The truth part II -- > PRO DRIVERS!!

[JinMTVT]

I was pointed out to look for PRO drivers in another thread
titled ... DRIVER DISTORTION ... rolleyes:

Since then, i didn't have much time to look around
this site ( working 6 days week, 10-12 hours a day now )

So i wanted to get more informed and on the lookout for drivers with less distortion ( not only lineair but all of em )

What qualifies a driver as " PRO " ???
I've looked at maby JBL pro drivers, and they seem to have less than 1% harmonic distortions, higher sensitivity, no esthetic not-required-for-good-sound-rising-price features !! ...

Why are we even buying hi-fi drivers, if there are better drivers that costs pretty much the same, and performs more in most categories ??

Isn't the main goal of us all to get the best sound reproduction system available ? i personally would sacrifice all esthetic conditions if it was required to get better sound, and i know that lots of you would do the same ( if the WAF is out of cause


So please all of you , wise guys, please advice me
( and all other readers) of the true path that leads to musical nirvana

WHAT TO DO ABOUT PRO VS HI-FI drivers ?
why not always use PRO drivers? ( pro drivers of high quality from reputable brands ..not badged cheap pro drivers )


also please compare hi-fi hot sutff to PRO hot stuff??

and beeing there, a few good names to look for in Pro drivers would be nice too

i already know of one easy, JBL
then i'm in the black !

again, thanks all for your time and sharing!

[Stocker]

As far as bass goes, my impression is that pro sound users are willing to give up box size for efficiency, or else sacrifice on the very-low frequency extension.

besides...they are not as pretty....

[JinMTVT]

i'd add that most of them aren't pretty at all!!!
but usually when i listen to music i don't look at my drivers directly

[Mr Evil]

Aesthetics is more important than you give it credit for. We not only listen to our speakers, we have to live with them to; if we have to sit looking at ugly lumps of stuff it will not make us happy, which will make it harder to enjoy the sound, no matter how good it is.

I like pro drivers myself, but there are compromises, as Stocker has already said.

[JinMTVT]

yes true,
but my guess is that even with not so good looking pro drivers,
cabinets/enclosures can be made to look at least decent, with quite facility in our days... with all the available tools, materials, tints...

so i don't think there is a probleme here with that


for what stocker said, isn't that true also for most hi-fi drivers?
where can we find drivers that aren't build like this?

[Brett]

Originally posted by JinMTVT
Why are we even buying hi-fi drivers, if there are better drivers that costs pretty much the same, and performs more in most categories ??

I dunno, you tell me. I've been using pro drivers for years.

Isn't the main goal of us all to get the best sound reproduction system available ? i personally would sacrifice all esthetic conditions if it was required to get better sound, and i know that lots of you would do the same ( if the WAF is out of cause

No W so no WAF issues.

So please all of you , wise guys, please advice me
( and all other readers) of the true path that leads to musical nirvana

Use what you like to listen to and ignore anyone else's opinion as it's not relevant.
Tip: there is no 'absolulte sound'.

also please compare hi-fi hot sutff to PRO hot stuff??

Domestic stuff sounds like it needs a dose of metamucil

and beeing there, a few good names to look for in Pro drivers would be nice too
i already know of one easy, JBL

OTTOMH, Beyma, Fane, BMS, B&C, Renkus-Heinz, Mccauley, EV, Selenium, Ciare, 18Sound, Precision Dynamics, Altec, PHL, Eminence, Tannoy, CV, Celestion, Emilar, Gauss, Klipsh, PAS, Etone, Radian, TAD, P.Audio, RCF.

Originally posted by Mr Evil
Aesthetics is more important than you give it credit for. We not only listen to our speakers, we have to live with them to; if we have to sit looking at ugly lumps of stuff it will not make us happy, which will make it harder to enjoy the sound, no matter how good it is.

Though a lot of pro drivers don't have a huge amount spent on their aesthetics, it's not hard to design taking that into account; a removable grille fro example so that thine partner's eyes need not be offended when not listening.
Then again, I had a pair of LABsubs in my loungeroom, painted flat white with a roller to 'blend' them into the walls.

[gedlee]

Just happened to see this message.

I willonly use "pro" drivers because the "hi-end" stuff is just not up to snuff.

What is a Pro driver? Basically it is a high efficiency high power driver. Why does this make for good sound? Well first you need to understand what makes good sound, right? This is not as obvious as it seems. Nonlinear distortion in drivers is not really an issue unless they are over driven. With pro stuff in home use this is just about impossible. You'd go deaf first. Linear distortion? Well actually thats mostly the system design NOT the driver design. And Pro drivers do not suffer from power compression in homes since the are basically idling at those power levels.

To prove my point, and you can read the complete study at www.gedlee.com, I did a double blind test of four systems. One pro studio monitor, two custom designs using pro drivers, one a very expensive set and the other a much less expensive, but still high quality set, and finally a very expensive "hi-end" system in the $5k price range.

Results, not really stitisically significant , but there was little or no difference between the very expensive pro sound drivers and the far less ( about 1/5) pro sound drivers. The studio monitor lost out big time, and the pro drivers were virtually tied with the "high end" system for top honors. The pro sound drivers were cheap by comparison. But the big difference was the fact that the pro sound system was nearly 20 dB more efficient than the High end system. Thats a lot of amplifier power difference, and a lot lower heat disipation in a much bigger driver. So in the loing term and under higher SPL's the pro sound system would blow away the high end stuff.

So, to me, its a no contest between pro and Hi end. But, the system and room design is more important than the drivers by far!

Good question!

Earl

[Brett]

Originally posted by Stocker
As far as bass goes, my impression is that pro sound users are willing to give up box size for efficiency, or else sacrifice on the very-low frequency extension.

Yep, Hoffman's Iron Law applies to pro drivers as well. 40Hz is about the bottom you'll get with most pro drivers, so use them to there and build dedicated subs for the rumbling noises with drivers designed for the purpose.

[wunhuanglo]

Pro drivers are first and foremost about efficiency, and secondarily about durability.

Some consequences of this are that they tend to be (1) expensive (2) heavy and (3) not suited to either high or low frequency extremes.

Consumer level drivers are overall much less costly.

Pro drivers demand heavy construction and serious mounting hardware.

Few pro drivers are capable of producing frequencies below 50 Hz or above 14KHz.

Hi Fi is generally more concerned about frequency extremes and less concerned about efficiency so the trade-offs in driver design are different.

[Brett]

Originally posted by gedlee
But the big difference was the fact that the pro sound system was nearly 20 dB more efficient than the High end system. Thats a lot of amplifier power difference, and a lot lower heat disipation in a much bigger driver. So in the loing term and under higher SPL's the pro sound system would blow away the high end stuff.

So, to me, its a no contest between pro and Hi end. But, the system and room design is more important than the drivers by far!

Good question!

Earl

Interesting test Earl, and ties with my experience.
The 20dB efficiency advantage allows the use of a lot of different amplifier topologies as well, 'cos if you only need a few watts there's lots of ways to get that more easily and cheaply (especially DIY) than higher power.