how do ya'll select drivers

[JacksonsMen]

im looking for a relatively inexpensive 15" driver to use for reinforcment for my 4x14 cab. problem is ive been searching partsexpress and i cant really find anything that looks worthwhile....

any other good resources? and anyone ever thought of using a car audio driver?

 

[link wray]

Never use car audio drivers.... they lack terribly in the efficiency department. I like eminence drivers. You can find some DIY info in the sticky threads above...

 

[ras1983]

Never use car audio drivers.... they lack terribly in the efficiency department. I like eminence drivers. You can find some DIY info in the sticky threads above...

Its true that they lack efficiency; but they also lack clarity. they are designed to be SUBwoofers, so they will be very boomy and muddy.

 

[JacksonsMen]

good to know, i figured there was a clear cut difference, but i just put in an order for an eminence legend b15

 

[link wray]

The cheapest 15 that is worthwile IMO is the Eminence Delta 15 LF at 100 dollar. Using anything cheaper would be a waste of your effort IMO. The Legend B15 would be even better.

 

[JacksonsMen]

yeah, i mean for 25 dollars more it really didnt bother me, that and i needed an 8ohm sub

just curious now that i think about it, with two 8 ohm cabs, how can i wire em so that i get 8 ohms at the amp, or should i just run two cables from the outputs on the amp, one to each cab?

 

[msquared]

Do a search for "car audio" in the Amps forum. Lots of info on the topic.

 

[jock]

Don´t go with a car or HiFi speakers. They need a ton of power to be usable in a bass guitar cab (sensitivity down towards 90dB/W). Take a look at some good PA speakers instead.
What is your budget and what do you want this speaker to do for you?

 

[alexclaber]

just curious now that i think about it, with two 8 ohm cabs, how can i wire em so that i get 8 ohms at the amp, or should i just run two cables from the outputs on the amp, one to each cab?

You can't. You can have 4 ohms or 16 ohms (parallel or series). If you want 8 ohms then you'll need a pair of 4 or 16 ohm cabs. Or four 8 ohm cabs.

Alex

 

[JacksonsMen]

ive got one 8 ohm cab right now, and i was planning to build another a ohm cab, i was mistaken and thought that my amp was 8 ohm, but i just realized its 4 ohm......crap, i need to get in toutch with partsexpress and let them know i need the 4 ohm woofer

 

[JacksonsMen]

if i hook up both 8 ohm cabs in parallel, will that gove me 4 or 16 ohms?

 

[Thor]

4 Ohms when hooked in parallel.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

ive got one 8 ohm cab right now, and i was planning to build another a ohm cab, i was mistaken and thought that my amp was 8 ohm, but i just realized its 4 ohm......crap, i need to get in toutch with partsexpress and let them know i need the 4 ohm woofer

If you do that your total load will be 2.7 ohms and you'll have serious problems.

 

[JacksonsMen]

so one cord out of the amp into the first cab, then one cord out of the first cab into the second gives you parallel or series? or two cords out of the amp, one to each cab..... i used to know, and im feeling ********.

 

[Thor]

On my amp, both will give you 4 ohm load.

One cord per side is fine for a stereo amp.
Bridged mono with a cord from cab 1 to cab 2 gives the
same load of 4 ohms.

Find and download your amps manual for the easy reference.
Most brands have .pdf manuals on-line nowadays.

 

[Vapor-Toast]

I would strongly suggest the Dayton PF385-8 15"

I bought two of them, built a cab, and I love them.
I'm bi-amping them with my Hartke 5000 and a Peavey 410 TX.
Very powerful sound and they're only receiving 250 watts at the most.
The cab I made was huge though with a monster of a port.

Vapor

 

[jokerjkny]

(...) my 4x14 cab(...)

whaddeye miss?

 

[JacksonsMen]

whaddeye miss?

yeah, its a new design..


























or im just another victem of a typo

 

[fdeck]

Here is how I select drivers. YMMV on whether this method works for you. When a driver in a catalog catches my eye, I enter its T/S parameters into WinISD. Then I try to design a speaker with the driver. Either the design gives me a desirable curve with a tolerable box size, or it doesn't. Next, I check the sensitivity and excursion graphs to make sure the design makes sense for my amp. If it survives these exercises, it goes on my list of top candidates. Eventually, I decide that I am confident enough about a driver / cab combination that I am ready to order the driver and cut some plywood.

Edit: One other thing that I always do is to run my design proposal past this forum, to see if any of the experts can catch my stupid mistakes. It has been extremely helpful.

 

[JacksonsMen]

well this cab is going to be a good test subject, if it works well, great, if not, not a huge deal, no huge sum of money invested (as opposed to throwing a JBL or something like that is)