Bass Speaker Cabinet Volume

[Joe Louvar]

EDIT: "If enclosures and drivers are equal" - generally (not always) this is what you get -

1 - 410 loudest (db)
2 - 212 second loudest
3 - 210 third loudest
4 - 115 fourth or least loudest

Of course volume isn’t everything (tone) and a 115 and 410 sound completely different but generally a 410 can go louder than a 115 (personally, I like the sound of 15s best). I hope someone finds this helpful.

EDIT: a 215 is equal to about a 610, and two 415 (815) are crushing loud!!!

[somegeezer]

I don't see the great helpfulness of that at all. What was the point of this thread exactly? Just to say 410s are loudest? And? 810s are generally louders than those. 2 810 together are usually even louder than that too. Hell, go with a full PA system and you can take on anyone. What's your point?

[BassmanPaul]

It also depends on the individual cabinet. Some have more efficient drivers than others.

[Hammertime3]

Always wondered which is louder...one 212 cabinet or 2 1X12's daisy chained, assuming the cabinets are the same brand of course and using the same amp..

[Mr. Foxen]

Brand means nothing to tone. But if the box is the equivalent volume per speaker/tuning, then they should be equivalent. The speakers probably won't go so close together so you lose a little acoustic coupling, and complicate the off axis stuff some. Not enough to make much odds unless you do something silly with positioning.

[B-string]

Originally Posted by Mr. Foxen

Brand means nothing to tone. But if the box is the equivalent volume per speaker/tuning, then they should be equivalent. The speakers probably won't go so close together so you lose a little acoustic coupling, and complicate the off axis stuff some. Not enough to make much odds unless you do something silly with positioning.

Not if the drivers (speakers) have different sensitivities and Xmax. A short throw 410 with efficiencies of 82 dB/1 watt/1 meter per will not be as "loud as" a long throw 212 with 91db/1 watt/1meter drivers.

[GrowlerBox]

Originally Posted by B-string

Not if the drivers (speakers) have different sensitivities and Xmax. A short throw 410 with efficiencies of 82 dB/1 watt/1 meter per will not be as "loud as" a long throw 212 with 91db/1 watt/1meter drivers.

I think Mr Foxen was replying to Hammertime rather than the OP.

[Joe Louvar]

Originally Posted by Hammertime3

Always wondered which is louder...one 212 cabinet or 2 1X12's daisy chained, assuming the cabinets are the same brand of course and using the same amp..

If enclosures and drivers are equal and if you mean connected parallel when you say daisy chained - two 112 is the same SPL as a 212.

[dhomer]

Throw ANY fEARful in the mix, the comparisons go away... Not all speaker enclosures are created equal.. Some are better engineered w/more efficient drivers..

[Joe Louvar]

Originally Posted by dhomer

Not all speaker enclosures are created equal.. Some are better engineered w/more efficient drivers..

+1, see edit's to original post.

[GrowlerBox]

Originally Posted by Joe Louvar

+1, see edit's to original post.

The edit makes even less sense than the original -- how can those "enclosures and drivers" be equal? If they were "equal" in any meaningful way, then they'd all be as loud as one another.

[Joe Louvar]

I was anticipating a thread like hOW tO gET eDUCATED: sPEAKErS = sound (no disrespect xray - I understand) but the clown is right (j/k) - can I delete this thread and is that ok?

EDIT: This link belongs on TB - checkout the Bass Guitar Magazine articles by Barefaced.
http://barefacedbass.com/bgm-columns.htm

[Colonel Monk]

I think as a general statement for a noob, it's helpful.

And I agree. in the olden times it was always assumed that bigger speakers = better. Now we know they are "different".

Wasn't it phil jones who had that cab with 5" drivers and .....

here it is: lotsa speakers

Kinda taking it to another extreme, but the smaller the drivers the more surface area of the cab is covered with speaker.

Oh, I'm sure there's a lotta ins and a lotta outs to that discussion, but I can see where he was headed.....

CM

Originally Posted by Joe Louvar

EDIT: "If enclosures and drivers are equal" - generally (not always) this is what you get -

1 - 410 loudest (db)
2 - 212 second loudest
3 - 210 third loudest
4 - 115 fourth or least loudest

Of course volume isn’t everything (tone) and a 115 and 410 sound completely different but generally a 410 can go louder than a 115 (personally, I like the sound of 15s best). I hope someone finds this helpful.

EDIT: a 215 is equal to about a 610, and two 415 (815) are crushing loud!!!

[Colonel Monk]

Originally Posted by dhomer

Throw ANY fEARful in the mix, the comparisons go away... Not all speaker enclosures are created equal.. Some are better engineered w/more efficient drivers..

Some day I'll give these a shot - I've never been able to read the megathread they are just too big but I'm interested in hearing one in person for sure.

But yeah - I think in a simple way the OPs statement has some merit. I hadn't given alot of thought to number of speaker cabs until I got a 100W tube amp. Compared to my other mega amp heads, you really have to give it all the speaker you can carry to make the volume.

out

[Joe Louvar]

Thank you CM.

I posted this in the thread link posted above and it belongs here too ~

It takes about 10dB to double the volume (SPL). If you have a 100 watt amp with one 12" speaker and you add another 12" speaker you will get a 3dB increase. You would have the same SPL as a 200 watt amp with one 12" speaker. To get the next 3dB increase you need to double the speakers again so you would need four 12" speakers. Having 4 speakers will give you a 6dB increase in SPL compared to 1 speaker. Then it gets more complex. If you double the 4 speakers to 8 speakers there isn’t a 9dB increase in SPL as compared to one speaker like you’d think, instead you only a 6dB increase compared to one speaker because phase cancellation comes into play. The distance between the speakers causes the sound to reach your ears from some of the speakers at a different time and this has the effect of canceling some sound so more speakers are better up to a point. Speakers, enclosures, power, impedance, etc also play a role in the SPL. Hopefully this is simple to understand and helps TBer’s.

EDIT: This is a great link ~
http://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/jw/dB.htm

[Selta]