Pro Drivers for Small Cabinet

[markkanof]

I am looking for some recommendations of pro type drivers (high efficiency) that perform relatively well in small cabinets. My ideal cabinet would be a 4 cubic foot space with two ten inch woofers and a tweeter. It would have an f3 of 40 hz and efficiency of 97 db or greater. I would appreciate it if anyone could recommend any drivers that might approximate the setup I have just described.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Thatch_Ear]

Look at the Eminence drivers. You will need to go somewhere else for the tweets unless you like compression drivers. A couple are made to add compression driver and horn on for coax. Think more along 99db for that I think. A 12" I am going to play with goes 40 to 10K which makes for a great two way. Small $$ too at <www.partsexpress.com>

 

[markkanof]

Thatch Ear,

Looks like you are helping me out with two of my posts, thanks.
Exactly what eminence driver are you working with? I have been modeling a bunch of them in WinISD and havn't been able to get much below 50hz without having insanely large cabinets.

I have also been looking into some of the peavey bass guitar cabinets. I have one that is a 4 X 10 cabinet and goes down to 30hz. It is not an extremely large cabinet for the amound of drivers it contains. Unfortunetly I have not been able to find a source of thier raw drivers anywhere, yet.

Mark

 

[bostarob]

A larger woofer would allow low bass in that size of cabinet. Try a 12", or even a well damped 15. The Eminence Kappa Pro 15LF has an f3 of 46 in a 4.5 ft3 cabinet. How loud will you be playing these? (thinking Linkwitz transform w/ small sealed box)
Cannot go wrong with eminence.
-andy

 

[Variac]

Boy, talk about a topic coming along at theright time...

OK, My dream sub is Stig Erik's Almighty Subwoofer:

http://member.newsguy.com/~stigerik/almighty/index.html

It uses the JBL 2226 15" driver. At Parts Express the cost is about $320 ea.

The JBL docs are quite thorough and include a distortion rating of under 1% up to 60 watts. This is pretty stunning for a speaker.

Now I know many pro drivers have low distortion due to large diameter and low excursion, but how do the Kappa pro 15 or 15LF
measure up? Sounds like you guys reALLY LIKE 'EM. and they cost about $115 ea. at PE. Are they a bargain? or of a bit lesser quality? or both?

Another project I am considering uses the Audax PR380M2 15" pro driver. Any comparisons to the Kappas?


Ok Ok I'll compare the specs, but the distortion usually isn't mentioned, or am I missing it?

Also, I'm only going to be driving it with about 15watts
Thanks

 

[Variac]

or to put it another way:

I would be quite happy with bass down to about 40 hz.
Will the Kappa pro 15LF pro driver sound "cleaner" and "faster" or BETTER
than a 12" ultrahigh xmax sub driver at the same hz? I will be crosing them over at about 200hz

The efficiency is a plus at the moment, but later I will probably use an active crossover and separate amp (my Hafler 220 I am currently using as a doorstop), so let's not discuss the efficiency advantage.

Any opinions? no facts required

 

[bostarob]

The kappa has an Fs of 46 Hz, pretty high for such a big woofer. This contributes to its high efficiency. Yes, it is a bargain and a half! Very well built, it's solid! For that sub project, a lower Fs would be nice. The speaker would need a big box to get low, you could put it in 8 ft3 box and get it down to around 30...I am using them in a big 3 way sound reinforcement speaker, crossing around 500.
If I were to use them in a hi fi application, I would cross much lower. Below 100.
If efficiency is not so important, I would use a similar driver with a lower Fs. I have been looking for this (a month ago after reading the sub project thread you mentioned!) and have had little luck. But, you could add mass to the cone. Anybody know anything about this? I could read up on it a little.

I think a 15 would sound better than a high xmax 12" at high volume.
-andy

 

[Variac]

The Kappa P12, which is pretty much the same as the 15"
Same magnet and coil sizes, flatter curve,
is still 98db efficirent, and has a resonant freq of 37 hz, which is better than the 15 at 47hz I hope not a misprint.

Costs about $98 at PE Would this be better for us?

 

[Terry Demol]

Try PHL drivers. They are specifically made to have good
LF corner in relatively small enclosure. They are also
very efficient, and have very low distortion, however
they are not cheap.

http://www.phlaudio.com/main.html

Regards,

Terry Demol

 

[bostarob]

The eminence 12" has a Qts value of .24, if my memory is correct. That is a bit low for what we're doing. I'm looking for .35 to .45. Those values will give us a better bass/box volume ratio. Unless we take a well damped(low Qts) driver and put it in a bigger box, cross it over just before midbass, and give it a huge amp. The PLH's have very low Q's too.

I'm still looking for a 15" woofer with a total Q around .4 with an Fs around 30 and a Vas around 5 ft3.

Other brands to look at: Beyma, McCauley, EV, Audax, Selenium, ummm...any others?
-andy

 

[PTSOUNDLAB]

Hi,

If you are rich, buy a Fostex FW800N, or an Altec or a JBL, buy the best. I's a joke !!!
I think that you are like me a poor boy, so try Beyma 15K200 or 12K200. Very used in France (my country). Here, a 15K200 cost approximately 200 dollars each and 12K200 cost 160. I think that in USA beyma are cheaper.
If you want a real bass box (38Hz -3db to 800Hz). In France an audiophile said to me that he have mounted a 15K200 in a 140 litres bass reflex enclosure, 2 vents 12cm diameter and 18,7cm lenght. The cabinet is made with 22mm board thickness with some "tasseaux"(in french, sorry I don't know in english). In the bottom you fill with sand. On sides you put tar and on right and left you put "laine de roche" (in french, it a sort of absorber).
Behind the beyma, you put a plate/sheet of plumb.
It's a very very good bass box for a 3 ways loudspeaker.

Best Regards.

Pascal.

 

[Variac]

Markanof & Bostarob

I just ordered 2 Selenium WPU1505 15" woofers from Parts Express. It is on sale-reduced from $160 to $100

Qts is 0.39 which seems to get it down to 37-37 hz even in a somewhat reasonable box. Cast frame, 4" coil massive magnet-of course!

The shipping to CA was $40

Then again what would I expect for a pair that weighs over 50 lbs.!

They look to be fine quality and I asked around and people have heard of them!! Hope this helps

MArk

 

[bostarob]

Still a decent price, good luck!
-andy

 

[Variac]

Well, any monster woofer is gonna cost to ship I guess.
I just logged onto Parts Express to stare at my new drivers, since they haven't arrived yet, and discovered tha they are no longer on sale. They are on the sale page, but the price is back up to $160. Sorry if I didn't warn people in time. I didn't realize it was a short term thing. Now the 10" and a tweeter from Selenium are on sale.

But I think we've learned some thing here- there seems to be a rotation of Selenium stuff on sale. If one were patient, one could assemble a fullrange PA system cheap- piece by piece. Of coursew I just wanted a big efficient woofer!!

 

[Thatch_Ear]

The driver I am looking at is a full range 12" Eminence Beta. It has a high Q and since I want a 2 way TL seems to be a good choice. I might get a pair next month. After that will be building and stuffing. These are 99 db so I am going to use some old alnico paper cone tweeters I pulled from an old pair of Frazier 2 ways. Frazier didn't build his own drivers so I am not sure of the source of these tweets. The numbers are not Jensen's so possibly Utah. As far as a small cabinet goes I know mine will be as close to twelve inches as I can get it and get the driver in. I am going to tune for 30 Hz which is around 11.25'. That will decide the height and depth of the box. Note that the 12"ers are designed for PA apps. For use in pro sound ought to be great. I will find out whether or not it is a good choise for listening with a SET.

 

[Variac]

Thatch Ear

Here is some info on the driver I think you are using:

http://www.fortunecity.com/rivendell/xentar/1179/projects/afterburner/Afterburner.html

Also, The Hammer Dynamics speaker uses a modified version for the full range beta with a tweeter.
The link to HAmmer is on the Afterburner site above