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10'' or 12'' - Much Audible Difference?

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=49893
Printed Date: March 29, 2024 at 6:29 AM


Topic: 10'' or 12'' - Much Audible Difference?

Posted By: MBZ oe
Subject: 10'' or 12'' - Much Audible Difference?
Date Posted: February 11, 2005 at 1:47 PM

I have been running combinations of 10's for years myself and was thinking about trying 2 12's in my daily driver this time to hear if there is really a difference. These subs will be Brahma / XXX or I may try the AudioQ HD's that were brought up earlier, for fun.

So what do Ya'll prefer for street SQ and major SPL?  10's or 12's??

Just curious



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Replies:

Posted By: kfr01
Date Posted: February 11, 2005 at 1:54 PM
12's will usually be more efficient (easier to drive to high SPL) and have better low frequency extension. This comes at the expense of larger box size.

I'd use 12"s if I had your goals and the trunk space. 15"s would be even better.

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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder




Posted By: xtreamcc
Date Posted: February 11, 2005 at 1:58 PM
In my experience 12's can play lower. There are exceptions as there are to every rule. I personally like the SPL I can get out of 12's, but prefer to have the tighter bass response that I can get with 10's. Anyway, it all comes down to personal preferance.

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"Shiny chrome when used in conjunction with bikini models is particularly effective in inducing brain deficit disorder"

02 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Monster System on its way.




Posted By: kfr01
Date Posted: February 11, 2005 at 2:17 PM
"tighter bass response" has little to do with the woofer size. To say that 10" drivers are "tighter" than 12" drivers is far too large a generalization to be true.

Anyway. I don't think the decision should have anything to do at all with what will be "tighter." Other factors will have a MUCH MUCH larger effect on the tightness of a loudspeaker system. Box, motor characteristics (such as inductance - see See https://www.adireaudio.com/Files/TechPapers/WooferSpeed.pdf.), materials used. etc.

Worrying about the difference in "tightness" that 2" could make is worthless, in my opinion.

Basically the only reason not to go with a 12" is if you don't have the space for the appropriate box. The same goes for 15"s.

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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder




Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: February 11, 2005 at 5:09 PM
AND, I upgraded from the Eclipse 10 inch Ti woofer to the 12 inch Ti woofer, and I was surprised by the 12. It did not play as low as the 10 did. I tell everybody this, and nobody seems to want to believe it, but it is true. I was using the same amp, and I spec'd the drivers before I built the boxes for them - they were both right on a .707 alignment. Granted, the 12 DOES play louder, but the 10 had better extension. Go figure...

The 12 is actually tighter than the 10 was, too. I think this might be why the 10 sounded like it played lower...

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Posted By: newtone
Date Posted: February 12, 2005 at 12:20 AM

i think the 'tightness' they are refering to is a product of the higher fs 10 inch woofers inherently have over 12s along with the increase in cone area changing mechanical and electrical resistances inside the motor structure.  the' 2inch difference'mentioned earlier actually translates to about a 45%increase in driver area(remember your geometry area of a cirlcle=pi(3.142)xradius squared) so hypothetically 10s have 78.55in2 and 12s have 113.112   of radiating area.  if the same motor works on the cones with different areas there is going to be some differences in the resistances that the motor sees.  think of a drummer and how he gets different freq beats by hitting different size drum heads, generally the same concept.  however i've seen 10s with fs of 29 hz and 12s with 43 hz.  but if you compare a 10 and 12 same brand, same model subs generally the 10s will resonate at a higher freq, therefore sound 'tighter', and generally same brand/series 15s are 3 db more 'efficient' than 12s which are 2 db more than 10s,   all of this goes out the window of course if the enclosures are tuned improperly.

i must be bored...



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Posted By: kfr01
Date Posted: February 12, 2005 at 9:41 AM
Hey, we love bored yet thoughtful answers like that. Keep it up. :-)

Interesting analysis. I guess I've always just thought by 'tightness' people were referring to driver speed.

But sure, if you define 'tightness' as higher frequency bass then yeah, the higher fs would certainly get there.

Keep up the thoughtful posts!

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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder





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