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size of the driver

Coming from the "old school" and being a complete (or almost) novice here - in the old days back in 1970-75 we thought that the big (read - wide) driver will have better capability to produce more realistic sound, talking about lower end of the spectr at least. But nowdays I am seing 6 inch drivers stated as "bass". Just curious how well those perform or in another words what is the secret behind those if they really can perform at the same level as the 12 inch ones?

And another question which I guess is too simple and too basic around here that's why I couldn't find some point to point answer - when we speak about sensitivity - would that be a true statement to say that higher level (say 92-95 db) will allow to extract "fuller" sound spectr at a lower level of volume? My feeling is that with somewhat lower 89 db or less you need to increase the volume in order to have more visible lower end?

Thank you for your time
avs9
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,589 posts
 
I tend to look at it from the perspective of basi physics.

Size matters in order to pressurize air more effectively.

Larger rooms and lower frequencies at higher volumes require more air be pressurized to maintain a smooth frequency response. Larger drivers have the advantage.

The dilemma is that larger drivers will tend to have more mass. More mass means more inertia. Inertia is the enemy of transient response. Transients are an important part of real music. Therefore larger drivers are at a disadvantage when it comes to transient response.

A lot of what works best comes down to a matter of scale ie how much speaker is needed to deliver the desired scale of performance in the target roo m.
ngjockey
1,042 posts
 
All you have to do is go to Parts Express or Madisound websites and look up the specs on various drivers of different sizes and types, including "pro". Some have detailed frequency response and impedance graphs. You can go further by plugging some of those T/S numbers into a speaker box calculator.

For example, plain and simple...
http://www.bcae1.com/spboxad2.htm

Some of you might be in for a shock. The evidence speaks for itself but interpretation varies.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,589 posts
 
I tend to look at it from the perspective of basi physics.

Size matters in order to pressurize air more effectively.

Larger rooms and lower frequencies at higher volumes require more air be pressurized to maintain a smooth frequency response. Larger drivers have the advantage.

The dilemma is that larger drivers will tend to have more mass. More mass means more inertia. Inertia is the enemy of transient response. Transients are an important part of real music. Therefore larger drivers are at a disadvantage when it comes to transient response.

A lot of what works best comes down to a matter of scale ie how much speaker is needed to deliver the desired scale of performance in the target roo m.
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