It depends on what EQ you wish to apply. If you wish to extend the bottom frequencies then linear excursion and certainly mechanical excursion should be considered. If you're pushing a driver out of its best range (in either direction), then its distortion characteristics would stand some consideration. If you're pushing a driver to play louder at higher frequencies, then cone/diaphragm breakup artefacts could become more accentuated.
It also depends on your expectations/intentions; coping with 'abuse' might simply mean the driver not failing, whereas others might be looking to maintain high fidelity.
It also depends on your expectations/intentions; coping with 'abuse' might simply mean the driver not failing, whereas others might be looking to maintain high fidelity.
What are your goals for frequency response? What's the volume of your enclosure? Is it vented or acoustic suspension? all of these factors come into play for extending your woofer's range. The woofer I'd choose for an acoustic suspension speaker is not the same as what I'd select for a bass reflex enclosure. Ideally, you'd want minimal eq boost.
1) Driver related:
-Maximum linear volume displacement. Which = Sd (essentially, cone area) * Xmax.
-Voice-coil power limit.
Those two parameters can be related via a type of visual representation, called an Excursion-limited SPL Nomograph, which Linkwitz presented long ago, https://www.linkwitzlab.com/SPL nomographs.htm , to show the maximum SPL capability of a driver at some frequency. Given it excursion, and power handling limits.
2) Box related: Type of enclosure bass support (closed box, vented, TL, etc). Enclosure bass support factors can be much more complex to accurately assess.
-Maximum linear volume displacement. Which = Sd (essentially, cone area) * Xmax.
-Voice-coil power limit.
Those two parameters can be related via a type of visual representation, called an Excursion-limited SPL Nomograph, which Linkwitz presented long ago, https://www.linkwitzlab.com/SPL nomographs.htm , to show the maximum SPL capability of a driver at some frequency. Given it excursion, and power handling limits.
2) Box related: Type of enclosure bass support (closed box, vented, TL, etc). Enclosure bass support factors can be much more complex to accurately assess.
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