Monitor size vs coverage

[mr.steevo]

Hi,

 

I don't really know what I am asking for so I don't know how to search for an answer.

 

I've been told that the larger a monitor (15") is the narrower the coverage is, whereas a smaller monitor (10") has a wider coverage. This seems counter intuitive to me so I would like to understand why.

 

thanks!

 

s.

[monthlymixcd]

Larger drivers become their own "horns" as they typically have the voice coil further and further back from the front edge of the speaker the larger they get.

 

That's probably not the best explanation, but an 18" driver with the VC parallel to the edge of the frame won't push as much air as one with the VC at the bottom of a cone.... think about it.

[BillESC]

In this case size doesn't matter. Coverage is what you're looking for.

 

Speaker cabinets come with all types of coverage patterns such as 90 degree by 50 degree or 100 degree by 100 degree.

 

The larger the spread the better the coverage. Note: Coverage is normally specified with the cabinet standing. If used as a monitor the numbers rotate 90 degrees so check to see if the cabinet has a rotatable horn.

[monthlymixcd]

Oh yeah... good point. I was thinking only in terms of the LF driver. I suppose a speaker designer would want to align the coverage of the LF driver and the HF horn so that frequency response was flat throughout its coverage, right?

[Gregidon]

The LF driver is fairly omnidirectional in a front loaded box (getting increasingly so as you go lower in frequencies). In the case of a monitor your primary concern should be the dispersion of the horn for the high frequency component. You can not generalize the coverage pattern of a box by the size of the speaker (or how loud, low, heavy or expensive either for that matter).