Forums - Print Page

Forums
https://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb22/YaBB.pl
AUDIO FORUMS >> General Discussion and Support >> Cone Area vs Sensitivity
https://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb22/YaBB.pl?num=1228502166

Message started by musgofasa on 12/05/08 at 18:36:06

Title: Cone Area vs Sensitivity
Post by musgofasa on 12/05/08 at 18:36:06

Morning all!

I am working on a subwoofer design for two different projects. In both cases, size of enclosure is no issue. I was wondering which characteristic you would say is more valuable when trying to achieve a higher SPL with the same amplifier driving? I have a choice of a 12" driver with 93.4db 1w/1m and the same brand/ model 15" driver with 91.8db sensitivity.

The twelve inch will be able to work with about 4 cubic feet vented and the 15" could have up to about 6.5 cubes. Of course I have about 8 total feet to work with so I can get creative, but I am not so much interested in the box design criteria first as just simply which would be easier to get the desired results with? Higher SPL or Higher cone area?

Thanks,
Robert

Title: Re: Cone Area vs Sensitivity
Post by dank on 12/05/08 at 22:21:40

Hi Robert

I'll take the 15" every time. It will play lower, sound better, and not have to work as hard (IMHO). The numbers may say the 12" can be louder, but that's not been my experience - of coarse I don't play my stuff that close to the edge. Are you talking about the Quatro4 from Parts Express? I have a 15" Quatro4 and like it a lot. Be advised that Parts Express and probably others are listing the SPL as 1W/1M for their 8 ohm speakers and 2.83v/1M for their 4 ohm speakers. This translates into 2 W / 1M if the speaker is 4 ohms, so you have to subtract 3 db to get the true 1W/1M number for a 4 ohm speaker. Nice little bit of specmanship there.

Dan

Title: Re: Cone Area vs Sensitivity
Post by musgofasa on 12/06/08 at 01:57:06

Thanks for the info Dan! I didn't realize they had it set up that way and I don't want to know how you guessed which subs I was looking at. lol.

OK So now I have decided that due to the very limited power I will be running, I am going with the 15" classic woofer.

It's for a car install and I don't expect a whole heck of a lot in the SQ department, but having some flexibility with it will be nice. I am going with a very large, vented enclosure. Standard car box I suppose, but I have enough trunk for the box and 3 dead bodies so I am going to take advantage of it. It is an interesting install that I should be able to finish next weekend. I will take pics so everybody will know what I am up to.

Thanks for the help. Does anyone have an opinion on the classic woofs? They are about $40 cheaper and there is nothing wrong with that in this "budget" install lol.

Title: Re: Cone Area vs Sensitivity
Post by dank on 12/06/08 at 23:50:17

I have a 15" "classic woofer" too and, for the money, you can't go wrong. Only downside is a fairly high Vas which will tend to put you in a larger cabinet, or sacrifice a few db in the lower frequencies. The classic sub is a very nice speaker too, 4 ohms might be better for a car and a Vas of 9.7 vs 14 will mean that you can get about the same performance out of a box 1/2 the size.

For subs, I am currently running a classic woofer on one side and a Series II on the other, both in 5 cubic foot ported boxes tuned to 25 hz. The Series II is better, but the classic woofer holds its own and they seem to mix well together. I'm running them in parallel, so I needed 8 ohm speakers as my sub amp is only good down to 4 ohms.

Dan

Title: Re: Cone Area vs Sensitivity
Post by musgofasa on 12/07/08 at 13:26:29

HI Dan,

Well it sounds like a winner in this case. It is a car and the amp is 2 ohm stable so I will use the 4 ohm version. I did the math and the box is just over 5 cubes and will be tuned at about 35hz. I might go a bit lower. Maybe 30hz. I can do a 20hz rumble filter to protect it too so hopefully no serious excursions below tuning. Can't wait to get into it.

Unfortunately my wife wants me to finish the living room rather than start any other projects. Even more unfortunately, I haven't the skills to do what I want done in the living room yet. Learning curves take time lol. Maybe I can sneak this one in as a xmas gift anyway!

Take care,
Robert

Title: Re: Cone Area vs Sensitivity
Post by Jet-Lee on 12/10/08 at 13:01:31

I like sensitivity, but for just pressuring the car ... I'd say the 15.