ATC Driver Testing

[ANADROL-50]

Just found this video of ATC testing their drive units.

I found it interesting as they use sine wave generators, not music, to do these tests although i guess that's standard practice.

Also note the thin / basic looking cable used to connect the drive units in the test !

 

[MartinC]

The 'thin / basic looking cable' is not wildly different to what you can expect to find inside most loudspeakers...

Music has a range of frequencies of varying levels. The point of using sine wave test signals is that you can quickly know that all frequencies of interest have been covered at the same level.

Edit: ATC drivers are generally very highly regarded, so I think it's reasonable to conclude that the testing they choose to do 'works'.

 

[StingRay]

"the thin / basic looking cable used to connect the drive units in the test"

That's what most speakers use.

Will fancy hifi cable make any difference?

 

[Nopiano]

Sweep sine waves test the full range, and single frequency sine waves enable you hear any oddities.  Music would easily mask subtle problems, and anyway the units aren’t yet in a cabinet, so wouldn’t sound great!    I didn’t hear it mentioned in this video, but I believe ATC hand test every single driver, which is good for QC and backs up the generous 6-year warranty. 

 

[AlmaAtaKZ]

I have seen this test at ATC in person.

The purpose is to check for signs of any assembly issues like misalignment or gaps in glueign etc. they subject the drivers to sweeps of very high signal level with extreme excursion so any issues manifest themselves (via obvious anomalies in the sound).

No break in required after that!

 

[Bokke]

i agree with all the responses and have also seen this at the factory - 

 

[hearhere]

The 'thin / basic looking cable' is not wildly different to what you can expect to find inside most loudspeakers...

ATC don't promte crazy-priced cables.  I bought a pair of ATC 50 Actives from them many years ago and they gave me a pair of their demo cables - bog-standard Cannare XLR-terminated microphone cables. 

 

[Blzebub]

3 hours ago, ANADROL-50 said:

Just found this video of ATC testing their drive units.

I found it interesting as they use sine wave generators, not music, to do these tests although i guess that's standard practice.

Also note the thin / basic looking cable used to connect the drive units in the test !

One-handed! Ben's been taking his Anadrol 50.

 

[newlash09]

From what I've read and some graphs that I've seen, no two drivers, even of the same make have the exact same frequency response. So I've read that many speaker manufacturers measure the drivers,  in order to settle with as close a matched pair as possible. This obviously makes the speakers more expensive than the sum of their parts, owing to wastage.

If my memory serves me right, the cube audio full range drivers ( F8 magus ) retailing at close to 2300 GBP per pair, are supposedly matched to +/- 0.5 dB for a matched pair.

 

[popol_vuh]

ATC also matches their speakers based on driver measurements. Ben Lilly says that and it's shown on their factory tour video on YT. That's done even in their "entry" series. You can check your speaker serial numbers to see if everything is as it should be.

 

[ANADROL-50]

"the thin / basic looking cable used to connect the drive units in the test"

That's what most speakers use.

Will fancy hifi cable make any difference?

I would have no idea but in this video at the 3m25sec and 7m41sec marks its described as "cheesy wire" that (he feels) needs to be replaced !

 

[Blzebub]

2 hours ago, ANADROL-50 said:

I would have no idea but in this video at the 3m25sec and 7m41sec marks its described as "cheesy wire" that (he feels) needs to be replaced !

I'm guessing Danny would recommend that I replace the cheesy plastic fuel filler cap on my Porsche with an aluminium alloy one.