High efficiency woofers

Tim Weaver

Tim Weaver

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Feb 2, 2011
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College Station, Texas, United States
www.weaverimaging.com
I am trying to find woofers that are commonly available today that would be considered "high efficiency" What is out there that I haven't found yet in the 12" and 15" frame sizes that would be 100dB or better over most of the operating range.

Mostly interested in drivers that would make a good 2 way cabinet for monitors. The Eminence 3012HO is a good one at 100.5 dB listed, but look at the graph and it averages about 98dB from 100 to 500. Is there anything out there that you can recommend that is better?
 
Re: High efficiency woofers

Tim Weaver said:
I am trying to find woofers that are commonly available today that would be considered "high efficiency" What is out there that I haven't found yet in the 12" and 15" frame sizes that would be 100dB or better over most of the operating range.

Mostly interested in drivers that would make a good 2 way cabinet for monitors. The Eminence 3012HO is a good one at 100.5 dB listed, but look at the graph and it averages about 98dB from 100 to 500. Is there anything out there that you can recommend that is better?
Click to expand...

That is really as good as it gets. After that, you have to start looking at power capacity, both electrical and mechanical to judge how "loud" a driver will go.

Best regards,

John
 
Re: High efficiency woofers

I'm going to explain this non-technically based on my observations of drivers.

From what I've seen, the higher the sensitivity the woofer is, the lighter the paper cone, and therefore the less LF capability it seems to have, due to a higher Fs. These also have less power handling. So, it should be completely feasible to find a woofer in the 100dB sensitivity range for a stage monitor, but certainly not for a subwoofer.

Seems like most subwoofer drivers these days are going to stronger (heavier) designs that handle massive power instead of lighter and less power.

I'm sure there are technical reasons why all these parameters seem to change together (and why we can't have a super high-sensitivity woofer with insane power handling AND great LF capability), but I'll have to let the more technical people (Phil Graham?) answer that.
 
Re: High efficiency woofers

I guess I should have mentioned that I know the why's of a high efficiency driver, I'm just actually looking for the drivers themselves.

I am not a firm believer that a stage monitor needs a lot under 150 hz. A drum fill takes care of the drummer, and anybody else that asks for kick or bass will get plenty of attack and body and the main PA subs will provide for the bottom end. If it's a bigger stage, then sidefills can provide the missing bottom.

I am simply looking into high efficiency speaker systems to lighten the load electrically-speaking so that when I go to a bar with one and a half circuits that are shared with beer coolers I can still put on a quality show.

And to keep us on topic, This guy seems to have the goods....
http://www.eighteensound.com/index.aspx?mainMenu=view_product&pid=238


But, I wonder what else is out there?
 
Re: High efficiency woofers

Tim Weaver said:
...

And to keep us on topic, This guy seems to have the goods....
http://www.eighteensound.com/index.aspx?mainMenu=view_product&pid=238

But, I wonder what else is out there?
Click to expand...

Sorry about that Tim, I guess I wanted to muse about drivers aloud, hoping that someone with expert knowledge of driver design will chime in and tell us why drivers work the way they do.

I bet that 18sound driver costs a fortune, especially since it's Neo.

I have a Kappalite 3015 on the shelf if you wanted to demo it...I'll send it over for free.
 
Re: High efficiency woofers

Tim Weaver said:
I guess I should have mentioned that I know the why's of a high efficiency driver, I'm just actually looking for the drivers themselves.

I am not a firm believer that a stage monitor needs a lot under 150 hz. A drum fill takes care of the drummer, and anybody else that asks for kick or bass will get plenty of attack and body and the main PA subs will provide for the bottom end. If it's a bigger stage, then sidefills can provide the missing bottom.

I am simply looking into high efficiency speaker systems to lighten the load electrically-speaking so that when I go to a bar with one and a half circuits that are shared with beer coolers I can still put on a quality show.

And to keep us on topic, This guy seems to have the goods....
http://www.eighteensound.com/index.aspx?mainMenu=view_product&pid=238


But, I wonder what else is out there?
Click to expand...

Not really. The spec says "average efficiency". Dollars to donuts it falls off below 500hz too. Physics is a harsh mistress.

Best regards,

John
 
Re: High efficiency woofers

The Eminence Kappalite series is not bad and comes in two versions one with a 100 db ish sensitivity and another in the high 90's with a little more low end. I have Kappalite 12's in some small passive monitors, they work well.

Update... I just remembered the JBL 2020 it was rated at 101db within a range from 100 to 500. No longer in production so searching for used deals would be your only bet.
 
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Re: High efficiency woofers

Tim Weaver said:
I am not a firm believer that a stage monitor needs a lot under 150 hz.

-----------------

And to keep us on topic, This guy seems to have the goods....
http://www.eighteensound.com/index.aspx?mainMenu=view_product&pid=238


But, I wonder what else is out there?
Click to expand...

Since you already have an Eminence http://www.eminence.com/pdf/Kappalite_3012HO.pdf
and also an 18sound driver in mind, also have a look at some of the lower end Ferrite drivers from this RCF line.
http://www.rcf.it/en_US/precision-transducers
In my opinion, 18sound seems to specialize more in the subwoofer department, whereas RCF 12's and 15's sound to my ears like what a LF in a multiway should sound like. The lower end RCF's will probably meet or exceed the particular Eminence that you were looking at. Above 150 Hz they look like they would do particularly well (remember to look at all the graphs).
P.S. You will get a very solid low mid and midbass with these.
 
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