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BIG CHROME DUSTCAPS!!!

lav.loo - 2011-01-01 13:56

ok guys, after going through my boxes today and giving them their routine check up, i got to thinking about the dustcap sizes and wondered what the reason was for the difference in sizes??
for instance, the dustcaps on my sanyo m9990 are very big, and look much better than smaller ones, in my opinion.
on my philips d8614, they are much smaller but the sound from the woofers is a little better than the sanyo's.
what im getting at here is, does anyone think the dustcap size has anything to do with power, e.g bigger magnets maybe, or are they just purely for looks??
some boxes have huge chrome dustcaps, and some have very small ones, but the sound from the boxes with the big ones can be dissapointing, and the sound from the boxes with small ones can be very good, just wondered if anyone can shed some light here, it's been puzzling me for some time now Nod Yes Wink

retro.addict - 2011-01-01 14:26

First of all LAV, excellent post!

I definitely know what you're getting at here. I'm not sure but it seems like better sound being associated with woofers with big dustcaps, could be purely coincidental. We know a few boxes with big dustcaps (G.E. Blockbuster, Sanyo M9990) have really good sound, but as you said the Philips D8614 has relatively small dustcaps in comparison, but sounds just as good. In my experience, it doesn't really seem to make much difference how big the dustcaps are, how good the woofers sound. Let's not forget the dustcaps on the M90 aren't really big ones. Yet it's one of the best sounding boxes ever. I think big dustcaps are mostly associated with 'beefy' woofers such as the Sharp GF-777's super woofers, the Hitachi 3D series' bass woofers etc, but my Aiwa CS-600K has small dustcaps but has a fantastic bassy sound thanks to the Dynamic Super Loudness (DSL) system.

We'll see what other people have to say about this subject.

retro.addict - 2011-01-01 14:29

quote:
Originally posted by retro:
I've always been a fan of oversized chrome dustcaps, like the ones on the PH-480K.
Me too. My Philips D8534 3-piece box has big dustcaps and it looks great. They definitely give the box a tough impressive look. Some versions of that box have small dustcaps on the woofers, and they don't look half as good in my opinion.

retro - 2011-01-01 14:42

I'm guessing the more surface area a dustcap covers, the lower the midrange cutoff frequency. Woofers with smaller dustcaps may produce better vocals. hmm

radio.raheem - 2011-01-01 16:22

What do you guys think an m90 would look like with bigger dustcaps??? say the size of the gf9000 ones???

teamstress - 2011-01-01 16:32

I think it's just a gimmick to make the speaker look bigger. More bling.

reli - 2011-01-01 16:48

I would speculate that it has to do with how far away the magnet is. If the designers wanted to build a thin box, then the magnet would need to be placed closer to the grill, making a flatter speaker, and thus a bigger center cap. Prime example: GE 3-6035A. It's got the biggest caps I've seen yet. Its woofers are very flat, because the box is thin and it doesn't have much room inside. They're very stiff too. You can't see them move until you crank it loud.

samsnite - 2011-01-02 04:09

The dustcaps main purpose is to protect the inner pieces of the speaker from outside threats, mainly dust. With different designs and forms of the dustcap certain frequencies can be amplified or cut/reduced.
In my opinion the beefier dustcap the beefier speaker. Its a psychological thing... but the suspension ring has to be phat as well...

lav.loo - 2011-01-02 10:12

hey guys thanks a lot for all your opinions here, iv'e really enjoyed reading the different views you guys have, i guess im gonna come to the conclusion that the size of the caps is nothing to do with sound, but like most of you, i prefer the big ones, they look so cool Nod Yes Wink

jvc.floyd - 2011-01-02 10:20

the sharp gf 777/767/100 the j1 and the elta master blaster have the largest dust caps i know of and the m90 has tiny ones and pretty much kicks the butts of the other 3 in sound quality .

brigadier.vytas - 2011-01-02 11:15

No doubt, big chrome caps makes boxes to look much better :]. Couple of days ago i wanted to buy some nice big caps from the net, but could not find any good and classic looking ones - thought, i could change small ones on some of my boxes to bigger ones. But maybe it is bad idea? Can they do harm to the sound, i mean, even if glued correctly?.. What do u think, guys?

retro.addict - 2011-01-02 12:41

quote:
Originally posted by Brigadier Vytas:
No doubt, big chrome caps makes boxes to look much better :]. Couple of days ago i wanted to buy some nice big caps from the net, but could not find any good and classic looking ones - thought, i could change small ones on some of my boxes to bigger ones. But maybe it is bad idea? Can they do harm to the sound, i mean, even if glued correctly?.. What do u think, guys?
I wouldn't think they'd do any harm to the sound at all. Though the only experience I have of glueing dustcaps on was to stick the same size caps on top of the originals, which were in very bad condition. I had no option, because old caps can't be separated from the woofers without tearing the cones. The new caps improved the look immensely!

lav.loo - 2011-01-02 13:52

"hey" hope it was'nt the 8600 i got from you that you fitted new ones on, that's it, im gonna get it out of it's box now and give it a thorough examination Big Grin Wink Bopping

gld - 2011-01-02 14:24

I suspect the dust caps are purley cosmetic; to give some interest to what would otherwise look like a boring black hole.

To dust cap on these has very little bearing on the size of the voice coil which is for more important. GF777 centre speakers is a good case in point. They have a large dust cap suggesting a large voice coil but when you inspect the speaker the coil is simply pathetic.

retro.addict - 2011-01-02 15:47

quote:
Originally posted by LAV LOO:
"hey" hope it was'nt the 8600 i got from you that you fitted new ones on, that's it, im gonna get it out of it's box now and give it a thorough examination Big Grin Wink Bopping
No it wasn't that one, it was my Sanyo M9990. Wink

retro - 2011-01-02 16:17

Here are a few examples of Boxes I like with large chrome dust caps.



















retro.addict - 2011-01-02 16:21

Some great pic there, retro! Cool

lav.loo - 2011-01-02 16:29

ye great shots RETRO thanks for posting, love the sanyo 820k, and the sanyo in the second to last pic, love the fisher too, quality Nod Yes Wink oh and thanks for putting my mind at rest about the 8600 RA Big Grin Wink

bogdan - 2011-01-03 11:06

Great pic Retro!
Especialy the Sanyo MR-P6.The way it looks promises a lot!It's the first time I see one of this model.
But I'm wondering if I saw once a FISHER very much alike or even identicaly? anyone

retro - 2011-01-03 12:21

Yes there is BOGDAN, the 7th picture is actually a Fisher PH-470.

lav.loo - 2011-01-03 13:25

I Agree with BOGDAN, very promising looking sanyo MR P6. do you have any nice real life shots of that box RETRO?? iv'e never seen it before your post, infact i never even knew it existed.
it looks very cool indeed, but i would love some nice shots of it Nod Yes anyone... please Big Grin Wink
also RETRO, the box in between the sony cfs88 and the blockbuster, is that a goldstar tsr 581? Wink
oh another thing i have just noticed, your above post RETRO, it's adressed to BREDGEO, not BOGDAN, have you been having a tipple mate Big Grin Wink

retro - 2011-01-03 14:00

Big Grin drinking My bad BOGDAN, I'll have to edit that. The box in the small pic is a Fisher PH-470 which identical to the P6. I'll see if I can find better photos in one my Sanyo brochures LAV.

lav.loo - 2011-01-03 14:47

cheers RETRO Wink

isolator42 - 2011-01-04 06:05

I suspect the dust cap size has little bearing on the sound & it's all vanity (I might be wrong as the dual-cone system improves higher frequencies).
A has ben said, it's primary purpose (as the name suggests) is to protect the inner workings of the speaker & therefore need only be scarcely larger than the coil diameter to do it's job. However a bigger dust cap makes the speaker appear to have a larger voice-coil & therefore higher power capability.
I too like an oversized chrome dustcap & those Sanyos are the business. Let's not forget the Hitachi 3Ds, of course (see my avatar) Smile

lav.loo - 2011-01-04 06:22

stop it I42, your making me wish i never got rid of my 3d88 Frown Wink

isolator42 - 2011-01-05 01:44

quote:
Originally posted by LAV LOO:
stop it I42, your making me wish i never got rid of my 3d88 Frown Wink
Get together the price of a round of drinks & you can have your pick of 3D88s & 3D80s on eBay... Smile

lav.loo - 2011-01-05 07:55

ye they do go quiet cheap, but i have noticed over the last 12 months that the prices on the most sought after ones has increased dramatically Nod Yes Wink
defo gonna be very collectable in the future, hang on to yours I42 Wink

driptip - 2011-01-05 12:06

man that MR-P6 Sanyo is sweet excited
i never saw it before,

2steppa - 2011-01-06 09:58

Now if only you buy the dang things.... Razz Tap Toes

l.lopez - 2011-01-06 14:17

Smile Here is some boxes with big chrome caps and some with small ones that still pounds hard like the G.E. Nod Yes

http://img808.imageshack.us/sl...er.php?id=006aym.jpg

lav.loo - 2011-01-08 13:02

cool boxes LOPEZ Nod Yes i love the look of that huge panny Big Grin Wink