Posted by mollecon on May 10, 2003 at 17:28:09

In Reply to: Two-way system posted by jeff mai on May 10, 2003 at 04:25:31:

Quote: "Is it reasonable for me to expect both extension to 40Hz (in-room) and, say 96db/w/m sensitivity with good quality reproduction up to 1200Hz? What sort of cabinet volume should I expect (ballpark?)"

Yes, you can get that sort of response & sensitivity, provided that you're willing to accept a rather large box - I'd say at least 4-5 cb.ft. (~115-140 liters), maybe more. Remember, a loudspeakers bass extension is proportional to box volume, & in inverse proportion to efficiency. And deep bass is 'expensive'. Just to go 1/3 of an octave further down, say from 50 to 40 Hz, you need to either double the box volume OR accept half the efficiency (if you wanna keep the box volume the same).

This explains why loudspeakers that can deliver both bass & efficiency inevetably becomes large - & why typical small 'hifi'-type speakers are inefficient...