the sp4-60 is quite big for a 4", mid-surround-to-mid-surround diameter is 95 mm.
you just have to accept (or cover) the somewhat ugly foam-gasket-front.
I have this driver at home, waiting for implementation in a 3-way. let me know if you want pictures or dimensions.
also have a look at the implementation in this 4-way-project.
Great 👍 Thanks a lot.
Is it possible to show only 2nd and 3th harmonics and scale in % ?
Did you use the driver in a build? How low did you take it?
Most 4"drivers are around 120mm diameter so nothing special I guess. Maybe depent on how you measure them? I thought diameter is measured from the mid of the foam/rubber.
Thats a great speaker. Would be a nice build. 👍
Again makes me thing about using a 4" down to 300Hz. In that build they add a 6"and let the 4"do the work above 1k5 Hz. 🤔
Yes, I used them in a three way with a Fountek ribbon and a SB23CAC45-4 8 inch woofer, I listen to them every day and I'm still happy with them. Here is what you asked for and the REW file, don't mind the names, they are wrong.
Attachments
as far as i know the manufacturers usually take the exterior dimension of the basket as driver dimension.
so 4" would be 100 mm exterior diameter, 5" would be 125 mm.
keep in mind donhighend is using an oldfashioned 12" bass driver for his huge 4-way ... but of course the reasoning makes sense.
You might want to consider this: Kartesian Wom120_vMS
I'd love to see 3rd party measurements for it. The Kartesian graphs look excellent and the price is reasonable (to me).
I'd love to see 3rd party measurements for it. The Kartesian graphs look excellent and the price is reasonable (to me).
mainly depends on the required SPL you want to achieve.
Rod Elliott states that with crossover at 250 Hz you have 40% of power for the bass and 60% for mid/high (based on a FANE publication).
350 Hz still gives 50%/50%.
so you will be limited by excursion and power handling of midrange unless you use a driver with big voice coil and high Xmax/Sd
I see what you mean, I was describing the CSD not the distortion. There could well have been changes to the driver the Voice Coil review is quite old. There is no resonance in the CSD to go with the distortion peak.
Most of the power in music is centred around 300Hz, if you move the crossover below there almost all that peak is being handled by the mid, if you move it above the woofer takes more of the load and balances the power better.
in addition to what fluid said, attached two graphs, relating to monacor SP4-60, as i have it ready on my computer.
first one shows above the distortion measurement, at 90 dB and below 200-300 Hz the driver will distort increasingly because of high excursion.
below is the max SPL curve (hornresp, 2pi), red line is limitation due to max excursion, blue line indicates limitation due to amp power (40 W @ 8 Ohm, about 18 V).
at 100 Hz the maximum excursion will be reached at about 90 dB. this is somewhat "visible" in the distortion graph with ~ 10% THD at 100 Hz.
by the way: the falling slope above about 2 kHz is because of inductance (rising impedance, less power) and shows the total energy; on-axis response will be extended further up.
second graph shows max SPL as before but with an added green 2nd order 300 Hz butterworth low pass slope.
with 40 W and 300 Hz 2nd order high pass you will not drive this loudspeaker into maximum excursion.
the maximum SPL for monacor SP4-60 will be about 105 dB with 40 W.
to use the full midrange power without padding it down you will need a woofer that can do about 88 dB/2,83 V (below baffle step), might be possible with a very efficient 4-ohm woofer, but probably difficult with 8".
if you pad the midrange down to match the woofer, over-excursion and distortion is even less a problem.
first one shows above the distortion measurement, at 90 dB and below 200-300 Hz the driver will distort increasingly because of high excursion.
below is the max SPL curve (hornresp, 2pi), red line is limitation due to max excursion, blue line indicates limitation due to amp power (40 W @ 8 Ohm, about 18 V).
at 100 Hz the maximum excursion will be reached at about 90 dB. this is somewhat "visible" in the distortion graph with ~ 10% THD at 100 Hz.
by the way: the falling slope above about 2 kHz is because of inductance (rising impedance, less power) and shows the total energy; on-axis response will be extended further up.
second graph shows max SPL as before but with an added green 2nd order 300 Hz butterworth low pass slope.
with 40 W and 300 Hz 2nd order high pass you will not drive this loudspeaker into maximum excursion.
the maximum SPL for monacor SP4-60 will be about 105 dB with 40 W.
to use the full midrange power without padding it down you will need a woofer that can do about 88 dB/2,83 V (below baffle step), might be possible with a very efficient 4-ohm woofer, but probably difficult with 8".
if you pad the midrange down to match the woofer, over-excursion and distortion is even less a problem.
Last edited:
Thanks for the information and the time you put into it. Same accounts for @fluid 👍 👍 👍
So conclusion is that monacor and SB12MNRX are up to the task when crossed above 300Hz. (from electrical point of view)
Is there some acoustical difference between a 4" and a 5" A 5" moves more air.
What will be the difference between the 2?
5"shows more body to the sound?
5"will have less excursion (and less distortion)?
....
Planning to use the SB23NRX 8ohm woofer (88.5db)
depends on the sensitivity and max excursion.
a 5" with higher sensitivity will move more air with same input power (and vice versa).
a 5" will move same air volume with less excursion and that usually leads to less distortion.
a 5" with same excursion will move more air and allow higher SPL and/or lower crossover frequency.
a 5" will start beaming at lower frequency.
Thanks for the suggestion. Looks like a nice driver.
Im not sure it would do better then Monacor SP-4/60 or SB12MNRX2.
Probably on the same level.
I rather sick to the more known brands though
Thanks, great help.
So so far I dont see any real benifit in going for a 5".
It comes down to the monacor SP4-60/pro and SB12MNRX then
both are up to it.
Monacor is 1/2 price of the SB driver.
Monacor has to be mounted from the back I assume with the foam sealing on the front. Front mounting will not be so appealing.
Back mounting will also be difficult to make the cutout nice when veneering.
Cone material for SB drivers mid and woofer will be the same, so ecstatic the best match.
🤔 🤔 🤔
😄
So to the collective wisdom on this thread...
I often read that 300 to 3k or so is good for the midrange as it covers all the 'important telephone band' with one driver. But now I read that most of the power in music is around 300 and so that is better handled by a bigger driver crossing to the mid 500 or so.
And also that the mid maybe better off at 3" or so.
Just 2 different trains of thought I guess, each with their own compromises?
I suppose we could cross at 300 to a 5" , or 500 to a 3"?
Or am I talking nonsense!