15" Driver's (1 x 15 Cabs)

[KJung]

Dude, there are plenty of 4x10s that are thunderously bassy without hardly any mid presence and also plenty of 15s that have hardly any lower bass frequencies going at all. Speaker size means almost as little as power rating, all it technically effects is midrange dispersion (i.e. if you stand to the side of a 15 driver you won't hear above 1-2k very well - whichever frequency the effect starts getting bad at - but you would hear those frequencies better with a smaller driver)

Alot of people run (I know I have) very high powered amps with much lower powered cabs, and if your careful you won't do anything to your speakers so that's not a concern. I don't know the ins and outs, but in simple terms I seem to remember being told you can often run alot more power through a cab then it says, all will probably depend on how you EQ and the general quality of your cab etc.

Not THAT many amps are 2ohm capable either, they certainly seem to be more available, but they're not that widespread yet.

Not having a go at you man, but your working with some popular myths there that simply aren't true.

Anyway, to the OP, go to some music shops and have a play around, if possible take your own bass and if you can your head (if they're good guys they'll let you hook up your own head if they trust it's in good shape and won't destroy your speakers). While power rating itself isn't a good indicator of volume or durability, you do seem to be interested in upgrading your head, so it's gonna be worth your while to get something that hacks alot of power if your gonna want your rig to get loud in the future, although if you get a good quality cab, depending on how it's voiced, it should at least be efficient so you get more volume for your watts.

+1 to every point. My widest, deepest, bassiest cab is a 410, and my tightest, most mid punchy cab is a 115. It's better not to really think in terms of driver size and more about the voicing of the cab and the design goal of the cab designer/company.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

there are plenty of 4x10s that are thunderously bassy ...plenty of 15s that have hardly any lower bass frequencies... Speaker size means almost as little as power rating, all it technically effects is midrange dispersion

+1. Moreover, you'll get wider dispersion from a 1x15, or a vertical 2x15, than from a 4x10, because dispersion is inversely proportional to the total width of the driver set. Since the cone of a fifteen is narrower than two tens side by side the fifteen will have wider dispersion. That's one of the finer points of speaker design that's second nature to an engineer, but might as well be black magic to some, who when asked how speakers work can only reply 'Dude, you plug it in!', and being unable to offer useful technical advice can only resort to stupid comments, like "Numbers don't mean diddly doo if it's sounds like diddly doo doo!!!" .
Where the OP is concerned, combining different cabs and drivers is always a crapshoot, since manufacturers have the bad habit of not providing adequate information about their products so that one can anticipate how any given combination will work. The options pretty much boil down to trying before buying being the best course.

 

[SwamiRob]

Ah ok, so it's not so much to do with the sound emanating from 2 drivers, more that it creates a wider base of sound, which in turn narrows the dispersion pattern. That about right? So all those guys that like to lie their fridges down on their side aren't gonna be able to hear pretty much anything if they stand anything other then pretty much directly infront of it.

 

[Stroppy Guts]

It is important to remember that the rated power handling of a speaker is not the power which it can reproduce without distortion but the power that is required to burn the voice coil.

In almost all scenerio's a higher powered speaker will produce a greater SPL without distortion than a low powered driver. Speaker distortion can sound pretty cool in guitar amps but in bass cabs it sounds like a sickening, choking fart when 15"s start to lose it.

Typically a lower powered speaker will also run more comfortably in a tighter enclosure with less porting. A higher powered driver can be allowed to excurse more freely in bigger more open cab tuned to a lower fundamental.

If you look at the majority of 400 watt 4 x 10"'s (4 x 100 watt drivers) they are fairly thin and not ported at all. Compare this to high power 4 x 10"s and you will see they are much bigger and deeper with big ports and produce heaps more bottom end.

For these reasons 2 x 350 watt 15"'s will produce more bottom end in your rig.

 

[SwamiRob]

Fridges are usually pretty hefty in terms of power rating but they're usually sealed.

 

[38bass]

The poll continues on!

 

[Johnny Mack]

It is important to remember that the rated power handling of a speaker is not the power which it can reproduce without distortion but the power that is required to burn the voice coil.

In almost all scenerio's a higher powered speaker will produce a greater SPL without distortion than a low powered driver. Speaker distortion can sound pretty cool in guitar amps but in bass cabs it sounds like a sickening, choking fart when 15"s start to lose it.

Typically a lower powered speaker will also run more comfortably in a tighter enclosure with less porting. A higher powered driver can be allowed to excurse more freely in bigger more open cab tuned to a lower fundamental.

If you look at the majority of 400 watt 4 x 10"'s (4 x 100 watt drivers) they are fairly thin and not ported at all. Compare this to high power 4 x 10"s and you will see they are much bigger and deeper with big ports and produce heaps more bottom end.

For these reasons 2 x 350 watt 15"'s will produce more bottom end in your rig.

please explain how a 200w speaker with 102dB sensitivity will produce less SPL before distortion than a 300w speaker with 96dB sensitivity.

SPL = log(amp watts)*10 + sensitivity in dB

200w into the 200w speaker = 125dB
300w into the 300w speaker < 121dB

it also does not stipulate maximum power at lower frequencies. it will most likely fall way short of the published power rating, but largely depends on the box it operates in.

what if the 200w speaker distorts at 50w?
SPL < 119dB
what if the 300w speaker distorts at 150w?
SPL < 118dB

as far as power rating compared to cab size...
my old ampeg 410HLF (a very large, very deep, very bass heavy, ported cab) was rated at 500wrms, which is only a 25w increase per driver compared to your 400w 410 example. why are there smaller sized 410s that have higher power ratings?

not claiming to "know better" or trying to start a flame war or anything confrontational, but what you say does not seem to hold a lot of water. i will be more than happy to admit to being incorrect if there is a better explaination or if i am simply misunderstanding.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

Typically a lower powered speaker will also run more comfortably in a tighter enclosure with less porting.

There are a dozen odd parameters that determine the performance of a particular driver/box combination. The thermal power rating, Pe, is not one of them. Pe says how much power a driver is rated to handle before the voice coil burns out, and that's all.

In almost all scenerio's a higher powered speaker will produce a greater SPL without distortion than a low powered driver

-1. Distortion occurs when xmax, the limit of excursion, is reached. Pe has absolutely no bearing on distortion. Guitar drivers often combine high Pe and low xmax, so that they will distort at lower levels while still being able to handle high power transients without burnout. Where high output at low frequencies is required high xmax is paramount, Pe is relatively insignificant.
Suggested reading:
http://www.eminence.com/resources/data.asp