measurement behavior still serves as a reasonable comparison between the two driver technologies.












-Joe

They're not that big!

 

Hide full thread outline!
    ...
RE: Foil vs Wire Part II - Measurements, posted on April 22, 2023 at 08:02:43
josh358
Industry Professional

Posts: 12376
Joined: February 9, 2010
 Which trace is which? (Not that it really matters, since they're so similar.)

 

RE: Foil vs Wire Part II - Measurements, posted on April 22, 2023 at 08:13:53
Joe Schmo
Audiophile

Posts: 520
Location: Palm Beach
Joined: April 21, 2008
 The models are shown in the graph legends at the bottom of each plot. The dark color scheme just makes them impossible to see! I should probably switch to a light color. The red plot is the 1.7i and the blue plot is the 1.6qr.

Like you stated in the original discussion a few months back, they're almost identical! :)
-Joe

They're not that big!

 

RE: Foil vs Wire Part II - Measurements, posted on April 22, 2023 at 08:16:10
Davey
 The switch was mainly about consistency and simplification of production. You still have essentially the same motor structure with equivalent conductor area cutting the magnetic lines of force.

The only wire models left are those with very limited production, as I understand.

Dave.

 

RE: Foil vs Wire Part II - Measurements, posted on April 22, 2023 at 08:27:44
Joe Schmo
Audiophile

Posts: 520
Location: Palm Beach
Joined: April 21, 2008
 This data certainly validates that notion. They look almost identical with the parameters I measured.

Based on my own experience, I'd have to conclude that the larger surface area of the foil conductor provides much better adhesion to the Mylar substrate. In the case of my own 1.6qr speakers, I repaired minor "banana peeling" of the wire conductors before it got out of hand a few years back. There has been no such issues with the foil tweeters on the same speakers.
-Joe

They're not that big!

 

Page processed in 0.018 seconds.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]