The Merits of Flat Woofer Cones?

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ReDress

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Joined 2014
#1
Hey everyone (I've tried searching this up before, but didn't find beyond the sakes of aesthetics...)

I recently saw some photos of PMC's latest ultimate design - the QB1-XBD-A system - and saw that it had 16(!) flat woofers (10") for their bass section.

As such, I was curious as to what merits a flat woofer could possibly have vs. a typical cone (especially when considering that, when compared, the cone has greater strength compared to the flat woofer, and that many thought it was simply something to help visually differentiate the product from the rest in the market place)

(For some further context, I was eyeballing the Dayton Ultimax series, and realized that they, too, all have flat woofer cones...)

But I digress, all your guys' thoughts and help are greatly appreciated

Much love/Many thanks in advance everyone.
 
#3
Flat subwoofer "cones" are inherently weaker and have no merit over regular conic other than looks, if there is no depth limitation. On the other hand, if you actually make it out of solid aerogel or something, then you'd be talking serious business, distortion-wise, over a conventional hollow cone. It'd look simply flat, but there'd be silly low flexure.
 
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#4
The new LS10-44 from Dayton looks pretty good on paper and in sims. It has an aluminum honeycomb faced with fiberglass diaphragm. If it is stiff enough there is advantage over conical shaped diaphragms because of the lower enclosed volume. This helps for increasing upper frequency extension in band pass designs. So flat cones do have some inherent advantages besides compactness for tight installations
 
#6
flat cones and simple concave shapes tend to have a lot less 'beaming' and less breakup at HF, so its natural roll off is enhanced. I think certain cone profiles can match their on axis response closer towards their more stable lower bounded off-axis responses E.g. pure pistonic behavior. Makes cross over networks to small dimensioned wide dispersion drivers less problematic. acoustic filters + electrical filters can overlap more ideally
 
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#10
pressure vessels are all round, or at least cylindrical. This makes them inherently stiffer as they can carry the loads as a hoop-tension rather than plate bending. This is why Sonotubes don't require much bracing, but a rectangular cabinet needs the snot beefed out of it. The cone is similar. The load is applied to the end of the cone and it is reacted internally by the cone in the hoop direction, which is the stiffest direction in the cone. Of course there are other modes, so the cone can't be too flimsy, but at least it doesn't have to be as robust as when the cone were flat.
 
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