SickPuppy Posted November 24, 2003 Share Posted November 24, 2003 Heres a real basic question. How does the size of a magnet affect the sound of a sub and why do some have much bigger magnets than others. My son asked me and I didn't have an answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted November 24, 2003 Share Posted November 24, 2003 a larger magnet can have a larger magnetic flux which in turn causes more force to act on the voice coil as an electrical signal is passed through...if you think of it like gravity, a larger magnet would be like the difference between the gravity of the sun and the moon...the sun pulls a lot harder. with magnetism, it can both pull and push. anyways, with our big subwoofers, a bigger magnet lets you move more air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted November 25, 2003 Share Posted November 25, 2003 The size(weight)of a magnet often is linked to the magnetic force concentrated in the magnetic gap,where the voice coil operates.The larger the magnet,the stronger the magnetic field(in general as some better designed smaller magnets can generate a more powerful field in the gap. Now a larger magnet is not a sure way to move more air,its about the design.Some pro woofers use very large 10-25lbs magnetic structures,and the effective linear in the gap is very small,as some other designs using smaller magnets are designed for a long throw,the voice coil is also very much linked with the magnetic structure(design) here. Take a BIG JBL or cerwin Vega pro 15" or 18" woofer,it has a huge magnet and yet he linear travel is small compared to a more modest magnetic structure of some TC Sounds(like the dB12),yet the dB12 has a much longer linear and peak to peak. One thing is true in general,the larger the magnet,the stronger the magnetic field in the gap(where the voice coil travels,back and forth),the shorter the response time to start and stop(stopping is also done by the spider(s) and to some extent the sourround. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SickPuppy Posted November 25, 2003 Author Share Posted November 25, 2003 That makes sense, so in general a larger magnet would tend to give a faster, tighter or more accurate sound during loud passages, all other factors being equal. I know, alot of variables in here,IE: speaker shape, material, etc. This all came about because I have a set of older DLK Model 3 loudspeaker and the 12" woofers have lost the foam at the edges. Actually I think it was still intact until I gave them to my 13 year old son for use in his stereo. I had nothing else to do with them. So now I need new 12's for them and he is interested in quantity of bass not quality too much. I am considering using automotive subs with dual voice coils so that I can get my 8 ohms. And we were looking thru some web sites and comparing specs and PRICES. The magnet size came up and I said it would give more sound but couldnt expain why and of course his little buddy said it didnt make any difference, but I really couldnt defend my point to well. I personally would rather put 12" woofers in and then later build him some dedicated subs, but he really wants to put subs in those speakers....kids. He doesnt care about total sound quality yet and that the ports are the wrong size etc..... Poor old DLK's..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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