Fane Sovereign Pro 12-500

[5StringPocket]

Does anyone have experience with this driver? It's heavy, but I like the frequency response and T/S specs for a hard hitting 112 ferrite cab - ported, about 1.8 cu-ft (51 liters) tuned to about 55 Hz. Reasonably priced from Thomann USA. Thoughts?
Fane SOVEREIGN PRO 12-500
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[abarson]

@Arjank , as I think he has experience with it.

 

[3rdcurve]

I think @kringle77 may have tried them.

 

[OldogNewTrick]

Does anyone have experience with this driver? It's heavy, but I like the frequency response and T/S specs for a hard hitting 112 ferrite cab - ported, about 1.8 cu-ft (51 liters) tuned to about 55 Hz. Reasonably priced from Thomann USA. Thoughts?
Fane SOVEREIGN PRO 12-500
[This invalid link has been removed]

This driver has piqued my interest since considerable time. Fane publish on their website an enclosure plan for this driver.
https://www.fane-international.com/downloads/FaneEN1201Enclosure.pdf

TLDR -> 75 liters @ 55 Hz

 

[OldogNewTrick]

Just noticed that Fane amd Precision Devices a sister companies located at the same premises under the same ownership.

 

[kringle77]

I think @kringle77 may have tried them.

Not that particular driver.

 

[5StringPocket]

This driver has piqued my interest since considerable time. Fane publish on their website an enclosure plan for this driver.
https://www.fane-international.com/downloads/FaneEN1201Enclosure.pdf

TLDR -> 75 liters @ 55 Hz

That looks like a small PA cab. It's pretty tall for a 112 and those angles would make construction more difficult. I think the 1.8 cu-ft (51 liters) enclosure tuned to 55.5 Hz (Fb) built for my Eminence KL3012CX-8 might also work for this and the more compact form would be easier to grapple and be less prone to over excursion.
The driver has good sensitivity and goes loud for a 12" as shown in the Boxsim frequency response:

The red flag for me is that it seems to reach Xmax at 45.0 Hz with 400 watts RMS and has a max power drop to 307 watts at 77 Hz. Maybe there is something I'm not considering but a driver this massive should be able to deliver the goods at 400 watts without flinching or it's not worth considering.

 

[OldogNewTrick]

I viewed the Fane Sovereign Pro 12-500 always as similiar to the Eminence Delta Pro 12A which has a lot of similiarities. Both are somewhat x-max limited but make up with sensitivity and excellent frequency response.

Fane actually recommends this model for bass guitar SOVEREIGN 12-500LF

Never went down the Fane route - for me it was the FaitalPro 15PR400, even though I truly applaud your quest for trying different and interesting drivers!

 

[agedhorse]

Mechanical limitations are generally the biggest challenge, but part of this is because of increases in thermal limits due to improved materials.

If the driver was realistically considered 400 watts RMS, then the mechanical limits wouldn’t be an issue for discussion.

 

[Arjank]

@Arjank , as I think he has experience with it.

I have no direct experience with this driver allthough Fane has been one of those brands that I seriously consider as a great alternative for other popular brands. That said, the driver in question looks pretty solid on paper, good TSP's for a bass cab, a 4mm voice-coil overhang* (which is more then most MI driver) and a slight peak at 2.6 khz. Also, the price is really low (€135), hmmm, interesting.

*they mention 6mm xmax, I guess they use Klippel to determine this value (yes, Fane uses Klippel).

 

[OldogNewTrick]

If you model this driver in WinISD as a 300W in a 50ltr box tuned to 58Hz and add a 4th order HPF set to 40Hz and you boost your bass at 40Hz by 3-4dB (which we most likely do), then you get this cone excursion and frequency response

That should play pretty nice.
And if you consider the waveform distribution, as fdeck does in his spreadsheet, you may very well get away with 400W.

 

[5StringPocket]

Mechanical limitations are generally the biggest challenge, but part of this is because of increases in thermal limits due to improved materials.

If the driver was realistically considered 400 watts RMS, then the mechanical limits wouldn’t be an issue for discussion.

Agreed. I go with the assumption that if a driver is rated 500 watts RMS it is for the thermal rating, but mechanical limits define the useable headroom. I typically set the HPF around 50 Hz on my amps which should provide some protection from low frequency over excursion. This also seems to support a good thump to lock with the kick while limiting low end rumble. What I'm curious about is how much of a dip in power handling around the mid 70's frequency does it take to produce a noticeable softening (or compression) around the low D of a 5-string bass? Would this Sovereign Pro 12-500 be able to handle high power peaks from my Subway D800+ without farting out or noticeably compressing with the HPF at 50 Hz and bass between 12:00 and 1:00?

 

[5StringPocket]

I viewed the Fane Sovereign Pro 12-500 always as similiar to the Eminence Delta Pro 12A which has a lot of similiarities. Both are somewhat x-max limited but make up with sensitivity and excellent frequency response.

Fane actually recommends this model for bass guitar SOVEREIGN 12-500LF

Never went down the Fane route - for me it was the FaitalPro 15PR400, even though I truly applaud your quest for trying different and interesting drivers!

I modeled the 12-500LF but it has a shorter Xmax, higher Fs, and -2dB lower sensitivity.
The Faital 15PR400 is definitely a winner. My DIY Faital 15/5 is my favorite cab. My personal favorite off the shelf 12" driver for DIY is the Eminence KL3012CX-8 with ASD1001 HF driver. It is well-voiced and flat out hammers when pushed. I'm curious if there is a reasonably priced 12" ferrite driver that could keep up with it in a similar compact cab.

 

[Arjank]

Would this Sovereign Pro 12-500 be able to handle high power peaks from my Subway D800+ without farting out or noticeably compressing with the HPF at 50 Hz and bass between 12:00 and 1:00?

Hard to say, the 6mm xmax is based on that none of the nonlinearity components exceeds the 10% distortion threshold. What I mean to say is that when the driver goes beyond xmax, which of these nonlinearities will increase rapidly. Distortion due to the suspension limitations will sound different then e.g. loss in Bl.

 

[5StringPocket]

With a HPF set at 50 Hz, perhaps there is adequate protection to limit over excursion below 45 Hz? If there is a bit of non-linearity I have read that ferrite drivers often handle it more musically. With a bass guitar driver, a bit of character can be a good thing as long as it doesn't neuter the dynamic response.

Perhaps the max power dip around 77 Hz shown in the Post #7 Eminence Designer plot above is of no real consequence because the driver is below Xmax? My Faital 15PR400 cab shows a similar dip around 65 Hz with excursion below Xmax and sounds solid.

 

[agedhorse]

Agreed. I go with the assumption that if a driver is rated 500 watts RMS it is for the thermal rating, but mechanical limits define the useable headroom. I typically set the HPF around 50 Hz on my amps which should provide some protection from low frequency over excursion. This also seems to support a good thump to lock with the kick while limiting low end rumble. What I'm curious about is how much of a dip in power handling around the mid 70's frequency does it take to produce a noticeable softening (or compression) around the low D of a 5-string bass? Would this Sovereign Pro 12-500 be able to handle high power peaks from my Subway D800+ without farting out or noticeably compressing with the HPF at 50 Hz and bass between 12:00 and 1:00?

Probably fine IMO.

 

[5StringPocket]

Probably fine IMO.

Thanks for your input.

 

[5StringPocket]

I found this sound test which plays a number of different music samples through a pair of raw drivers hooked up to a stereo. Not an ideal test but I like their full range voicing. Wish they would have included some reggae to showcase their low end a bit.

 

[agedhorse]

Open air test discloses nothing about <200Hz response.

 

[5StringPocket]

True, just like simulation software for tuning a ported enclosure isn’t useful for analyzing response >200 Hz. I think I like the voicing and price point of this driver enough to build an enclosure to see what it can do.