Sub output: Is it the woofer size or the rated RMS

But the small cone has more linearity in its movement. It is fascinating to see the large driver/small driver debate return again after we all thought it was settled. When I was young the bigger the better was the rule, EV had a 30" woofer, Hartley a 24". In music reproduction the last 40 years has seen a gradual reduction in driver size. This may or may not apply to HT. But the driver size or amp power alone tells you little about the quality of a particular sub, a good designer can use either paradigm. You have to match the performance of a particular unit with your requirements.

"But the small cone has more linearity in its movement"

Huh?....smaller drivers are made, so that you can use smaller boxes, so that the buyers wife will be happy, or at least, more happy than she would have been with larger boxes in her living room....(no other reason for doing it, purely marketing).

Dave

Excuse me , but that is ridiculous. Some of the best and most expensive speakers made use 10" or smaller bass drivers. In the 60s no self respecting speaker had less than a 15" woofer, they now are extremely rare. Look at the DIY speaker sites and see what is for sale there. They are hardly affected by marketing considerations. If you do not understand speaker design I can recommend some good books, starting with HIGH PERFORMANCE LOUDSPEAKERS by Martin Colloms. What part of my statement about cone linearity did you not understand?

Stanwal

Hummm, I wonder why all the best subwoofer designs, that have more than one size (10"/12"/15"/18"...charge more for the larger subwoofers?, if the smaller subwoofers are better?

You should quit reading, and get some practical experience.

The subwoofer drivers of yester year, were very large for a reason...more bass, with less power. The box design for the old 30" subwoofer you mentioned was huge (around 5' tall), and required only limited power supply....more in line with the technology of the day.

Dave

It stands to reason that for a given cost it is easier to design and manufacture a smaller driver that will be more accurate than a larger driver, with respect to the inevitable tradeoffs between cone resonances, stiffness, transient response, overhang (the ability to stop quickly when the music stops), various forms of distortion, etc.

It is also true, of course, that a larger driver in a larger enclosure will provide more bass for less power, everything else being equal. But so what? I don't think that Dave's insulting response to Stan's well intentioned comment was called for, and I don't think that "no other reason for doing it, purely marketing" tells the whole story.

Regards,
-- Al