I´m looking for a 15" woofer to use in a DIY speaker with 10" mid and horn.
Precision AND low extension is of highest interest.
There is no need for 20hz as this is not intended for HT, but I want strong output to at least 30hz.
I´m going to listen at moderate to high levels, but not extreme spl´s.
The cabinet can be aprox. 6 cubic ft.
So far I have thought about PHL.
The PHL B38 - 5021 looks very nice, has anyone listened to these?
If I´m not mistaken, these are used in Genelec 1038 and 1238 monitors...
Do they have a nice low end extension or do they rather sound like the typical PA 15" woofers that miss the last octave?
Which other woofers come to mind?
Best regards,
Olaf
Precision AND low extension is of highest interest.
There is no need for 20hz as this is not intended for HT, but I want strong output to at least 30hz.
I´m going to listen at moderate to high levels, but not extreme spl´s.
The cabinet can be aprox. 6 cubic ft.
So far I have thought about PHL.
The PHL B38 - 5021 looks very nice, has anyone listened to these?
If I´m not mistaken, these are used in Genelec 1038 and 1238 monitors...
Do they have a nice low end extension or do they rather sound like the typical PA 15" woofers that miss the last octave?
Which other woofers come to mind?
Best regards,
Olaf
Fane 15-600 goes down quite low.
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Blue Aran - The UK's no.1 Loudspeaker Component Stockist
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30-300 is easy street but sensitivity is the issue on the 30hz side. If you go active or have DSP use whatever you want, for pro-style efficiencies, most have an Fs in the 30s which makes a 30hz F3 pretty hard to achieve (though you can make some up in boundary/room gain). So is it an active system, a passive one with EQ/DSP available, or a pure passive? If purely active, many "subs" are very comfortable up to 300 and will make excellent woofers. If passive but you have DSP you can use a sealed pro sub and just EQ the bottom end to suit (rarely is boosting a resonant enclosure a good idea anywhere near tuning). If pure passive, you may need to either sacrifice mid/tweet efficiency with pads to get them to match whatever can get your 30hz goal, or have a giant enclosure to achieve 30hz with high 90s efficiency.
Thanks a lot for your answers, very helpful! 
@adason & nigel:
Do these really go low? They have a rather high FS and appaer more like the usual Pro woofers.
@badman:
I use an active crossover between the 15"-woofer and 10"-woofer. The 10" woofer and horn use a passive crossover...
I can boost a little on the low end, but I would prefer a linear box tuning that doesn´t need excessive eq.
@Ernie:
BMS woofers have a great reputation, especially for the low end extension. But I´m a little suprised you are using the 15N850 up to 600hz as BMS recommends 200hz as the upper limit.
@adason & nigel:
Do these really go low? They have a rather high FS and appaer more like the usual Pro woofers.
@badman:
I use an active crossover between the 15"-woofer and 10"-woofer. The 10" woofer and horn use a passive crossover...
I can boost a little on the low end, but I would prefer a linear box tuning that doesn´t need excessive eq.
@Ernie:
BMS woofers have a great reputation, especially for the low end extension. But I´m a little suprised you are using the 15N850 up to 600hz as BMS recommends 200hz as the upper limit.
Yes I was surprised too. My final crossover will be around 300hz in the final box but it actually measures nicely to above 1khz. The well designed motor really seems to help in the midrange if needed.
Oberton seems to make some interesting drivers as well. I think the 15NSW600 would be great for home applications. Light mass, extended xmax. Smooth into the lower mids.
Oberton seems to make some interesting drivers as well. I think the 15NSW600 would be great for home applications. Light mass, extended xmax. Smooth into the lower mids.
I forgot to mention that I have huge bass-traps installed in the room. So there is very little room-gain to raise the low end. Therefor I need the woofers to be fairly linear to 30hz.
@badman:
You mentioned most pro-woofers have too high FS.
Most are around 35-38hz...
That´s why I thought about the PHL B38-5021 with a FS of 29hz.
@Ernie:
Sounds great, I keep that BMS on my list.
@badman:
You mentioned most pro-woofers have too high FS.
Most are around 35-38hz...
That´s why I thought about the PHL B38-5021 with a FS of 29hz.
@Ernie:
Sounds great, I keep that BMS on my list.
Thanks a lot for your answers, very helpful!
@adason & nigel:
Do these really go low? They have a rather high FS and appaer more like the usual Pro woofers.
.
This one goes down to 33Hz
B & C :: B & C 15PS100 PS174.34 IN STOCK (21 Mar 2019)
This is for home use and he mentioned no HT- I think he'll be fine unless he wants to do the 1812 at reference levels.
18" would be definetly too big, I have to stick with 15".
As mentioned before, most 15"-Pro woofers have not been made to reproduce 30hz with authority.
That´s why I was rather thinking about studio-woofers like these:
- PHL B38-5021
- TAD TL-1603
- ATC SB75-375
- JBL 2235
The Fane Pro 15-600 is claimed to perform good to only 40hz according to their website. But I need 30hz....
The B&C 15PS100 looks like it could reach down to 35hz...
As mentioned before, most 15"-Pro woofers have not been made to reproduce 30hz with authority.
That´s why I was rather thinking about studio-woofers like these:
- PHL B38-5021
- TAD TL-1603
- ATC SB75-375
- JBL 2235
The Fane Pro 15-600 is claimed to perform good to only 40hz according to their website. But I need 30hz....
The B&C 15PS100 looks like it could reach down to 35hz...
Since fs and sensitivity both go up and down together, that seems wise, with pa woofers often falling short on low end output with generally poor xmax in order to increase sensitivity. I was surprised to find that a low sensitivity 12" subwoofer driver sounded fantastic crossed at 500hz, while giving enough xmax to provide high spl bass down to at least 30hz. It's been a great solution for my setup.
Faital 15PR400 in 220L boxes can do it
PRV 5MR450-NDY for FAST/WAW applications
Crossed over at 360 hz there
PRV 5MR450-NDY for FAST/WAW applications
Crossed over at 360 hz there
'Life' begins at [2]/channel IME, though in a small space [I started out in 10 ft square] a proper H.E. 15/channel in the corners tuned to blend can be quite enough.
GM
I wholeheartedly agree!
No such thing as excess, distortion seems to just vanish when there's enough membrane area.
I think that absolutely everyone have room for a 15" per channel if they want to. All the people I meet that voice an opinion along the lines of: "No point in having big speakers anymore..." etc. etc. I just reply in seemingly earnest "Yeah, downscaling was one of my priorities."
Then the topic suddenly changes to potted plants and whatnot, and then I am eager to discuss my "tabia bun" seedlings, the small sugar canes, habaneros, various cytrus seedlings and such.
Lots of good options mentioned here and the usual suspects from Italy, all should be excellent, ie B&C, Faital Pro, 18Sound, La Voce.
I personally use BMS 15N850V3 ( a pair of them, sealed), and it is of German design ($$$) but an absolutely phenomenal midbass driver. Close mic'd in a sealed cabinet (about 2 cubic feet), my F3 is about 37Hz. I have other subs that overlap and carry me down to 15 Hz ;-)
If I needed more output at 30Hz I would use ports or passive radiators (passive radiators would be my preference).
You will be happy with many choices if you stick with the above manufacturers as they are all quite competitive with one another. High sensitivity, decent sized voice coil (min. 3 inch), moderate Xmax and Qts's around 0.3 to 0.4...
You won't believe it, but my BMS mid bass modules only have 120 watts/4 ohms and they will blow me out of the room (25 feet deep, 16 feet wide and 10.5 foot ceiling). My mains are 96dB efficient. I have crossed the BMS' as high as 300 Hz without issue, but I have settled on 120Hz LR 12dB/octave at this time.
Enjoy!
Anand.
I personally use BMS 15N850V3 ( a pair of them, sealed), and it is of German design ($$$) but an absolutely phenomenal midbass driver. Close mic'd in a sealed cabinet (about 2 cubic feet), my F3 is about 37Hz. I have other subs that overlap and carry me down to 15 Hz ;-)
If I needed more output at 30Hz I would use ports or passive radiators (passive radiators would be my preference).
You will be happy with many choices if you stick with the above manufacturers as they are all quite competitive with one another. High sensitivity, decent sized voice coil (min. 3 inch), moderate Xmax and Qts's around 0.3 to 0.4...
You won't believe it, but my BMS mid bass modules only have 120 watts/4 ohms and they will blow me out of the room (25 feet deep, 16 feet wide and 10.5 foot ceiling). My mains are 96dB efficient. I have crossed the BMS' as high as 300 Hz without issue, but I have settled on 120Hz LR 12dB/octave at this time.
Enjoy!
Anand.
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