Celestion BL15 vs Eminence CA154

[leadbelly]

Hi, I'm looking to build an inexpensive 1x15 cab myself. I am an experienced speaker builder.

I am trying to choose between the Celestion BL15 and Eminence CA154 as I can get them for a good price locally.
They are very similar in specs.

BL15-300X-4:
96 dB/W/m
Fs 48 Hz
Vas 4.86 ft3
Xmax 4.25 mm
Le 0.47 mH

CA154:
96.9 dB/W/m
Fs 51.1 Hz
Vas 3.82 ft3
Xmax 5 mm
Le 0.80 mH

Right now I am leaning towards the CA154 because the lower Vas will make for a smaller cabinet which is at least moderately important to me, but I am looking for any feedback or opinion from anyone who has tried these drivers. Thanks.

 

[DukeLeJeune]

I haven't used either, but I'm a bit of a speaker builder too, so hope you don't mind me tossing out an opinion.

The Celestion has more top-end energy, a bit less excursion, and a fairly high Qes which imo makes it more suitable for sealed than vented boxes.

I'd go with the Eminence for max SPL, and with the Celestion if top end extension and/or ease of box construction are the higher priorities. They're both going to be beaming severely up high, so the greater on-axis top-end extension of the Celestion is of less real-world significance than you might expect from eyeballing the published curves.