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Questions about 12 inch pairs

azwipe

azwipe

Jul 9, 2013
223
147
Washington, DC
#1
The 12" coupling thing: does it also happen when both drivers are in one cab?

I haven't listened to a ton of cabs, but I've owned 2 pairs of 12" cabs: a pair of Berg HT112's and a pair or Genz NX112t's (tone heaven!).

They both sounded good as individual cabs, but in pairs they had exponentially more depth and low-mid punch. Many have remarked on this phenomenon.

Is it just a 12" thing? I haven't heard a 210 come close. And do you still get the "multiplier effect" in a single 212 cab? Does the driver position (i.e. vertical or diagonal) make a difference?

Would love some thoughts from the gear heads here.
 
#2
doubling up any speaker area with a matching driver works its wonders every time. perfect match all across the frequency range a increase in sensitivity by 3 dB is just a number to some. in real world playing conditions what it means, and to a players ears probably hundreds of real world " blanket" statements to describe how the overall presence and feel is great and better. Some pothead said...dude its like magic bruh, it totally punished that other rig. some guys say it was a overall increase of 3dB by doubling the effective speaker cone area. basically means same thing. its magic bruh :)
 
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#3
Sensitivity increase with the same voltage input is 6dB, which is the case if the cabs or drivers are parallel wired. Maximum output goes up by 6dB too, because the cone displacement is doubled. It doesn't matter if you have two drivers in one cab or two drivers in two separate cabs, the result is the same, assuming the two single cabs are tuned the same as the one larger one and the net size of the two single cabs equals the one larger one.
 
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#5
Don't know if this is relevent but....
I have a pair of 12's.

Gkmb112II...and the matching powered 12 inch cab.

They do not sound identical when both are on. It sounds way different with both on than running the Mb112II by itself.

There is no increase in depth or presence with both on.....just able to get more volume. But the tone changes to more tubby mids, no matter how I fiddle with the knobs (when stacked in normal stack configuration).


Stacked, the tone is way different than if both are side -by- side or separated or ELEVATED.

Both elevated the height of one cab and side-by-side gets rid of the tubby mids. Sounds sweeter but loses a bit of punch.

I've also tried them elevated and separated by six feet. Tone changes again.
Also tried separated, elevated and firing at 45 degree angles. Different again.

The height of elevation is also a big factor. As well as whether the cabs are right against a wall/surface or away from it.

Placement, height and room/venue size also factor in hugely.
 
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#8
azwipe said:
Not sure I follow. Can you explain this in layman's terms? Do you mean side by side drivers don't produce the same tone benefits as vertically stacked? What does that mean about diagonal arrangements?
Click to expand...
We tend to call it beaming.

The overall width of the source affects how it gets heard as you move away from being directly in front. The distances from the near side and far side become a half a wavelength and that frequency drops out.

Putting drivers side by side gives them the beaming properiies of a single driver 2 and a bit x the diameter.

Diagonal suffers less.
 
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#9
So, for 2 or more drivers, there will be a comb effect (alternating peaks and dips in loudness). For horizontally oriented (side by side) drivers there will be comb effects laterally. but uniform response vertically (excluding various reflections). For vertically oriented drivers (one above the other), there will be relatively uniform loudness laterally, but comb effects vertically. For offset drivers, there are variable comb effects in both lateral directions, and a comb-free response perpendicular to the line of the 2 drivers. Also, over the frequency range they overlap/interact, multiple drivers will act as a single larger driver, causing early beaming (when highs are concentrated in a narrow beam directly in front of the drivers. This is mainly in the bass and mids. As frequency goes up, each driver beams on its own, eventually acting alone (no comb effect) in the treble. So, if it is important for the audience to hear your playing clearly, especially with a particular tone, then any driver alignment other than vertical is a compromise. Note that in multiway speakers, comb effects only occur in the region of overlap, around the crossover frequency. The width of overlap (range of frequencies) depends on the dispersion of the drivers and the steepness of the crossover - 6 db/oct crossovers allow much more overlap than 24 db/oct ones. Why are cabs built with non-vertical alignment? It's cheaper to build basically the same cab for two different cab designs - like a 410 and a 212: same dimensions but different driver alignments. So, how audible is this stuff? Is it worth worrying about? Without FOH support, it can be more important than if you are just providing stage volume. In high density rock music it is probably less important than in quieter, less dense genres. Perhaps most importantly, it's up to the musician. Some hear it clearly, while others are oblivious to it. This is also probably true of the audience. If you can afford it, it's best to just buy cabs with vertically oriented drivers and not worry about it. Otherwise, you do the best you can with what you have.
 
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