Does the woofer size matter

Size does not matter in ATLs, everywhere else it does.

I am not sure of the relevance of bigger drivers in front speakers though as I have never heard one which has 8+" drivers.
 
Universal truth .... :clapping: (in more than just audio too).

I agree that the 12" driver will go down in the LF but quality and integrity is essential. Good implementation is needed. Getting a good three way is the way to go but its also very expensive. A nice sub woofer will also add some weight to the sound but integration is critical.

My opinion though is that a lot of deep bass rumbles are ultimately not real (especially in movies). For example, I have been around a few car crashes in which the sound was actually nothing near anything our movies show. There are definitely no warp speed sound waves blowing up glass windows etc aka Transformers. Same goes for the bass drum in a rock concert. A driver that goes down to 60Hz is plenty. Most natural sounds are well within the capabilities of 6.5" mid woofer.

Another problem is that sometimes too much bass will eat into your mid range robbing some of the sound. This is a matter of taste.

below 50hz bass is a combination of aural (ears) and tactile (physical)..and as you go down the tactile portion only increases .To hear a double bass or a kick drum and get a visceral feeling , you either need a 15" drive OR several 8" (3 to 4 !)
Again not to say that a 6.5" will not make it enjoyable as long as it does the midrange well..but hearing it on a 15" is a life changing experience

again this is not to say all 15" are better than 6.5 etc etc...and the price of a larger woofer does shoot up exponentially for the same quality output. hence the preference for Subs..is more cost effective
 
After listening to different brands & models of speakers,I found that minimum 6 in woofer is must for getting serious Bass in Home.Less than that can just give feeling of it but not to expectations.
 
"Small driver produce tighter and better bass than a large driver" is a myth.
Take for instance the subwoofers like JTR (18") and seaton sub(dual 15") drivers. These subs can produce both very tight, crisp, punchy, loud and deep quality bass. Seaton Catalyst speakers come with dual 12" drivers for low and a 8" driver for the mid and these speakers are very highly regarded.
I did not mean to say that smaller drivers can't produce great bass, but they have to work harder compared to the larger drivers, to produce loud deep-distortion free bass.
 
i agree
bigger is better
i m having 10' energy woofer
planning to buy velodyne 12' best and blindly recomended
 
It is simple physics. Larger the size of any material and more flexible the material, lower will be the resonant frequency. Small size and stiff material will vibrate at higher frequencies. Achieving lower resonant frequency for smaller cone size, is more difficult compared to larger cone size.
 
Yes, I agree you may alter few theories but you cannot change laws of physics. Bigger the drivers, the more air it displaces.

--
helium
CA 640c V2 + Luxman M-06a + Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniversary LE / Vintage B&W DM4
 
Looking at this thread makes me wonder why the new line of audiophile speaker makers chose smaller size. That would be good to know since, as I have mentioned, I have never heard a 8+" older audiophile speakers.
 
I believe the size of the woofer will matter in the subwoofers but for the regular speakers I believe the optimal driver size of 7 inch is sufficient for normal home usage.
I found the optimal size of the woofer/mid woofer for good bass production in the home environment to be 7 Inch.
I had Wharfdale speakers with 6.5 inch drivers and KEF speakers with two 8 inch drivers per speaker. The 6.5 inch lacked a bit of depth and the KEFs lacked the attack and the tightness of bass. The 7 inch drivers of the Paradigm sounded perfect to me. But it is just my inference drawn out of my experience with speakers and should not be taken as a professional word.
 
It is simple physics. Larger the size of any material and more flexible the material, lower will be the resonant frequency. Small size and stiff material will vibrate at higher frequencies. Achieving lower resonant frequency for smaller cone size, is more difficult compared to larger cone size.

You are overlooking an important component here....the driving force, i.e., the power input. This is where ther amplifier takes over. Some amplifiers drives the speaker with more authority. Authority here would simply mean the control over the drivers.
 
Shouldn't the xmax of the driver should matter as well? A larger xmax in a driver with a more powerful motor should indicate that the driver can move the cone by a greater distance back and forth (safely, and with greater control) - which would directly result in more air being pushed and with better quality.

I guess this would be an engineering problem, and perhaps improved engineering over the years should ideally mean that you can use a smaller driver to produce the same levels of bass and SPL that previously required a larger driver that wasn't as well engineered.

Markaudio's Alpair 10 driver for example has a 8.5mm xmax one way, which is fairly high compared to many other drivers.

Where it becomes unclear for me is if this also necessarily means better bass response or only increased SPL. Honestly, I'm not an expert so this is just a theory or an observation I'm throwing out so I can get a better understanding on these principles myself.

The other interesting thing I have read about is servo controlled bass drivers - where they use a feedback signal back from the driver to feed it into the input signal - so that the end result is better control of the driver and hence better bass. Rhythmik makes these kind of subs and it would be interesting to hear if anyone has heard these subs and what their impression has been.
 
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