jboom
Full Member
Posts: 105
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Post by jboom on Mar 6, 2009 11:26:30 GMT -7
All things being equal, are 2 of the same speakers louder than just 1? With 2 speakers the power to each is split and should be equal. I have often heard the argument about bigger cone surface area giving the appearance of more volume, is that true? The question is a a practical one. I would like to carry the smallest/lightest equipment possible. As long as the speaker sounds good and meets or exceeds the necessary wattage why take more than you need.
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Post by smolder on Mar 6, 2009 11:31:53 GMT -7
I've often wondered the same thing. I think they sound fuller... but I wonder if they sound less loud since the same wattage is nor distributed between the two. Its not like digital signal distribution, I would thin that there is energy being dissipated at each speaker.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 6, 2009 13:31:17 GMT -7
Somewhere on this forum this question came up about 16 months ago and Ted Weber responded with some arcane algebra that purported to show that two speakers ARE louder than one, but not twice as loud. I have to admit I didn't understand the math, but I do think Ted knows what he's doing around speakers, so I'm inclined to believe him on the face of it. I've located that thread several times, but it usually takes a bit of a search - look in the Ask Ted Weber thread in Ask the Experts section - it's in there somewhere....
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Post by real oldster on Mar 8, 2009 21:31:50 GMT -7
It's a deceptively tricky question. You said "all things being equal." If you pair an 8 ohm speaker with another 8 ohm speaker you no longer have an 8 ohm load... That's all I have to say about that.  |
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Post by stuey222 on Mar 10, 2009 8:41:03 GMT -7
I believe when you double the number of speakers, you get a 3 dB increase in volume.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 10, 2009 8:48:40 GMT -7
I believe when you double the number of speakers, you get a 3 dB increase in volume. It's not that simple. If you double the number of speakers, you halve the power applied to each, don't you?  |
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Post by Michael Bartee on Mar 13, 2009 12:12:54 GMT -7
If you double the number of speakers and plug into the correct output tap on the amp you will have the same power feeding two speakers and will pick up a 3dB increase in volume. This won't sound twice as loud but you will notice a small increase. Most people require a 6 to 8 dB increase before they preceive it as twice as loud.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 13, 2009 13:10:42 GMT -7
If you double the number of speakers and plug into the correct output tap on the amp you will have the same power feeding two speakers and will pick up a 3dB increase in volume. This won't sound twice as loud but you will notice a small increase. Most people require a 6 to 8 dB increase before they preceive it as twice as loud. Actually, if you have a 100 watt amplifier with three output taps at 4 ohms, 8 ohms and 16 ohms, and you load each in turn with the correct impedance, you only get 100 watts from any of those output taps. Thus if you have a single speaker on the 8 ohm tap, it will see 100 watts. If you put two speakers together, and plug them into the 4 ohm tap, the pair will see 100 watts, or 50 watts each. The ONLY reason you get more output is because you are moving more surface area, but not twice as much as you might expect. OK, now I have to go find that post by Ted Weber... Ah, here it is. I tried to link it and failed, so I'll quote it here: So he's saying a pair of 12" speakers acts like a single 17" speaker, thus more surface area, thus a bit more sound. |
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Post by John on Mar 15, 2009 15:57:24 GMT -7
I think I was the guy who asked the original question.
Because it seemed to me...when running my maz jr....one 100db speaker was louder than 2 100db speakers.
This seemed odd to me and gave rise to the question.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 15, 2009 16:26:17 GMT -7
It's anything but a simple answer.... |
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Post by fastfrets (Bob) on Mar 21, 2009 16:28:59 GMT -7
So he's saying a pair of 12" speakers acts like a single 17" speaker, thus more surface area, thus a bit more sound. He is also saying that each speaker is operating on a more efficient region of the speaker's nonlinear response curve (compared to a single speaker at the same power). This is also contributing to the additional volume. |
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Post by hermanmonker on Mar 22, 2009 14:29:06 GMT -7
I suppose the other part of the equation may be ,is it better driving 1 speaker harder rather than splitting the signal between the two and how would that affect the overall tone
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 22, 2009 16:21:23 GMT -7
One obvious advantage to two speakers is that they can be dissimilar, the way the Z-Best is designed. That cab has a G12H which is real strong on the bottom and has real nice top end sizzle, and a V30 which is real strong in the mids. The combination is excellent. Just playing either one twice as loud really won't give the same effect as the pair together.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2009 9:05:59 GMT -7
For me running either 2X10 or 1X12 is a compromise to running 2X12.
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jboom
Full Member
Posts: 105
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Post by jboom on Mar 23, 2009 18:25:06 GMT -7
I think I was the guy who asked the original question. Because it seemed to me...when running my maz jr....one 100db speaker was louder than 2 100db speakers. This seemed odd to me and gave rise to the question. I think this scenario is a bit tricky in that the 1 speaker may seem louder when standing in front of it. The 2 speakers share the total power so each one doesn't seem as loud. To measure this you would probably have to stand farther back to make the measurement. Its interesting to me that their is so much variance in response to this question. It is a practical one though. I am simply trying to determine if it is worth it to drag around one or two single twelve cabs vs the heavier 2x12. Obviously for increased power handling or speaker mixing it makes sense but I'm still not sure about the difference between the volume of one 8 ohm speaker vs two 16 ohm speakers in parallel to make one eight ohm load. Maybe others can take a stab at an answer. |
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Mar 23, 2009 18:29:23 GMT -7
My practical experience says it's worth it. I started with a Maz Jr 1x12 combo, and it was not quite enough for outdoors. So I got a second 12 in a convertible cab and stacked them. Whether the improvement was because one speaker was now at waist level, or because there were more db coming out the front, the bottom line is I could hear it a LOT better.
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