What makes the JBL 2226H such a popular driver?

[Defo]

As the title questions, what makes the JBL 2226H such a popular driver?

I use it myself on recommendation from others, allthough but many other drivers seems better on paper. But as inexperienced as I am, I would love to know what makes this driver shine..

[badman]

It's an excellent driver, is a darned good start. A great balance of all parameters. The edgewound coil, low distortion motor with the impressive effort to saturate the polepiece, the classic JBL build quality (and accumulated knowledge of the oldest 'modern' speaker company), the excellent balance of T/S parameters to work well in a mid sized vented alignment (mid sized by pro standards).....

It also has a great balance between frequency extension and cone breakup. Essentially, JBL got it REALLY right and thus, the driver has been in place for decades.

Of course, they had a pretty darned good idea of things in the 50s..... There's a balance JBL strikes that most don't. They make well damped, composite and/or coated cones, and compensate for the efficiency with motor strength. Expensive to do but certainly not in the long run, where the name brand carries so much weight.

[454Casull]

What JBL is today is what Sony wishes it could be.

[CLS]

Was TAD TL1601 developed from this? Their cones and frames look so similar.

[TrueSound]

Originally posted by CLS
Was TAD TL1601 developed from this? Their cones and frames look so similar.

I think more from the K-145.

The 1601a isn't really as good as the 2226. The 2226 is OK, the JBL 2227(SVG SERIES!) is quite a step up.

[badman]

Originally posted by TrueSound


I think more from the K-145.

The 1601a isn't really as good as the 2226. The 2226 is OK, the JBL 2227(SVG SERIES!) is quite a step up.

For a skilled designer, I think this would be true.

The 2226 is a lot easier to work with though, due to the lack of rising response (that the 2227 exhibits). It also has quite a bit more overhang, though JBL specs them at 5 and 7.6 mm Xmax respectively.

To me, I'd happily take a pair of 2227H and love it. Low distortion, low Le. But, the 2226h is a more 'usable' driver for most purposes. There's also less impedance ripple shown in their datasheets....

So, we're basically doing something along the lines of a comparison of a very good paper peerless driver vs. a Seas Excel magnesium driver. The Excel is better, but only when it's exceedingly carefully managed.

[barossi]

Hi,
i just put in my JBL 2226 in an enclosure of ~150 liters and did some measurements. That is very funny, the frequenz response is not that flat and i could measure a decreasing starting @300Hz.

What are your experiences with the 2226?

Kind Regards

Barossi

[badman]

Can you elaborate? "Decreasing starting at 300Hz" doesn't tell us if the top or bottom end is rolled off, nor do you mention the test regime. More details would help.

My experience with it has it performing as expected, in a box of about 150L (vented to 36)

[barossi]

Hi Badman,
here is a plot from my JBL 2226H; measured 5 inch from cone only raw woofer:



And here under the same conditions but with 3.9mH coil; 6dB:



This does not look promising!?

And this is the plot taken from the JBL spec sheet:



What is wrong?

Kind Regards

Barossi

[1audiohack]

Hi Barossi;

There are a few significant differences in the way JBL measures their drivers than what I think you have done if I read right. For instance, at JBL the 2226 was measured in true 1/2 space eliminating baffle step loss at low frequency and boundary reflection / cancellations at higher frequencies. The sealed box curve is created in a 280L box and the ported box curve from a box about the volume of the one you have that is tuned to 40Hz. Also most likely JBL measures at 1 or 2 meters. If your box is ported, and your measurement mic was at a distance of 5 inches from the cone it would not pick up the contribution of the box / port and the sharp drop in low frequency response would be expected. Also measuring very near the speaker has higher frequency limitations as well.

Don't be discouraged yet, maybe try a ground plane measurement or very near the dust cap and then at the port and combine the curves for a summed response. It is difficult in the extreme to get a nice broad band measurement without really working for it, especially indoors.


Also if you put into the equation the comment on the JBL sheet that says something like "production units will not vary more than +- 2dB from the above curve" that would get your curve within 1dB of flat from 60-800Hz.