Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Why small (diameter) bass drivers

I am talking about regular speakers, not subwoofers.

For example, the Paradigm Studio 100 uses three 7-inch bass drivers for a total area of 115 sq. inches. A single 12-inch bass driver has the same total area.

But I hear that SVS and Hsu subwoofers with 12-inch drivers are excellent. Do you know subs at similar price points with 8-inch drivers that are better?

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I am talking about regular speakers, not subwoofers.

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They're all speakers... the idea is the same.

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But I hear that SVS and Hsu subwoofers with 12-inch drivers are excellent. Do you know subs at similar price points with 8-inch drivers that are better?

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A single 12" is bigger than a single 10", so it will move more air, and it is cheaper than a dual 8" or 10" setup.

I'm almost tempted to build a cylinder sub like the one I helped a buddy build in high school... but, nah... all I need is another unfinished project.

Bren R.

And at the time many speakers were coming with 12-18 inch drivers, subwoofers were not common. Also, I imagine that excursion also plays into it, not just total area.

Hi,

And it isn't just the cone area of the drivers, it's box size that is also an essential part of the equation. In other words, if you stick a 12-inch woofer into a ported floorstanding speaker enclosure of insufficient interior volume, then you won't get deep bass out of it no matter how hard you try.

The formulae for ported box volume, driver diameter and desired bass extension, were worked out by a couple of physicists, Thiele & Small some years ago (Thiele no relation to the Thiel speaker company in the US).

Regards,

Bren,

Yes. Lived in Toronto for 30 years and moved to NYC in '96 to work at Audio Magazine, which ceased publication in 2,000, then Ian C at Axiom called me. I'd known him since Axiom was founded in the early 1980s, when I was editing a magazine called Sound Canada and writing occasionally for Stereo Review in New York.

Regards,