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neodymium speakers?

PinkTelephone

PinkTelephone

Feb 18, 2004
1,220
0
38
Shrub Oak New York
#1
i dont know this is probably one of those questions that will be asked 600 times no matter what. i tried searching but couldnt really get anything straight ot the point. Feel free to just post a link to a thread that does answer the question, but what is really the difference between neodymium speakers and cabs and just normal speakers and cabs. I was looking at some avatars and notice they use neo speakers and stuff. just wanted some opinions and whatever. thanks.
 
#2
Nothing really different.
It's just another type of magnet. More powerful than ceramic type magnets and thus you can use a lot smaller one and get a lighter speaker.
The speaker manufacturers design the speakers to work with the neodymium magnets.
Cabinet manufacturers design the cabinet to match the speaker specs (well in some cases)
 
#4
My neos seem to have a bit more finesse and less umph, if that makes any sense. They sound really nice, but it's a differnt sound than any of the other cabs that I've had. For example, while the Avatars are pretty danged articulate, my old Dr. Bass's were more articulate and would perform CPR at 20 meters. The neos seem to want to make you hear every note, lulling you into a groove as they do it, much less aggressive.
Much of it could be due to a difference in cab design, the Avatars are pretty shallow.
 
#7
PinkTelephone said:
i dont know this is probably one of those questions that will be asked 600 times no matter what. i tried searching but couldnt really get anything straight ot the point. Feel free to just post a link to a thread that does answer the question, but what is really the difference between neodymium speakers and cabs and just normal speakers and cabs. I was looking at some avatars and notice they use neo speakers and stuff. just wanted some opinions and whatever. thanks.
Click to expand...

dood,

that's ALL some of us ever talk about here... ;)

and yea, you should look a bit harder...:smug:
 
#8
Neodymium has greater magnetic strength and so requires a lot less material to work in a speaker design. A speaker designed around it doesn't HAVE TO sound intrinsically different, but the relatively few examples of neo woofers DO sound different because (1) every speaker design sounds different anyway, and (2) designing a neo motor with exactly the same magnetic field as a non-neo motor that it would replace is not yet widely understood. Neo driver design is in its infancy. Some of the early concerns have had to do with neo's tendency to lose magnetic charge under lower heat than is true with ceramic, so cooling strategies had to be prioritized.

Already it's getting better for tonality and types though, if comparison between the Deltalite and DeltaliteII specs and charts are any indication. Newer drivers by BMS, Ciare, B&C - and Eminence's promising new Kappalites - finally begin to show what the potential is. Some of that is in motor design itself, some is matching it to a better suspension fit for it, and the cone and dustcap combinations. As more people demand lightweight neo, more R&D is put into good neo drivers for various applications.
 

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