Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ.

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yeah, i think there was........

216.214.204.49

Posted by Sean on May 7, 2000 at 00:59:55

In Reply to: Was there a point hidden somewhere in your incoherent babble? nt posted by Steve Eddy on May 6, 2000 at 18:40:09:

I still have problems with how Mr. Biggleswurth defines a woofer as being "fast enough". Just because the driver CAN oscillate at a low fundamental frequency does NOT mean it is doing it QUICKLY or LINEARLY. Then again, maybe i have some type of mental block and just don't understand what he's trying to say OR i am having a hard time trying to put what is in my head into words. Probably a little bit of both.

Almost ANY decently designed woofer can output 30 Hz at low levels. How many of them can reproduce a sine wave at high levels though ? Only a FAST driver could make the large excursion necessary while remaining LINEAR in it's output. According to the definition that Biggleswurth used, a driver would be "fast enough" simply because it was oscillating at 30 Hz. After all, if it was too slow and sluggish, it couldn't vibrate at that rapid of a rate ( i.e. his comments about producing only subsonic sounds ). With his terminology, there is no consideration as to how gracefully or skilled it operates at that speed or frequency. The driver could be distorted as all hell and still be moving at that rate of speed. Try looking at it this way: If you were doing 100+ mph and heading into a hairpin turn, would you rather be driving a Porsche or a Suburban ? The answer is obvious. Both are moving "fast", but one does it a lot better with more control and far less effort than the other.

His description does not take into account rise and fall times, damping / ringing, distortion, etc.. etc... etc... While the Q of the system is quite important, it doesn't cover all of the above mentioned factors. These are all things that will affect the characteristic sound of the driver and tell us if it is "fast" or "slow".

What is commonly known as "fast bass" is a combination of a driver / cabinet / tuning arrangement that has very responsive reaction time, is properly damped, suffers minimal ringing or overshoot and typically has a relatively flat impedance curve with a smooth frequency roll off below resonance. The sound is dynamic yet controlled. Has great impact yet is not bloated or linger in any way.

I hope you can understand what i'm trying to say. Sean
>

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