12-inch drivers for sub

Hi Everyone

What are your recommandations for a good 12" driver for sub?

I'd like high power handling (4"vc, >=6mm voice coil overhang)

I'd like Neo if possible

I'd like 4 ohm if possible

I think most car audio subs are out because (a) thermal compression and (b) high Mms.

This will go in a bandpass - requrements similar to a compact ported reflax system.

Thx

Beyma do some 4 nice Neo ones, B&C has their NW76, and BMS have their 12N630.

Have heard some of the Beymas in simple studio reflexes and they were quite good. Can't say anything about the BMS and B&C.

And the NW100 from B&C. The 12NLW9300 from 18Sound looks pretty damn meaty.

If you're ok with Ferrite B&C do the 12TBX100 and 18Sound do the 12LW1400.

Hi

Thanks for the suggestions. Most likely I'll go for neo, and not worry about 4-ohm. Any comments on how good different manufacturers' neo drivers are for modulation and thermal demagnetisation? I expect the driver will get quite hot.

Cheers, John

I will have a few of the BMS 12" delivered week after next. I am using 4 of them in an install but will be playing with another one in a tapped horn. According to Steve_B they model quite well in them.
He has also modeled them in a BP6 but the results in a plain reflex looked just as good to me.

Tony

p.s. They are the ferrite version which is exactly the same as the Neo but a whole lot heavier of coarse.
Never done any direct comparisons but the cooling system on the BMS Neo drivers does look pretty efficient. My 12" mid-tops that use the BMS 12N620's barely get warm even after a nights abuse with heavily compressed vocals.

Edited by: AJW

John.
As Tony mentioned I have done some simulations for the BMS 12” drive unit and hope to start building a bandpass box sometime next week. Unfortunately I consider the design to be art and therefore have to keep it concealed.

However a few questions. Why 12” and why bandpass? Do you have a particular sized cabinet in mind and what type of output (max spl, freq' response) are you hoping for. What system are you matching it with for the mid/tops?

The Ciare 12”, used in the Punisher, is another option that models quite well in a bass reflex cabinet.

Hi Steve

I'm going to upgradea pair of90 litre 8th order bandpasses that currently use Fane Colossus 12MB. I expect to have to re-design and re-tune (I use my own modelling SW for this).

I will have to insist on a 4 inch voice coil. Certain kinds of bass are very "solid" sounding, ie low crest factor, which means average power can be high enough to cause significant thermal compression before the clip lights come on - this was a bane with the 3" 12MBs. But the BMS 12N820 looks like a candiate (or a 12N830might be better ifsuch a thingexisted).

I looked at the Ciare, but it has a high Mms, hence low EBP and it's hard to design bandpasses toplay satisfactarilyabove EBP. I want to go up to 120-150ish.

Edit high->lowEdited by: jsg

Steve_B wrote:
The Ciare 12”, used in the Punisher, is another option that models quite well in a bass reflex cabinet.

SW12.00 Ciare in reflex: georgeous sound, bomb proof, quite in-efficient, but you can put stoooopid amounts of ampage into it without having to worry too much. the 4 ohm version gets the SPL's up if you've got the amp power.
I'm using 2x4 ohm for studio subs & love 'em.[img]smileys/smiley4.gif[/img]

Bandpass to 120 -150 hz !! are you sure. My ears can put up with bandpass up to 80hz but after that I reckon they are just horrendous. If you are after quality with a fair amount of spl just go for a basic reflex box.
If quality is not your bag then by all means try the bandpass. You are also after 3+ octaves worth of bandpass which is not ideal.

Tony

Problem I find with bandpass cabs as one box bass solutions is that they never seem to integrate well with the mid-tops. You can never get away from the fact that you're listening to the bass and the mid-tops separately.

I would only use bandpass cabs for real sub. And given for a BP6, the furthest you really want the front and rear tunings apart is probably an octave and a half. In simulations I've always found around an octave spacing seems to give the best results.