This is a sweet design, as well as being super power efficient! Tho I think that I will need some more power before reaching xmax. Thank you so much for the insight!Here is my design for a Vb = 160 litres (5.65 cu.ft.) vented-box enclosure, tuned to Fb = 24Hz. This design has a 2nd-order high-pass peaking filter applied, with a frequency setting of 23Hz and Q=2.0. There is also a modicum of parametric EQ applied, −2.0dB at 50Hz with Q=1.0. A 4th-order Linkwitz–Riley low-pass filter set to 80Hz has also been included.
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The above design seems quite promising, with the vent air velocity reaching the warning level at a nominal power input of 105 watts re 8 ohms. The peak power required to achieve 114dB maximum SPL is around 675W. The maximum displacement value falls well below the Xmax of this driver, so it can accept higher short-term power peaks while still working relatively linearly.
Below is a simulation for the 21SW152 in a vented-box enclosure with Vb = 350 litres, tuned to Fb=19Hz. This design also includes parametric EQ consisting of −1.7dB at 52Hz with a Q=1.1. The low-frequency cut-off is F3=16.8Hz, which is commendably low, and makes this enclosure worthy of being called a subwoofer. I have used two slotted vents, each of area Av=220cm^2 and length Lv=62.2cm. The enclosure produces 115dB maximum SPL for a peak power input of 400 watts. At a nominal input power level of 300W re 8Ω, Xmax for the driver is only exceeded below 16Hz. Adding a 12Hz second-order Butterworth high-pass filter can keep the driver displacement in check below Fb, without affecting the response in the passband too much.If a small enclosure is a huge deal to you, the 21sw152 will require more power, but can work in half the volume.
It seems things are not fully sorted out, but I would highly recommend LaVoce San214.50 over 21SW115, and San215.30 over 21SW152. 21SW152 is a lovely driver, but look at its coil overhang length. It is barely a subwoofer driver, and for fair distortion outcomes, it will be excursion limited to 13-ish mm. LaVoces are fine to 15-16mm for lower price, often with stronger motor being happier in smaller enclosures. I had B&C 21DS115 in ~130l, and I think those LaVoce's will be quite happy in ~150l net box volume. All of them. 21SW115 not that much.
Below is a simulation for the LaVoce SAN214.50 21-inch driver mounted in a vented-box enclosure of net volume Vb=150litres, tuned to Fb=39Hz. This is a fairly standard alignment, which trades off passband efficiency for low-frequency extension. It would seem that this is not really "subwoofer" performance.
Of course, we can get more low-frequency extension by detuning the enclosure to Fb=25Hz and adding a 2nd-order high-pass peaking filter set to 22Hz and Q=2.00. This provides +6dB of boost at 22Hz. The response is much more subwoofer-like, with F3=22.1Hz, which is way better than the previous F3=40.6Hz. Of course, the penalty we pay is that the maximum SPL in the passband has been reduced.
Of course, we can get more low-frequency extension by detuning the enclosure to Fb=25Hz and adding a 2nd-order high-pass peaking filter set to 22Hz and Q=2.00. This provides +6dB of boost at 22Hz. The response is much more subwoofer-like, with F3=22.1Hz, which is way better than the previous F3=40.6Hz. Of course, the penalty we pay is that the maximum SPL in the passband has been reduced.
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