Weber Beam blocker.....

[1962guitargeek]

Thoughts, experience, opinions???

Thinking about one for my Classic 30 mod project...

[Will Chen]

I was just about to pick one up when I read a great article by Jay Mitchell about curing speaker directivity at the gear page: http://www.tgpwebzine.com/?page_id=424.

I just recently installed a Mitchell Doughnut into my Peavey Bandit and boy did in make a world of difference in treble response off axis. I just published an article about the experience over at my site as well: http://www.frugalguitarist.com/Fruga...g%20the%20Beam.

I know the beam blocker isn't very expensive, but if you can find a local source for a 12in square of acoustical foam, this mod shouldn't cost more than $5 or $6.

[manbearpig]

Im using a beam blocker in a 112 cab. I like it. Wish I had done an A/B comparison but didn't, so I can't say for sure exactly how well it "works." But it is easy to install and cheap, so why not?

[Brian blaut]

I put beam blockers on all 4 speakers of my Peavey classic 50, 410. It helps. It doesn't completely take away the piercing frequencies, but it helps. Also, I read it mixes the sound so that it sounds the same a couple feet to the side as it does more or less in front of it. That it doesn't do. Standing out 10 feet in front of my amp, there is clearly still a big differnce in sound staring down the nose of the speakers and stepping just a couple feet away. But like I said, it helps. I noticed an improvement, but it wasn't necessarily a 'come to Jesus' momment. Maybe it's 50% percent better, which is still fine since it didn't cost much.

the doughnut thing is interesting. Maybe I'll cut them out and tape them to the front of the cloth to audition them before going through the hassle of installing them properly. Intersting that its the reverse design. Instead of blocking the cone, it blocks everything but the cone. But I believe Ted Webber to be a smart guy. I can't discount his logic because this other guy says he's wrong. I don't know enough about speaker engineering to know who's right, but these guys seem to have complete opposite views here. But I'll try it because the doughnut thing is also cheap and frankly, the Beam Blocker wasn't the end all be all for me.

[woodman]

a square of duct tape directly over the voice coil works better'n nuthin for me.

no affiliation, just a satisfied customer.

[1962guitargeek]

Thanks all.

The donut article is interesting...

[eugenedunn]

I have a vertical 2x10 cabinet that's loaded with a couple very clean Jensen C10N's (around 50-watt capacity each). I like a lot of clean headroom and resistance to breakup..... I set my EQ at the amp pretty bright and spanky (bass and treble up and mids down).

I found that at the high volumes I like to crank my 40 watt amp, the highs can get a bit edgy directly on axis, so I put 2 beam blockers in the cabinet at first. I liked how the sound was dispersed, with less beaming and directionality. However, after several months, I took the lower beam blocker off and am happier with the overall tone.

So my upper speaker, which is closer to ear height still has a beam blocker on it, and the lower speaker is unfettered and free.... a nice combination of crispness and dispersion. Worth trying if you have a multispeaker cabinet!

[Singin' Dave]

I've been a fan of the Weber beam blocker I put in one of my SFPRs, but that Mitchell donut does indeed look very interesting.

Get one of these and I could try it out on a few amps and cabs: http://www.madisound.com/catalog/pro...roducts_id=767

[Single-coil]

I have beam blockers on my SFPR and BFDR and they really add some warmth and mid-range woodiness to my ears.