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The SIG150-4 is the latest Signature Series woofer by Dayton Audio. This 5-1/4″ is touted to be designed with the latest technology using Klippel LMP and LSI testing for symmetrical BL parameters. I have never heard this Signature Series woofers before so it’ll be interesting to hear how their bass sound like.
I loaded the SIG150-4 into a 13 liters bass reflex tuned to 54Hz with a 2″ PVC tube having a length of 5″. The bass alignment looks good (Fig 1). The System Q is 0.63 and the F3 is at 49Hz. If this doesn’t give me the bass I want, I will increase the volume to 15 liters, even 18 liters if necessary.
Fig 2 is my bass reflex modelling with my DATS T/S. This is before the driver is broken-in. The result is very close to Dayton’s T/S.
When I first heard this SIG150-4, she was terrible. Her upper bass sounded like having a pronounced peak even though both my simulations showed nothing of that sort. Furthermore, her bass was “hard”. It reminds me of bass from bad bandpass subs. For this SIG150-4, I had to switch the 10mH back to a 5.6mH. That brought down the upper bass peak greatly but it is still audible. There’s nothing more I can do short of using a larger 15 liters bass reflex box. I will persist with the 13 liters for now. Perhaps she will improve after breaking in. After 7 days Break-in (Mar 27, 2024) Her bass is much better but I am still not completely satisfied with the upper bass. There appears to be a slight bump around 100Hz region. It’s not serious but on certain passages, I can pick it out. It’s not simply the magnitude. The upper bass sounds a bit “wooly”. Lacks some clarity.
I will have to stop testing this SIG150-4 now. I’ve spent enough time testing her and I need to move on to other drivers. More testing needs to be done to find out the cause of that strange bass. Looks like I will have to load her into a 15 liters bass reflex. That may remove the annoying upper bass. Even though she has flaws, she is still superior to the Tang Band W5-1685. Her bass is tighter, punchier and more defined. She is one of the few 5-1/4 inch woofers that can actually do bass. For $40.00, the SIG150-4 is actually quite a good buy. Unless otherwise stated, all measurements were made in Full Space (4pi). Mic at 36 ins, tweeter axis. Impulse Window=5ms. No smoothing applied. |
March 20, 2024HIFI DRIVERS, Projects
Fig 1 – Manufacturer’s T/S
Fig 2 – DATS T/S