Why are the diaphragms of pro woofers always made of paper?

[Pit Hinder]

One just has to watch out not to use PA drivers too high. Most P.A. drivers only excel over Hi-Fi ones in home applications (in terms of dynamics and distortion) when they aren't used the same way as in a PA.

Charles,

you got it - let's pity everyone who hasn't. Guitar amps distort like mad, microphones have their own sound, PA boxes have their individual "benign" resonances - all this is combined to PRODUCE a band's individual sound.
HiFi stuff otoh is meant to REPRODUCE and to be as absolutely neutral as any judge is supposed to be. This said, there might be people who only listen to recordings of just one band...




Pit

 

[kelticwizard]

Well this thread could get interesting (akin to a religious war if we are not careful). Here is my guess.

Pro equipment is made for a market that doesn't tend so much to the latest fads. Professionals want proven materials and construction methods that provide durability, predictable performance, graceful overload characteristics......

Just my guess.

mike

That's my guess too. I'll bet that you can build a good PA speaker with other materials that sound as good to most, but until customers start flocking to that speaker, most companies are going to stay with the old tried and true.

 

[Juergen Knoop]

BTW, in Germany we say K1, K2, K3, ... for the 1st (fundamental), 2nd, 3rd,... harmonic. Is this the right term in English? Or must I say something like HD1, HD2, ... I can remember that I have seen such notation.

K1 does not exist by definition, because K stands for the distorted components weighted to the total signal.
Also K2, K3 etc are not simply the harmonics, but something that came out of a calculation with lots of roots and squares
regards

 

[joe carrow]

Whatever anyone else says, I'm with whoever says that efficiency is a chief concern.

For every 3 db of efficiency lost, there's a doubling in required amplifier power and driver power handling to reach the same SPL. The aluminum cone Eminence bass driver that was linked had a sensitivity of 93 db. It's not uncommon for pro drivers to reach 99 db. With a target of 120 db, that's 512 watts for the 93 db driver, and 128 watts for th 99 db driver. When you have to pay for electricity, or pack up the entire rig and take it on the road, then that kind of thing is extremely important.

 

[AndrewT]

Whatever anyone else says, I'm with whoever says that efficiency is a chief concern.

For every 3 db of efficiency lost, there's a doubling in required amplifier power and driver power handling to reach the same SPL. The aluminum cone Eminence bass driver that was linked had a sensitivity of 93 db. It's not uncommon for pro drivers to reach 99 db. With a target of 120 db, that's 512 watts for the 93 db driver, and 128 watts for th 99 db driver. When you have to pay for electricity, or pack up the entire rig and take it on the road, then that kind of thing is extremely important.

And to get that improvement in efficiency you either sacrifice small size or restrict the lower end bandwidth.

It's that power/size/efficiency compromise. You CANNOT get all three at once.

 

[Baseballbat]

K1 does not exist by definition, because K stands for the distorted components weighted to the total signal.

That's right, but it's a short symbol and everybody knows what I mean. I've used it many times with no complaints.

Is this "K" also used in English? I've searched through my english documents here, and they use either "THD" or "2nd/3rd/.. harmonic".

Baseballbatboy

 

[joe carrow]

And to get that improvement in efficiency you either sacrifice small size or restrict the lower end bandwidth.

It's that power/size/efficiency compromise. You CANNOT get all three at once.

I don't think anyone can really argue that. As far as I know, most pro gear is very limited below 50 hz.

 

[roland bios]

Regarding the material sound:

in the german HiFi-Forum (DIY area) we developed a theory about this issue.

Hi Baseballbat,

I can read German. And would like to read the thread in hifi-forum. Can you submit a link to the thread i cannot find it.

Kind regards
Roland