Total wattage of my loudspeaker? ...and some misc questions

[coxy1214]

Hey everyone!

I just completed the crossover for my two-way speaker, which will utilize the Eminence Beta-12CX and APT 50, each 8 ohms. My crossover is a 3500kHz; 12db/octave LP, 18db/octave HP and seems to work well (I'll know more when I get the effect of the full enclosure tomorrow)!

First question: what is the total wattage of my loudspeaker? The Apt50 lists 35W AES and the Beta-12CX lists 250W (RMS, I would assume). May seem silly, but I built this before having the proper amplifier match for it. What is the equivalent power source that would yield the best potential of this combined system?

Next: any good amplifier (or preferably powered mixer) suggestions? I have been looking at the Pyle PMX402M 400W (or should I be looking at the PMX402M 600W, depending on the answer to question 1?). For either of these, their manual lists that each of the two 1/4" outputs is rated at an "8 ohm minimum" for a "total minimum impedance of 4 ohms, and later states that one could connect "2 8-ohm speaker cabinets". This should strike me as obviously compatible with my speakers, right?

Last, a miscellaneous question: what is the raw cable that I would need to make a Speakon to 1/4" cable?

[coxy1214]

P.S. With completing the enclosure tomorrow, what is the best dampening material for inside a sealed cabinet?

[RockLeeEV]

A 2 channel Hypex UCD 180 should have more than enough power to drive this thing.

[Cal Weldon]

I wouldn't push that past 100 real watts if I were you. Also 3500Hz is kinda high for a 12" but the APT50 won't go below that so you're kinda stuck.

Curious: how did you manage a crossover (read: complex item) if you still have these other questions for us?

[dantheman]

Originally Posted by coxy1214

P.S. With completing the enclosure tomorrow, what is the best dampening material for inside a sealed cabinet?

Fiberglass or cotton house insulation IMO. Great bang for the buck and excellent performance by any metric.

Dan

[coxy1214]

I did my homework on the crossover and now just looking to power my project. A little backwards I know, but I appreciate some advice. Plus, when getting into amp-speaker pairing there's the whole "one should be greater wattage than the other" debate, which does not yield a great definitive answer.

Please keep more advice coming!

[Andy5112405]

The lowest common denominator - ie 35W

If you study some loudspeaker designs you will find that there is often a series resistor in series with the tweeter as it is usually far more sensitive than the low frequency driver.

If an 8 Ohm resistor is in series with the 8 Ohm tweeter then the power can be doubled.

The crossover will also not normally feed 100% of the HF to the tweeter. The question cannot be answered without seeing the circuit diagram of the crossover for a start.

[brsanko]

The chance of your high frequency signal exceeding 35W is almost nill. the simple answer and the acurate one is 250W. Unless of course the woofer exceeds xmax before that. Which it probably won't. Get the most powerfull amp you can if power is what you're looking for. If it starts to distort, turn it down. If you follow that rule you will never blow speakers. Eminence drivers are some of the most rugged in the word. If you hooked a 1000W amp to these speakers and did play them distorted you won't blow them. Instead of a resistor, put an L-pad on the tweeters, that way you can adjust them to sound their best in any situation. If you want to know if the woofer can handle up to the xover frequency look at the responce graph for the driver, PE has them for all the emminence drivers on their website.

[Andy5112405]

The key is blocking the high energy LF signal from meeting the tweeter.

[chris661]

Originally Posted by Andy5112405

The key is blocking the high energy LF signal from meeting the tweeter.

Agreed, so the 35w power handling of the tweeter is almost irrelevant.

High Frequency Driver Power Handling | Eminence Speaker