# What does speaker "voicing" mean?



## mikey15 (Apr 5, 2008)

Can you point me to any articles about speaker voicing and how to do it. My search didn't bring any up
Thanks
Mike


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## Zeitgeist (Apr 4, 2009)

mikey15 said:


> Can you point me to any articles about speaker voicing and how to do it. My search didn't bring any up
> Thanks
> Mike


I don't know of any good articles about speaker voicing, per-se.

I've only ever read about speaker voicing in the context of speaker design and the selection of drivers and crossover types/points.

By picking drivers, enclosure and crossover, you essentially "voice" the speaker and give it - it's own unique characteristics.


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## tshifrin (Nov 24, 2011)

You might pose your question on the Part's Express Tech Talk forum; they seem to discuss more technique there and they mention voicing as part of almost every cross-over design thread. Maybe someone there can refer you to some literature.
G'luck,
Tom


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## fusseli (May 1, 2007)

Voicing a speaker by altering it's Xover could include a variety of things, including but not limited to:

For one, any number of Xover points within a safe range for the chosen drivers could be made to sum to a reasonable response. However, different points will most definitely make the speaker sound different as either driver handles a varied frequency range.

The type of slopes chosen for the Xover can change "voicing." Maybe a 2-way speaker sounds good with a symmetric LR2 Xover. How would it sound if you changed to non summing odd-order Butterworth slopes, especially off axis?

I would think "voicing" could also encompass direct changes in FR of individual drivers. For example if you were to shunt a small cap across the series leg of a tweeter's l-pad, the highs above a certain frequency would be boosted. That would be differently "voicing" the speaker.

Hope that helps.


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## absoloot (Jul 20, 2009)

fusseli said:


> Voicing a speaker by altering it's Xover could include a variety of things, including but not limited to:
> 
> For one, any number of Xover points within a safe range for the chosen drivers could be made to sum to a reasonable response. However, different points will most definitely make the speaker sound different as either driver handles a varied frequency range.
> 
> ...


this is a very good description, as i've always understood it from all the gobs of reading i've done and speakers i've built. if someone were to ask me to define it, i would probably say something like "the final stage in the design process where minor crossover tweaks are made which deviate the design from it's original theoretical model in order to achieve the desired sound."


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## tshifrin (Nov 24, 2011)

"something like "the final stage in the design process where minor crossover tweaks are made which deviate the design from it's original theoretical model in order to achieve the desired sound."

For myself, I'd add that voicing encompasses all the processes of the speaker design, from the initial choice of drivers to the design of the enclosure to the tweaking of the crossover- each step involves considering the ingredients toward a certain envisaged sound (or "voice").

Tom


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## flatfinger (Jul 27, 2011)

One tricky decision every designer faces is how much baffle step compensation to build in ...... One never  know what the environment that the box will be in when it's finally out in the wild or " in situ" ( in situation !) so allot of guys decide not to apply the full textbook amount .


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## fusseli (May 1, 2007)

flatfinger said:


> One tricky decision every designer faces is how much baffle step compensation to build in ...... One never know what the environment that the box will be in when it's finally out in the wild or " in situ" ( in situation !) so allot of guys decide not to apply the full textbook amount .


Good point. Often BSC is accounted for in the modelling and Xover design, though depending on how you implemented it it could be easily tweaked to different levels. If it were simple to jump from 2dB to 5dB of BSC, that'd drastically change the voicing of a speaker in a given room.


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## mikey15 (Apr 5, 2008)

if I measure in the proposed box in the room and use that measurement for my .frd file do I still need to apply BSC?


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## fusseli (May 1, 2007)

Maybe not. It would depend on if you move them from where you had them measured. If not, your Xover would account for the room and the speaker locations. If they ever left the room they wouldn't have the best response anymore.

Best practice is do design a speaker that's as flat as it can be anechoic, so that it does best in any location.


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## mikey15 (Apr 5, 2008)

The drivers I want to use are 93bd but i'm using two side by side so that gives me 96db. The horn is a little over 100db. Is there a way to use BSC to get another 4db to the woofers to match the waveguide. Divers are SEOS 12 wave guide with the DE250 horn and 2 RCF LS800(something like that)


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## fusseli (May 1, 2007)

mikey15 said:


> The drivers I want to use are 93bd but i'm using two side by side so that gives me 96db. The horn is a little over 100db. Is there a way to use BSC to get another 4db to the woofers to match the waveguide. Divers are SEOS 12 wave guide with the DE250 horn and 2 RCF LS800(something like that)


BSC is to account for the size of the speaker baffle and the amount of boundary reinforcement is expected in the room. All you need is an resistor or l-pad to drop down your horn to workable levels. Feel free to start a build thread!


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## mikey15 (Apr 5, 2008)

I will. The wave guides aren't here yet I'm still debating on the woofers. When I get them I'll measure. I got an Omni Mic for Xmas


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## tshifrin (Nov 24, 2011)

I definitely envy the Omnimic; all my design work is by the book until the finances improve... and builds have to wait until then as well. Numbers don't help too much in voicing.

Tom


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## Jasonpctech (Apr 20, 2010)

IMHO, the best way to insure "Voicing" or "Timbre matching" in a home theater situation.
typically the goal is to keep moving audio cues sounding the same for the best experience. 
My interpretation is to start with the same crossover design and high to midrange drivers and efficiency when possible. 
When looking at bass there is less directional cueing there so you can certainly deviate slightly. 

So my solution at home is to convert all my speakers to horn drivers in the Klipsch family. I'm about to replace a very good Polk design center for a DIY Klipsch inspired one with identical design other than 2 8" woofers instead of one 12-15" watch for my Heritage center project for details TBA in 2weeks or less.


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## stagecontrol (Apr 14, 2012)

have you fought about doing a tapped rear loaded band pass horn for the subs with a single 12's


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