I created a post about selling 12” JBL subwoofers. A customer asked me for more information. And he said my 12” JBLs are not subwoofers but midrange drivers. We also talked about other speakers and he told me that my ADS L1590’s woofers are actually midrange drivers as well—yes, the dual 10” midrange drivers per cabinet.
I wonder if there’re any 10”-12” midrange drivers exist. And how to categorize the midranges, woofers, and subwoofers? Also, if the 10”-12” midranges exist, what is the advantage over the conventional smaller midrange drive units such as 6”-8” midranges?
I wonder if there’re any 10”-12” midrange drivers exist. And how to categorize the midranges, woofers, and subwoofers? Also, if the 10”-12” midranges exist, what is the advantage over the conventional smaller midrange drive units such as 6”-8” midranges?
Hello,
It's simple.
Subwoofer, woofer, midrange and tweeter are defined from the frequencies they are able to reproduce.
< 50Hz = Extreme bass
from 50 to 160 Hz = bass
from 160 to 450 Hz = low midrange
from 450 Hz to 1250 Hz = midrange
from 1200Hz to 3500 Hz = high midrange
from 3500 Hz to 10,000 Hz = treble
It is common for a speaker to cover the bass and the low midrange, for example.
And I don't know of any 12-inch speakers capable of reproducing the high midrange.
It's simple.
Subwoofer, woofer, midrange and tweeter are defined from the frequencies they are able to reproduce.
< 50Hz = Extreme bass
from 50 to 160 Hz = bass
from 160 to 450 Hz = low midrange
from 450 Hz to 1250 Hz = midrange
from 1200Hz to 3500 Hz = high midrange
from 3500 Hz to 10,000 Hz = treble
It is common for a speaker to cover the bass and the low midrange, for example.
And I don't know of any 12-inch speakers capable of reproducing the high midrange.
Part of the problem is some of the words are used for two different purposes: to describe frequency ranges and to describe the primary function of drivers.
The 10" woofers in your ADS speakers are playing into the midrange, but it is atypical to call them midranges.
A midrange driver is typically one that will not play significant bass. It usually has limited excursion and is optimized to cover midrange.
A woofer typically performs well at common bass frequencies and at least into the lower midrange (some can go significantly higher).
A subwoofer is often optimized for the lowest frequencies so typically has greater excursion than the others, but typically won't play as well in the midrange (breakup issues, directivity problems, etc.). Some smaller ones also have low sensitivity.
In today's car audio, subwoofers are often made for extreme excursion and extreme power handling, so old-style subwoofers can seem underwhelming by comparison. Your customer may have been coming from that angle.
The 10" woofers in your ADS speakers are playing into the midrange, but it is atypical to call them midranges.
A midrange driver is typically one that will not play significant bass. It usually has limited excursion and is optimized to cover midrange.
A woofer typically performs well at common bass frequencies and at least into the lower midrange (some can go significantly higher).
A subwoofer is often optimized for the lowest frequencies so typically has greater excursion than the others, but typically won't play as well in the midrange (breakup issues, directivity problems, etc.). Some smaller ones also have low sensitivity.
In today's car audio, subwoofers are often made for extreme excursion and extreme power handling, so old-style subwoofers can seem underwhelming by comparison. Your customer may have been coming from that angle.
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You usually can tell it's a midrange rocket if the Qts is below 0,25 or the resonance is above ~80Hz and it got a high BL and/or high EBP.
To give an example, the 18s 12MB700 is a midrange driver, in a sealed box it goes to ~180Hz, vented ~118Hz or you could use it as a mid horn driver. Or the 12ND610 or PD.121/2 etc.
Oh, I forgot about that, sry. The big cone surface gives a huge advantage in authority over smaller cones. Plus, esp. in PA, you want to keep the dispersion under control, so a 12" mid controls the width of dispersion even without a horn a lot better than smaller drivers, which can keep the speaker smaller and lighter by avoiding to have to use a horn or WG. Or you can pump a lot more power into it since it's much easier to fit a 4-5" VC into a 12" instead of a 8" - which makes them able to accept peaks of 1,5kW+, some can even take more than 2k.
Long time ago, JBL used theyr 2202 12" driver in one of there monitors to cover the 250-800Hz range... if i remember correctly...
and also some some 10" ...later on also 5" in smaller boxes
and also some some 10" ...later on also 5" in smaller boxes
2203 is JBL's statement 12" bass driver from back when. It's in the 4315.
That's right. And that's what makes them mid-woofers (opposed to sub-woofers, literally).
I second that. Midrange drivers - even if they are capable of upper bass - usually have limited excursion, often less than +/-3mm. The reason is that they have to maintain a strong magnet field, which a thick front pole plate would diminish and a short overhang to not burn up the VC overhang which is then not able to dissipate the heat to the pole plate and magnet. Even more specialized midrange drivers even have underhung VCs but that's usually only done on 10" or smaller drivers.
The problem of the 'modern' sub drivers is that they specialize on very low enclosure volume, which requires a very stiff compilance and very high Mms, which makes them react very sluggish to short impulses. While you can get really low with such subwoofers, they are unable to provide kick and punch. That doesn't make them horrible but if you want true high fidelity, they can't deliver that.
Exactly! The reason for the sluggish 'mud-shovels' is that the amp power got tons cheaper and ppl demand smaller enclosures. That doesn't make drivers which don't go that deep or need a bigger enclosure any worse (or just on paper). Instead, most ppl are really impressed by sub-30 subwoofers but the boomy sound and novelty often runs stale very quickly, especially because most bass sounds just the same, no resolution or differntiation. Unless you are going to car speaker SPL battle events, it's often much better for SQ to go to sealed than to go to BR or even BP if your driver is capable of great excursion.
Another criteria for large midrange driver is the low impedance rise in the midrange, even with significant inductance, which usually implies a better midrange performance.
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