Affordable, good and *available* full range drivers?

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#23
navin said:
what do you guys consider fullrange? 100-20k at 90db min acorss the entire range?
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For a small driver ~80-100 to 15K qualifies in my book. The sensitivity has nothing to do with range but will affect distortion and definitely matters if the goal is a single driver speaker to run off a low power tube amp. For this application I like to see better than 95 dB.

A larger 12" FR would not be FR to me if it didn't go down to 40 Hz.
 
#25
rcavictim said:
For a small driver ~80-100 to 15K qualifies in my book.... For this application I like to see better than 95 dB....A larger 12" FR would not be FR to me if it didn't go down to 40 Hz.
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so this really means mostly 4" or larger drivers. the smaller "widerange" drivers I know cant do 95db at 100hz. are not larger drivers prone to beaming?
 
#30
navin said:


so this really means mostly 4" or larger drivers. the smaller "widerange" drivers I know cant do 95db at 100hz. are not larger drivers prone to beaming?
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Drivers that can do 95 dB at below 100 Hz are very hard to find I think. The output on most drivers drops like a stone below about 150-200Hz. The manufacturers use 'averaged SPL' at 1w/1m between the range limits to get a better sensitivity specification that can be misleading when expecting good output at the lowest octaves IME.

HF beaming is bad on some large drivers and makes them unsuitable for FR operation. Besides beaming is the doppler distortion issue of the bass moving the HF source towards and away from the listener. Some of the drivers in 12" size from makers like EV or Jensen from the Golden Age in the 50's/60's I have had a chance to play with offer high efficiency and are claimed to be full range. They do not have a significant beaming problem and the doppler is also acceptably low. Wizzer cones were often employed and I think cone profiles and stiffness were used to advantage as well. I wish the best of these vintage FR speakers with efficiencies in the high 90's were being manufactured today. They can be just the thing for low power tube amp applications, the reason they were designed some 50 years ago.

I've found commercial sound reinforcement drivers tend to have higher sensitivity specs but don't tend to go low enough for home use in the 12" and 15" sizes. An Fs of 55 Hz on a 15" driver is not good for nice low bass. There are of course exceptions.
 
#32
RCA,

While you're forming the manufacturers' wish list for high efficiency, full range drivers, please tell them to include some with higher Qts. FR drivers suitable for OB is a very short list indeed. I know of only the Pioneer BU20 and the Supravox, and the Pioneer doesn't have a high enough sensitivity. Are there any other good ones to add to the list?
 
#36
Let me add 1 more to the list

The Eminence BETA 12 LT, here are the specs.
Nominal Basket Diameter 12", 304.8mm
Impedance 8 ohms
Power Rating 225Wrms
Resonance 45Hz
Usable Frequency Range 45Hz - 8kHz
Sensitivity 99dB

Thiele-Small Parameters
Resonant Frequency (fs)45Hz
Impedance (Re)7.37 ohms
Coil Inductance (Le)0.83mH
Electromagnetic Q (Qes)0.55
Mechanical Q (Qms)6.44
Total Q (Qts)0.51

I have used this driver in a 5 cu ft. enclosure with a super tweeter FT17H crossed over at 9Khz, sound good in a large room, doesn't work well in a small room.
 
#38
Re: Let me add 1 more to the list

MIKET said:
The Eminence BETA 12 LT, here are the specs.
Nominal Basket Diameter 12", 304.8mm
Impedance 8 ohms
Power Rating 225Wrms
Resonance 45Hz
Usable Frequency Range 45Hz - 8kHz
Sensitivity 99dB

Thiele-Small Parameters
Resonant Frequency (fs)45Hz
Impedance (Re)7.37 ohms
Coil Inductance (Le)0.83mH
Electromagnetic Q (Qes)0.55
Mechanical Q (Qms)6.44
Total Q (Qts)0.51

I have used this driver in a 5 cu ft. enclosure with a super tweeter FT17H crossed over at 9Khz, sound good in a large room, doesn't work well in a small room.
Click to expand...

Yes Miket,

This is one of the exceptions i could not think of that I'd really like to try. I think this is the one Mike Hammer uses in his popular Hammer Dynamics custom.
 
#39
Falcott
creative sound salutions which is headquartered in the same town I live,has an up and coming 4 inch which can be used fullrange or in linearrays.
I heard these drivers in a small vented Griffith type closure and sounded exl.
should be out soon.
 
#40
Beta 12LT

Price is reasonable for the Beta 12 LT.
Parts Express has them for a good price.
I would recomend a box made with at least 1 1/4" thick walls and lots of bracing.
The driver can move a lot of air and that can make cabinet design a bit fussy.
I belive a TL would work nice with this driver.
 
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