Sub for band use

[ScottC]

Looking to assemble a couple of dual or 4 single subs for 5 pc Band.
Currently I use a dual QW218 peavey sub, 120hz and below, everything else goes to top cabs.
I have been told that 15's will have a tighter punch.
It was also recomended to me by EAW to use horn loaded 12" subs,BH760 per side and up to two LA400 per side.

Horn loaded means ?????

I am looking that chest thumping kick from kick drum and bass guitar. I'm undecided on what route to go. Loudspeakerbuilder.com is less than 1/2 hour from me.They can build the cabs cheaper than I can.

 

[SamV]

15's drop lower and are better for that deep smooth bass where as smaller 10s and 12s are punchier. Horn load subs are a type of extremely efficient sub enclosures, the trade off is their larger size compared to sealed, ported and bandpass designs.

 

[djk]

'Chest thumping' bass comes from horn loaded 12s for mids, not from the woofers.

You should also be using a 2" throat compression driver for the high end.

The QW218s should be fine for low end.

 

[davygrvy]

Easy answer:

A BFM Titan 48, 24" wide loaded with an Eminence 3015LF. Should be around $300 each for parts.. labor is yours.

 

[djk]

Sorry, wrong answer.

One conventional horn by itself has pathetic bass, especially if it is long (so it can go deep).

Now a tapped horn (which is not actually a horn in the region it works best in) does have some bass.

Here is a single inexpensive Eminence 15" driver eating a pair of Peavey 18s:

 

[djk]

But the difference in deep bass is not what gives the sensation of 'kick' or 'slam', the midbass is.

I sent an e-mail to Loudspeakerbuilder.com about their double 12" horns, but they haven't responded yet.

 

[AndrewT]

find Tom Danley's Labhorn.

If you want all the background on how he designed it then look for his very extensive paper on the horn.

It goes very loud for little input power, but you need 12 cabinets if you fly them in space or 6 cabinets if they are floor loaded.

You can use just 3 cabinets if they are placed against the back wall and floor loaded.

Each cabinet has a pair of 12inch bass drivers and can use upto 2kW into 3ohms with a steep high pass filter to protect the drivers.

 

[djk]

A Lab 12 still won't have any 'slam' without horn loaded midbass, and, as a conventional bass horn you have to drag around a bunch of them before they work well.

A TH of about 10% greater bulk (or two small ones stacked) than a single Lab 12: