Print Page | Close Window

Oval Vs Round Speakers?

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=32670
Printed Date: March 29, 2024 at 4:35 AM


Topic: Oval Vs Round Speakers?

Posted By: Dragorus
Subject: Oval Vs Round Speakers?
Date Posted: May 24, 2004 at 4:17 PM

What if any are the benefits of round Vs. oval......I own a vehicle which has an opening for an oval but they make an adapter plate for round...I have heard many diff. Theories on why oval or round may be better than the other....What is your opinion?

Thanx




Replies:

Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: May 24, 2004 at 6:33 PM

Speakers were invented on the principle of round.  I have an old 1927 model radio speaker and it is round as you can get.  The speakers before that were horns, round and...you know the picture of "my master's voice".  As far as I know, which isn't very far, the first oval or 'squeezed in' speakers were engineered by car manufacturers to fit the spot where they wanted to put them.   And they did the job.

What's really bizarre is, I have a car that came with 6 X 8 oval speakers in it, front doors and rear deck.  But if you look at the door from the interior, the speaker grill is round, and there is plenty of space to put a round speaker there.  Same with the rear, round would have worked just fine.  But the speakers Ford could get for 29 cents were oval, so in they went.  So we continue to have aftermarket speakers available in the same shape as the factory ones for ease of replacement.



-------------
Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.




Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: May 24, 2004 at 6:57 PM

Ditto to the above, but I have an additional theory of where oval speakers originated.  Car designers created oval for more than just fitting into an available space.  They also (I believe) wanted to find a way to maximize cone size in an available space, since larger cone area moves more air and creates higher SPL especially at lower frequencies for a given input to a given voice coil.  So not only could they make use of strange shapes like the tops of dashs and rear decks, they could get a slightly larger cone area in there as well.  The AM radio in my 1955 Chevy has a 5X7 speaker in the dash.  Even in '55, people wanted as loud and bass-heavy as possible in their cars!

I also am a "purist" when it comes to this and prefer round speakers, although there is actually very little if any audible difference between oval and round speakers of equal caliber (although there is some measurable inaccuracy in some oval speakers that is not present in round versions from the same companies.).



-------------
Support the12volt.com




Posted By: djMINIoompa
Date Posted: May 24, 2004 at 8:08 PM
Round speakers will produce a clearer sound, due to the fact that they are symetrical. The signal is disperced throughout the speaker evenly, creating a sound that is syncronized. The Oval speakers utilize speaker surface area to create deeper sounds. The oval speaker will not be as clear, but will produce louder frequences. Therefore, its the aplication that will decide which speaker is better. Round=SQ and oval=SPL. In my opinion, i would rather have the round speaker just because i feel that they sound crisper and cleaner.




Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: May 24, 2004 at 8:16 PM
djMIN, if oval = SPL, then why don't they have oval Kicker subs?

-------------
Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.




Posted By: djMINIoompa
Date Posted: May 24, 2004 at 8:44 PM
Im talking about component speakers, not subs




Posted By: Dragorus
Date Posted: May 25, 2004 at 10:10 AM

stevdart wrote:

djMIN, if oval = SPL, then why don't they have oval Kicker subs?

Well in your case square is better eh?






Print Page | Close Window