speaker diffusers

[barny]

any body had experience with these ....and what do you think of them..
im asking cos i have some fitted but seem to loss a bit of volume with them when playing with the bass and drums...but when recorded from a distance through a mic...it sounds fine...

just after some opinions and findings in using them
thanks..:)

[barny]

anybody....:)

[solitaire]

This can possibly open a can of worms. The suggested principle of operation of the diffusors I would imagine you have in mind (designed to block and/ or reflect sound back towards the cone) is erroneous from an acoustical standpoint and causes phasing effects.

I've been using Weber's Beam-Blockers and they do indeed filter off some highend but the more I learn about acoutsics I realise the effect would have been the same or better with bit of tape placed anywhere infront of the speaker. I'm looking into the Mitchell Donut, which acoustically bleeds off highend which is why speakers beam - hence the larger diameter of the speaker the more beaming you'll have, generally.

[Cirrus]

I had beam blockers in my 2x12 for a bit, and they worked as advertised. But honestly I preferred having a more directional cab because live it meant I could point it at me and know I'm not overpowering anyone else, and on stages where we had to have low volume I could aim it sideways...

With beam blockers, you lose that control.

Also, when close miking you need to make sure the mic isn't just pointed at a bit of plastic, and that can mean telling soundmen they've "done it wrong" as it were.

[solitaire]

I had beam blockers in my 2x12 for a bit, and they worked as advertised. Depends on what you mean by "as advertised". ;) I agree though that one limits ones mic'ing options with any diffusor in place.

[908SSP]

I made my own blockers for about $2 each so at that price I could use as many as need which in my case is a lot. I like what they sound like. I don't really care why but they give me a much broader area in which i can hear the same tone. I can walk from side to side up close and far away and it sounds much more the same than it did without them. Since I use them all the time I have adjusted other things to get the tone I expect to hear.

The aluminum is available at home depot and the speaker dust shield domes are available at Parts Express.

That should read .050 thick sloppy mistake. I just glue the dust shield to the aluminum.
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r245/908ssp/AmpsCabs/_1010157.jpg

[barny]

thanks for the replies so far..
i have them fitted to a new cab , so idont really know what it will sound like without them ..just looking for peoples views on these before i get the screwdriver out...:)

[doublescale1]

I've been using one in a Carr Rambler for three years now and like 908SSP I too can hear an even dispersion of hi's & lo's as I walk across the front of the amp - something that did not happen before I installed the Weber beam blocker - I used that amp a lot in un-mic'ed bar environments and it did what I needed it to do - make for a nice even, balanced tone from the amp - I also had them installed on a 30watt Headstrong Verbrovibe 2X10 - same thing there - a nice even, balanced tone top to bottom as you walk across the front of the amp. As for micing, I position the mic just to the side of the BB (they are on an angle across the front of the speaker) so that the mic is about halfway between the cone and the outside edge - sounds just fine in FOH.

[barny]

I've been using one in a Carr Rambler for three years now and like 908SSP I too can hear an even dispersion of hi's & lo's as I walk across the front of the amp - something that did not happen before I installed the Weber beam blocker - I used that amp a lot in un-mic'ed bar environments and it did what I needed it to do - make for a nice even, balanced tone from the amp - I also had them installed on a 30watt Headstrong Verbrovibe 2X10 - same thing there - a nice even, balanced tone top to bottom as you walk across the front of the amp. As for micing, I position the mic just to the side of the BB (they are on an angle across the front of the speaker) so that the mic is about halfway between the cone and the outside edge - sounds just fine in FOH.

do you find the amp dosnt seem as loud with the blockers on...?

mine seemed quiet compared the the bass and drums, but recorded from a distance it was cutting through fine...

the issue of Mic,n tayden had a llittle bit of info on there site about a diffuser with a built in quality mic fitted into the hub part of it...seemed like a great idea so i mailed them and they said they had to put it on the back burner because of other products getting priority...does anybody know any other company that do these.....it would be great to have the correct mic placement ect all built into the cab ready to go..

[solitaire]

You'll get plenty of beamy trebles if mic'ing the very centre of one of these thingies. Remember: trebles don't eminate from the centre, as Ted Weber erroneously claimed (which is why he designed the Beam-Blocker to this very design), it's just the more directional frequencies. So you typically want to get off axis and get away from the speaker a bit.

The Beam Blocking devices will make the speaker sound softer generally (the dome does absorb off some of the high frequencies) but then off axis the speaker will be slightly louder. At least I find it to be that way, as says the acoustic theories, so I can't be far off. The Donuts however, creating an artificial source can be mic'ed in a variety of angles with very little difference in EQ and volume, as these actually work as a lens.

[Scooter]

All I know is that I didn't like what a beam blocker did to my 1x12. It did seem to create some odd, phasey artifacts at times and just sort of altered the overall 'feel' of the air and sound moving away from the cab. Hard to describe, but I just didn't like it.

[dspellman]

I leave beam blockers off my speakers.

[Cap'n Fingers]

David Hicks, (formerly Hicks Electronics), used to sell what he called a Speaker Tweaker. It looked like the plastic veins of a round fan. The veins were angled so it scattered the sound such that you could stand right next to the amp and hear it almost as if you were standing out in front of it. It also made it easier for the rest of the band to hear you because it threw the sound more or less sideways.

I guess that classifies as a diffuser. I have one for a 12" speaker. Dave may still have some. I think his TGP id is Ampdoc.

I used one on one of my Twin's speakers. The band said they could hear me better. That's about all remember about it. Haven't use it in a long time.

[walterw]

beam blockers don't really work because the beam doesn't come from there!

homework: slog through at least the first few pages of the "speaker directivity" mega-thread (http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=470956) for the real science and a better (but still cheap and homemade) answer, which solitaire already alluded to.

[ChorusCrackpot]

anybody....:)

http://i1.cpcache.com/product/342276033/macgyver_it_tshirt.jpg