Something I don't understand.

[Korladis]

Frequency response? No, speaker size has no relation to frequency response.

Dispersion, however, that's somewhere speaker size matters quite a bit.

 

[Cb4rabid]

^ Is dispersion the way a certain frequency travels or spreads out?

 

[WilliamSandoval]

The way I look at it is by comparing my big stereo speaker to a little 2" toy speaker playing the same song.

Of course the bigger speaker is going to sound more rounded and have greater tone than the 2 inch speaker that has no bass whatsoever.

 

[tom once dead]

I think you're looking at the whole 'A 410 can go lower and have a better bottom end than a 115' wrong.

In the end different people like the sound of different things.

 

[JimmyM]

I think you're looking at the whole 'A 410 can go lower and have a better bottom end than a 115' wrong.

Agreed. Notice the word Tom used...CAN. Not DOES. Not WILL. CAN. "A 410 CAN go lower than a 115." It doesn't always. But if it doesn't, it's not because it's impossible to build a 410 that goes lower...it's because they built one that wasn't meant to go lower.

You're making entirely way too much out of it, and I think you're looking for someone to tell you that you're making the right decision by using 15"s. OK, I'll tell you...you're making the right decision by using 15"s. As long as you like it, it's the right decision.

 

[JimmyM]

^ Is dispersion the way a certain frequency travels or spreads out?

Yes. Google the terms "speaker dispersion" and "speaker beaming." That is the one factor that's determined solely by speaker size.

 

[Downunderwonder]

/ width of tandem group of speakers. Hence 2 x 10 sideways beam like a great big speaker.

 

[Nev375]

Back in the day 18's went lower than 10's because 18s had more excursion (in/out travel) ability than smaller speakers. So better excursion plus more surface area meant better for bass.

Nowadays, we have small speakers with the same excursion abilities as the 18's of yesteryear, so we are able to get that same response by adding them up till we have the surface area.

However, those smaller speakers come with a premium price tag and also additional weight for all those magnets. And of course, cab design has come a long way since then, so that has a huge impact on the end result of what a speaker is able to do...So here is where personal preference takes over.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

I just have this feeling that speaker size does count for something

Dispersion. The larger the driver the narrower the angle of dispersion. That, and that alone, is the only sonic factor attributable to driver size alone.
Larger drivers are more cost effective in terms of output per dollar spent. For that reason well engineered systems use larger drivers for the lows, to minimize system cost, smaller drivers for mids, even smaller for highs, for wide dispersion. For the drivers to work in harmony they must operate in separate bandwidths, using a crossover so that their outputs don't overlap, which would result in their working against each other as much as with each other.

Back in the day 18's went lower than 10's because 18s had more excursion (in/out travel) ability than smaller speakers.

There is no correlation between driver size and excursion. You used an eighteen because it was less expensive than four tens with the same displacement capacity.

 

[Nev375]

There is no correlation between driver size and excursion. You used an eighteen because it was less expensive than four tens with the same displacement capacity.

I stand corrected then. DO pay attention to Bill, the man knows what he is talking about even if his speaker designs look a bit ...different.

 

[Dustin Teel]

Whats the best speaker size for METAL

 

[Cb4rabid]

I have learned something. My problem was that I was looking at it all wrong. This is why I ask questions, because there was something about speakers that i just didn't quite understand. Now that you guys have brought up dispersion, everything is a lot clearer to me now. I'm trying to learn as much as I can so I don't mean to come off as ignorant, i'm pretty new to all of this.

 

[steveksux]

The reason different speaker sizes exist is because some sizes are better and more efficient at doing things than others. Like you could build subs using 10"s, but a 15" or 18" is going to be more efficient in a practical application. And you can build a bass cab using nothing but 6" speakers, but 6" speakers are better suited for midrange cones, so very few makers use them to build cabs.

You've misinterpreted what's been said somehow. All speakers, in fact, sound different, and you can't just listen to one 115 cab and think all other 115's will sound like that. That's what meant by the phrase "speaker size means nothing." When it comes to the tone of the cab, it means nothing. I've heard bright 115's and deep 115's. I've heard bright 410's and deep 410's. It's all in the way the speakers are made and the type of cab they're installed in.

I had a bag end 18" cab, when I took it to trade in, the guy thought there was a midrange driver on it.

I have a pair of 2x10's that'll shake the walls on a low B (EA vl-210's). Beats anything I've ever run, including various 18" bottom with a 4x10 on top.

Its all cone area and moving air. Get enough 4" drivers in the right cab and you can beat an 8x10, or an 18 for low end.

Economics figures in also, depending on the drivers, might be cheaper for a single 15 vs 4x10 drivers, too.

Find a cab you like the way it sounds that gets louder than you'll ever need, and you'll be happy.

Randy

 

[Epidrake]

"Might be a dumb question, but here goes nothing. I have heard many people on this board say that speaker size means nothing, and it does not equal better frequency response (as in 15s dont have more low end, 12s aren't more punchy, etc.)"

People who say that are wrong. It's an oversimplification at best, stupidity at worst.

 

[Bass_Pounder]

People who say that are wrong. It's an oversimplification at best, stupidity at worst.

Ummmmmmmm - No......................

Speaker size has absolutely nothing to do with frequency response.

 

[Halvorsen]

Whats the best speaker size for METAL

It doesn't matter as long as the amp goes to 11!

 

[Epidrake]

You mean that you can get the same low frequencies out of a 2" tweeter?

 

[Epidrake]

Definition of Frequency Response.
"Frequency Response
The measurement oh how well a speaker reproduces every frequency in a human's audible spectrum. Since most humans can hear from approximately 20Hz to 20kHz (20 cycles per second which is deep bass, to 20,000 cycles per second which is very high frequencies), this measurement depicts how wide of a spectrum the speaker can reproduce. It is important to note that although some speakers can play a wide range of frequencies, the most important fact is ensuring it plays all frequencies at the same level. A speaker that, for example, reproduces more high frequencies than low frequencies will sound "bright" in comparison to speakers with a smooth response.

 

[Bass_Pounder]

You mean that you can get the same low frequencies out of a 2" tweeter?

Stop playing semantics. If a 2" speaker (notice I said speaker, not "tweeter") was designed to produce lows, yes it could !

There are plenty of small speakers out there that can and do go way lower than a 15" or 18"

Guess you are not too familiar with stuff from Phil Jones, Acme, etc. ?

Definition of Frequency Response.
"Frequency Response
The measurement oh how well a speaker reproduces every frequency in a human's audible spectrum. Since most humans can hear from approximately 20Hz to 20kHz (20 cycles per second which is deep bass, to 20,000 cycles per second which is very high frequencies), this measurement depicts how wide of a spectrum the speaker can reproduce. It is important to note that although some speakers can play a wide range of frequencies, the most important fact is ensuring it plays all frequencies at the same level. A speaker that, for example, reproduces more high frequencies than low frequencies will sound "bright" in comparison to speakers with a smooth response.

Wow...........notice what is missing from your definition that you saw fit to introduce as some kind of twisted evidence to back your incorrect way of thinking ?

If you can't figure it out, I'll tell you.............

NOWHERE does it say anything about speaker SIZE !

 

[Sam Evans]

You mean that you can get the same low frequencies out of a 2" tweeter?

Or even smaller. You can still hear the basslines when you're listening to music through earphones or earbuds. The frequency is a matter of how fast or slow the speaker is vibrating, not how small or big it it is.

(Insert "That's what she said" joke here.)