Danley Sound Labs SH50

[ctrl]

@hardisj (erinsaudiocorner) measured the SH50 from Danley Sound Labs with his Klippel NFS.
All credit for the measurements goes to @hardisj

UPDATE: I was contacted by a forum member if I am somehow in contact with Erin or acting on his behalf - given the tensions between Erin and Amir. This is not the case. It is simply an interesting speaker with a unique concept that intrigues me personally.


The manufacturer's specifications for the SH50 are as follows:

CTA-2034-A / Spinorama

Manufacturer FR measurement

Impedance measurement


Manufacturer Impedance measurement (note the different scaling when comparing)



Horizontal frequency response 0-90° and normalized contour plot (+-90° 180°)


Vertical frequency response +-40° and normalized contour plot (+-90° 180°)



Harmonic distortion at 86dB and 96dB



Dynamic range / compression test (for detailed information see erinsaudiocorner)

 

[HooStat]

With that kind of dynamic range, it could be EQ'd pretty flat. Directivity seems good so it shouldn't be a problem. The contour plots make it look like you are listening to a laser. I guess Danley's background shows through there -- isn't his specialty making beams of directed sound? I am curious as to what Hyperion will be like.

 

[ctrl]

The frequency response looks terrible for hifi listener, but it's a PA speaker and in PA (room) calibration and EQ is actually standard.

A considerable difference between manufacturer and Erin's measurement can be seen in the sensitivity of the speaker. The manufacturer's specifications and the CTA-2034 use 2.83V for this.
According to Erin's measurements, the sensitivity of the SH50 is below the 100dB specified by the manufacturer.
Here in the ASR forum, the average value in the frequency range 300-3000Hz is usually taken, others take 0.1-10kHz, etc. to determine sensitivity.
With reference to Erin's measurements, the sensitivity is rather around 97dB (my estimate, have not calculated it, this corresponds to about 1.5 times amplifier power difference).

The f3 / f6 point of the axial frequency response is 54Hz and 48Hz, respectively, starting at 97dB SPL and is not unusual for 12'' PA woofers, as in the SH50.

Many shoebox-sized bookshelf speakers play significantly lower, but at significantly lower sensitivity - so pick your poison


The frequency ranges 200-400Hz and 600-1200Hz are very interesting. There seems to be considerable resonances there. Harmonic distortion is only slightly affected by this - a bit more around 900Hz, but since this HD is second order, it doesn't matter much.

A look at the CSD will tell us a bit more:

In the low frequency range around 40Hz the tapped horn system needs about 15ms for an attenuation of 20dB.
This corresponds to about 0.6 oscillation periods at 40Hz, which is rather good compared to bass reflex or passive resonator concepts.

In comparison, the resonance around 250Hz needs more than 20ms decay time until an attenuation of 20dB is reached - this corresponds to about more than 5 oscillation periods.
The resonance around 1.2kHz needs roughly 4-5ms for 20dB damping, which corresponds to 5-6 oscillation periods.

For comparison a 6'' PA driver with a resonance around 1.1kHz needs in free air for 20dB attenuation about 1.6ms, so not quite two oscillation periods.

One should always be careful with CSD comparisons, do it here anyway , only as a comparison for the fact that the resonances at 250Hz and 1200Hz are somewhat more severe. But EQ should improve the situation.

 

[tomtoo]

Eq'em, givem enough kW. Have fun.

With 110dB they are in warmup mode.

 

[HammerSandwich]

Anyone care to comment on the 900Hz H2 at 96dB? That SPL is basically the same as the sensitivity, so it corresponds to the initial FR plot. We see a 5dB dip at 900Hz which obviously boosts the H2 result, but +20dB HD seems like a whole 'nother story.

 

[PKAudio]

~900-1000Hz dip/peak in FR on and off axis, decay in the waterfall at same frequency though quite insignificant, and 900Hz distortion peak at all distortion components=> these all are usually signs of cone-edge resonance of the drivers.

 

[abdo123]

The disparity in sensitivity is interesting.

this is basically a co-axial on steroids, maybe even slightly better.

 

[voodooless]

Nice to see directivity to hold down to around 650hz. It’s very even throughout, so EQ would do very well. Also, you can power these with DSP, and with a bit of luck you can get rid some of the resonances.

 

[ctrl]

With 110dB they are in warmup mode.

On the one hand, yes, on the other hand, the high power compression below 70Hz surprised me a bit.

Erin measured two DIYSG cheap kits, one with a 12'' PA driver (HTM-12, 330$) and the other with two 10'' PA drivers (Elusive 1099, 410$). Which, however, deliver significantly lower low-frequency sound pressure levels, with an f3 somewhere in the 70-80Hz range.

Both kits show less power compression below 70Hz (of course) than the SH50. The 1099 kit consistently shows better power compression values up to 102dB.

Should the SH50 have been tuned less low? Because I can hardly imagine that the SH50 can be operated with the recommended BW fourth order [email protected] at 125dBSPL constant output.
The recommended high-pass filter would not even lower the sound pressure level by 1dB at 50Hz.

 

[q3cpma]

Looks quite nice for long listening distances (with EQ!).

 

[tomtoo]

On the one hand, yes, on the other hand, the high power compression below 70Hz surprised me a bit.

Erin measured two DIYSG cheap kits, one with a 12'' PA driver (HTM-12, 330$) and the other with two 10'' PA drivers (Elusive 1099, 410$). Which, however, deliver significantly lower low-frequency sound pressure levels, with an f3 somewhere in the 70-80Hz range.

Both kits show less power compression below 70Hz (of course) than the SH50. The 1099 kit consistently shows better power compression values up to 102dB.

Should the SH50 have been tuned less low? Because I can hardly imagine that the SH50 can be operated with the recommended BW fourth order [email protected] at 125dBSPL constant output.
The recommended high-pass filter would not even lower the sound pressure level by 1dB at 50Hz.

View attachment 148112

Hard to say what was the thinking behinde. I mean its a PA speaker. And maybe some compression at 50Hz is for that enviroment not a show stopper? Would be interesting what @Tom Danley says?
We should not forget that this creature has to survive in the wild. A place where home hifi rules are not allways rule.

 

[Geert]

Don't think anyone would use such speakers without subwoofers in scenarios where no compromises on sound quality are to be made, like concert systems. The SH50 is probably a very nice solution for sports stadiums, where tradeoffs are unavoidable.

 

[bigjacko]

The dispersion is too narrow, people at off axis will be boring. Is it designed to have multiple of this side by side to form a circle and extend in height? That way maybe the low dispersion will become good at that application.

 

[abdo123]

The dispersion is too narrow, people at off axis will be boring. Is it designed to have multiple of this side by side to form a circle and extend in height? That way maybe the low dispersion will become good at that application.

This Speaker is unusable at distances lower than 2 meters. It’s meant for things like auditoriums and universities. Even possibly Cinemas

so it’s not meant for short distances, at long distances the narrow dispersion is a plus, as it gets to play much much louder and more accurately.

 

[voodooless]

From what I heard you can stick your head right into the mouth of the horn, and the soundfield is still uniform. You cannot distinguish the drivers. So from that point of view, nearfield should not be an issue. It will look quite ridiculous though

 

[hardisj]

I addressed most of these comments in my writeup. Unfortunately, my site is blocked from being linked here (after Amir and I had our head-to-head last month) so you'll have to find my site manually and then read my comments.

Peace!

 

[abdo123]

From what I heard you can stick your head right into the mouth of the horn, and the soundfield is still uniform. You cannot distinguish the drivers. So from that point of view, nearfield should not be an issue. It will look quite ridiculous though

That’s not correct.

 

[voodooless]

That’s not correct.

I don’t know.. I just relay what I heard. Did you hear otherwise? Or do you disagree that it would look ridiculous

 

[abdo123]

I don’t know.. I just relay what I heard. Did you hear otherwise? Or do you disagree that it would look ridiculous

yeah, the drivers align acoustically few meters in front of the horn.

 

[voodooless]

yeah, the drivers align acoustically few meters in front of the horn.

@hardisj can possibly say something about this. From what I gathered from Toms info, the coherent wavefront is already formed in the horn, so there would be no need for the separation.