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Hifi sound quality with PA SPL
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Line Array View Drop Down
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Joined: 19 March 2022
Location: New Jersey, USA
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Points: 204 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Line Array Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 March 2025 at 1:52am
Originally posted by snowflake snowflake wrote:

all drivers will produce 3rd order harmonics as they approach xmax, if they can also be designed to produce significant 2nd order harmonic from asymmetry as they approach high excursion the resulting distortion consisting of 2nd and 3rd will sound quite musical and compensate for the effects of power compression.

if the driver ONLY produced 2nd and 3rd harmonics then yes it would sound musical.

but drivers also produce IMD ( intermodulation distortion ) and that is NEVER musical.

the more nonlinear a driver is the more it is likely to produce IMD 

harmonics are symptoms of nonlinearity, which is why we want a driver with low harmonics - not because harmonics are bad, but because nonlinearity is bad and a driver with high THD is highly nonlinear

according to Klippel nonlinear inductance ( Le ) shows up as IMD but doesn't show up as THD which means that low THD is no guarantee of low IMD

however high THD is a guarantee of high IMD

if IMD data is available you should choose lowest IMD driver

if IMD data not available choose driver that is most linear ... for that you can look at THD data but also at Klippel data which can show inductance nonlinearity for example ...

i imagine inductance nonlinearity would only matter for a driver that plays high enough for inductance to matter.  so for example if you take a cheap 15" woofer without shorting rings all the way up to 2 khz and all the way to xmax then you will likely see IMD from inductance nonlinearity.

if on other hand you limit either excursion or frequency range it shouldn't matter.


Edited by Line Array - 20 March 2025 at 3:01am
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Line Array View Drop Down
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Joined: 19 March 2022
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Points: 204 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Line Array Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 March 2025 at 2:45am
Originally posted by Elliot Thompson Elliot Thompson wrote:

The biggest issue in the Sound Reinforcement Market is the majority focuses too much on subs and compression drivers/tweeters and pay no attention to the Midrange.

there is some truth to this but also a reason for it.

and the reason is midrange drivers can't match the output of either 15" woofer or 3" compression driver so they tend to simply be omitted.

a midrange strong enough to "hang in there" is upwards of $200 and adding it to the cab would make the cab a foot taller without really showing up in measurements ( overall SPL and frequency response of the speaker would remain largely unchanged ).

it just doesn't make sense from business perspective.

a woofer reaches high SPL due to its size.  a compression driver due to horn loading.  it is hard for the midrange to hang in there.  JBL has CMCD drivers ( Cone Midrange Compression Driver ) but they only use it in their top shelf cabinets because i imagine a 8" phase plug ( pictured below ) costs money.

JBL 2169H 8&quot; Woofer CMCD-81H Cone Compression Driver w/ phaseplug screen gasket Photo #1075707 - US Audio Mart


Edited by Line Array - 20 March 2025 at 2:46am
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