speaker preference

Aris A · 01-14-2004, 04:20 PM

What's crackin guys!! I'm in the market right now for a floorstander(tower speakers). If you were to choose one, would you be getting a speaker with one 12" driver or (2)6" drivers? Do they have different sound quality as far as bass is concern? Actually, I'm building myself a music setup. Separated my home theater setup.

John S · 01-14-2004, 04:26 PM

Music setup?? Go with the 12" for sure, unless you will have a sub in there too.

David Judah · 01-15-2004, 07:58 AM

Is it a powered 12" sub built in? If so, there's usually not enough volume in the cabinet for it to work at its best, but for music only it won't be as critical as if you were using it for movies too. It then comes down to implementation, so you'll have to listen and make sure it has the characteristics you want at the volume you will normally listen at(some built in powered subs distort easily at higher volumes). As long as you keep it within its linear range, you shouldn't have a problem though.

The other option would be to get speakers with the smaller passive driver/s and a seperate sub(a sealed enclosure is often better for music)which will allow you to optimize the bass a bit better with some experimentation, but that route will probably cost a bit more.

DJ

JamesCB · 01-15-2004, 08:43 AM

Why 12" for sure? Two 6" have the same surface area and will perform just as well as one 12". IMO, smaller drivers are easier for the amp to control and will yield lower amounts of distortion (driver related). Also, IMO, don't bother with a sub in a music only setup, it's just a pain to integrate satisfactorily. I know some will disagree with me, but quality floorstanders for music listening usually don't require a sub. Unless of course you listen to alot of pipe organ recordings. Just my $0.02. Good luck.

glenn.arsenault · 01-15-2004, 09:50 AM

I never even consider the driver's in a speaker when deciding what to buy. I let my ears tell me what sounds best.

**HTF Ads**

John S · 01-15-2004, 10:17 AM

Two 6" drivers, will still have general 6" driver characteristics, and a 12" driver will have general 12" driver characteristics.

I'll take the 12" driver characteristics in nearly all cases myself.

It is just preference though I admit, and I posted my preference. There may very well be some product exceptions out there indeed. But in general, especialy for music, I will take the 12" driver characteristics over the 6" driver characteristics, more then 99% of the time on sole low end duty. (without a sub)

Luitz · 01-15-2004, 11:43 AM

He said he wanted floorstanding speakers.
SO in that respect id say 2 6inch drivers + tweeter and buy a Subwoofer

Forget those old school garage speakers. Besides who other then cervin vega's makes floor speakers with 10 to 18 inch bass drivers. There big and ugly.

Or look at a Floor standing speaker with a 10 inch side firing Subwoofer built in, Such as NHT, Definitve , Energy and so on theres many to be seen and heard

Thats my 2cent Hope this helps

Peter_A_M · 01-15-2004, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Why 12" for sure? Two 6" have the same surface area and will perform just as well as one 12".

This is wrong. Assuming the surface of the driver cone can be expressed as a circle, two 6" drivers have a surface area of 18 pi; one 12" driver has a surface area of 36 pi, double that of two 6" drivers. These numbers won't change all that much when you account for the actual shape of the driver cone. Competent 12" drivers will always produce deeper, louder, and less-distorted bass than that of two 6" drivers of similar quality.

Quote:

IMO, smaller drivers are easier for the amp to control and will yield lower amounts of distortion (driver related).

Smaller drivers will be easier to control, but at that point, they stop being bass drivers and start being midrange/midbass drivers. If you want true bass from this floorstander, you need big drivers.

Quote:

Also, IMO, don't bother with a sub in a music only setup, it's just a pain to integrate satisfactorily. I know some will disagree with me, but quality floorstanders for music listening usually don't require a sub.

In my experience, buying a sub has done nothing but enhance the quality of my audio-music experience. A driver in a subwoofer cabinet is not much different from that same driver in a floorstander cabinet, except that while you can move the driver in a subwoofer cabinet to different places in the room to achieve the best bass response, you cannot easily do the same with the same driver in a floorstander cabinet.

Very much hope this helps,
Peter

JamesCB · 01-15-2004, 08:21 PM

OK, my math was a little off:b .

But,

Quote:

Competent 12" drivers will always produce deeper, louder, and less-distorted bass than that of two 6" drivers of similar quality.

you can't say "always" in this statement. Driver size does not determine bass extension. The design does. There are quite a few floorstanders out there with 6" or smaller woofers capable of reaching well into the 20hz region.

Quote:

If you want true bass from this floorstander, you need big drivers.

My point is, this is not neccessarily true.

Quote:

In my experience, buying a sub has done nothing but enhance the quality of my audio-music experience.

I totally agree. But a floorstander capable of reaching the first octave is enough for most music.

Vital · 01-15-2004, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Forget those old school garage speakers. Besides who other then cervin vega's makes floor speakers with 10 to 18 inch bass drivers. There big and ugly.

What floor standing speakers have you been looking at? Paradigm, Klipsch, B&W, JBL, actually almost all mid/high end manufacturers use 10" or bigger woofers in their top of the line speakers.