Sub-woofer fast enough for Horns?

Bob_ +1 I must have at least eight subwoofers in cars, Bass amplification, computers, two channel, and HT. And I don't have a clue as to what is meant by slow sub?

I compared a REL Studio III with a JL Audio F113 and my DD-18 Velodyne in my two channel setup. To get the REL to integrate on its own it was a matter of lowering its gain to an unacceptable level. By comparison this sub with its high level connection method was a total joke but I can't say it was slow.

Using a line level connection from the Velodyne EQ to the REL helped a great deal. It also freed up the ability to find a better acoustical location. Connected to the REL my main speakers lost a bit of everything. But hey, they have a huge following.

I guess out of phase could give the sensation of slowness but most powered subs have a phase switch.

There can be a noticeable difference in presentation between small and large driver subs. Is that slowness?

Hi, The op asked about subs that are good for horn speakers, look no further than the JBL array subs!, they were built to use with the JBL top models, like the array line, everest line and K-2 lines, fast?, I would say so, cheers.

The OP has not even said what loudspeaker he is trying to match with a sub. There is not enough info to make an informed recommendation.

When people refer to "fast and slow" in relation to a speaker, they are referring to the dynamic speaker driver's ability to respond instantaneously and accurately to the signal provided at any exact moment in time.

How well it performs in this regard is largely determined by the mass of teh cone. All cone movements are affected by inertia and therefore must have some amount of temporal delay in responding to the signal at any particular instant as a result. That tendency in general can be described as "slowness". Larger, more massive drivers, like those in subwoofers, will be the most affected compared to to others. Smaller low mass cones, like those used generally in tweeters and midrange drivers, are less effected by inertia and hence tend to be inherently "faster".

Other factors of speaker design and tolerances may come into play, like damping factor, but I think size and mass of teh cone and relationship to inertia is the main one. Planars, electrostatic, ribbon type drivers tend to suffer less from effects of mass and inertia and tend to sound "fast" in that they are able to respond to signal changes more instantaneously in general than most dynamic drivers.

Another exception might be a transmission line style Walsh dynamic driver, where much of the sound is produced via "wave bending" principles as described by the original designer, Lincoln Walsh, rather than pistonic type driver movements, where the mass of teh speker normally comes more into play I would think.

Tweeters and midrange drivers tend to have low mass compared to woofers and subwoofers in particular. HEnce the perceived difference possible when using a sub with speakers that are relatively "fast" in of themselves.

Compression drivers used often in horns are generally also very low mass and inherently "fast", so matching subs with those in particular to get coherent sound top to bottom might be a somewhat more difficult challenge.

Speaker systems that are "fast" may or may not sound "coherent" top to bottom as well, in that other factors like crossover design and performance come into play there as well.

If you have a speaker that is both "fast" and "coherent", then I would say you really have something special that might also possibly sound particularly "musical" compared to others! Make it "full range" to-boot, and bingo!