Music_Smurf Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 What are the benefits and tradeoffs of the following sub design: a) front firing vs down firing paper drivers vs drivers made of other materials also, are all subwoofers ported? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin_tx_16 Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 ---------------- On 12/13/2002 10:27:42 AM Music_Smurf wrote: What are the benefits and tradeoffs of the following sub design: a) front firing vs down firing paper drivers vs drivers made of other materials also, are all subwoofers ported? ---------------- paper drivers can flex more if not really solid. no, not all subs are ported. subs with passive radioators are not ported and sealed subs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpg Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 I agree... sub design is quite tricky at times too. There are many different methods of porting... And I am not too sure about the front/down firing- I always design around down firing, if possible, but front firing would probably project the bass into the listening area a little better, though bass is non-directional, so it really shoudln't matter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin B Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 Front vs down. No difference unless you get the front firing driver pushed up too close to a wall, or have the legs too short on a downfiring. Ported is a type of bass reflex design, passive radiators are also a bass reflex design (two different ways of accomplashing the same thing). Several variations of bandpass using ports and passive radiators (don't matter, they all suck). Sealed (also called acoustic suspension, of which the infinite baffel is another variation). Dipole and horn are two other loadings. There are a few other more esoteric ones as well. Then you have variations within. 4th and 6th order bass reflex. High to low Q sealed alignments. Different compression ratios for the horn loadings. Different baffel designs result in different roll offs with dipoles, etc etc. As for material, I don't care what it's made of as long as it's stiff and light. Bonus is when it doesn't cost much. Kevelar impregnated compressed paper pulp cones are really tough to beat in my opinion when cost is considered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen328 Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 As far as cone material, when built right paper can be one fo the best materials. Not to say that there are not plenty of good materials out there. As long as its stiff and light. As far as enclosures, there are plenty of sealed ansd ported enclosures out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 The answers...by TheEAR A)If you take a true subwoofer and its cut at 80Hz or under the side or down firing woofer will not impact the output or radiated energy.I did a few tests for fun and for example turning a KSW on its side does not improve nor hold the performance back. B)Sealed subs often need heavy EQ use to extend low in compact boxes,ported use EQ less(ported here may be by way of passive radiator(known as PR),port. You have many great sealed subs(Velodyne HGS/SPL for example),and a boat load using ports(SVS,HSU,Aerial)and a few using PR's(Klipsch RSW,Sunfire).Also you have band pass(4th order)subs...most here are in the low end(Paradigm PS800/1000/1200). Band pass done well can compete with the best spealed/ported,the problem is its often applied on cheapo subs to get maximum output.B0$e also uses a variation of band pass...to know effects.One notey,boomy and irritaing bass. Band pass is popular in MEGA WOOFAZ on wheels(car boom box SPL monsters). C)Cone materials,a cone has to be as light as possible and be as rigid as possible.The idea is perfect pistonic movement with no deformations.The worst material often used here is polyprop and other soft plastics. One of the best materials is the tried tested and true paper cone.Its light and rigid and is quite neutral even when used for midrange cones(done right,not the cheapo mass marker dupster trash used in brand name speakers). Also as Dustin said the paper/kevlar combination is a top choice for driver cones,both subs and woofers and even in lower midrange drivers.Very rigid,light and capable of taking a beating with no problems the paper/kevlar combination is a top choice for subwoofer cones. Aluminium(aluminium alloy,sometimes coated with ceramic composites)also has a good following.Monitor Audio,Thiel,Revel B15,Klipsch RSW,SVS use alu in subwoofer cones.Here again it has what it takes,its light and yet very rigid as a cone.This ensures near perfect pistonic movement Other materials include Mica,Kevlar and composite cones like the famous honycomb hollow cones used by Eton and Focal.Much more high tech,also rigid and light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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