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Topic:
Speaker sizes
This thread has 15 replies. Displaying all posts.
Post 1 made on Thursday May 1, 2014 at 12:22
FunHouse Texas
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Why are so many in-ceiling speakers advertised as 6" or 8" when in reality the diameter of the woofer is actually much less than that measurement? When did this become acceptable?
I had a customer actually get out a tape measure and measure the woofer on a speaker and call me out! I had no answer for him. What say you?
I AM responsible for typographical errors!
I have all the money I will ever need - unless i buy something..
Post 2 made on Thursday May 1, 2014 at 12:33
thecynic315
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Possibly at the same time TVs started fibbing about their size.
Post 3 made on Thursday May 1, 2014 at 12:44
lippavisual
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Everybody loves to round up!! Sounds better.
Post 4 made on Thursday May 1, 2014 at 12:51
kwkshift
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Speaker drivers are measured across the full face of the basket, not the cone itself. So, a 6.5" woofer would only have a piston diameter of about 5"-5.5".
Post 5 made on Thursday May 1, 2014 at 13:40
Ernie Gilman
Yes, That Ernie!
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...which is to say, tell us actual numbers of what you're looking at and hearing about so that we can comment on real stuff.

A 12" woofer is usually a tiny bit larger than 12" on the outside of the basket. The actual driver surface can easily be only 10 1/2" across. This is only a problem to the amateur, as the rest of us know that this is true across all speaker sizes and we cope.
A good answer is easier with a clear question giving the make and model of everything.
"The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- G. “Bernie” Shaw
Post 6 made on Thursday May 1, 2014 at 13:42
Mr. Stanley
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Yeah, I think th customer measured just the cone area and not to edge to edge of the surround.

The guy sounds like a piece of work... WHY the paranoia? Man oh man.

Other companies measure from the edge of the actual speaker / frame basket,

Last edited by Mr. Stanley on May 1, 2014 14:22.
"If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger."
Frank Lloyd Wright
Post 7 made on Thursday May 1, 2014 at 13:48
mwstorch
Long Time Member
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May 2003
375
"I'm not sure Mr. Customer, I did not build them, I just install them. Why don't I give you XXXX speaker company's phone number and you can ask them."
Post 8 made on Thursday May 1, 2014 at 14:02
Ernie Gilman
Yes, That Ernie!
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On May 1, 2014 at 12:22, FunHouse Texas said...
I had a customer actually get out a tape measure and measure the woofer on a speaker and call me out! I had no answer for him. What say you?

I say think about this stuff ahead of time and be ready for challenges like this.

Tell the customer that when TVs were invented, the advertising liars were called on to sell them, and since the diagonal is the largest dimension you can measure on the flattish surface of the screen, they chose that. (Perimeter would have been much more fun, don't you think?) The key here is that everyone does it the same way so it's comparable.  Almost everyone, that is: US TV sizes differ from Canadian TV size designations and always have.  I think we round up and they round down, sorta Texas vs. Newfoundland psychology.

Similarly, speakers have been sized the same way for at least 75 years and his anger and suspicion are misplaced. He doesn't expect a 27" TV to be 27" wide or 27" high -- nor the image that size -- so why does he assume he'll know the universal manner with which a speaker size is designated? Chill, man!
A good answer is easier with a clear question giving the make and model of everything.
"The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- G. “Bernie” Shaw
Post 9 made on Thursday May 1, 2014 at 14:29
Neurorad
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Which model speaker?

Simply give him the instruction/cut sheet that states they are '8 inches'; put the blame on the speaker company, rather than you.
TB A+ Partner
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense. -Buddha
Post 10 made on Thursday May 1, 2014 at 14:57
ericspencer
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On May 1, 2014 at 14:29, Neurorad said...
Simply give him the instruction/cut sheet that states they are '8 inches'; put the blame on the speaker company, rather than you.

+1
Not my circus, not my monkeys
Post 11 made on Thursday May 1, 2014 at 15:17
Ernie Gilman
Yes, That Ernie!
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That's not enough.

You need to tell him that, as stupid or misleading as it is, THIS COMPANY is not cheating him because every manufacturer uses the same method to determine what size to call a speaker. If you only give him the cutsheet for the speaker you want to sell him, and no other information, his logical conclusion is that this manufacturer is lying; since you're selling it you're lying to him, too; so he should go elsewhere.

Educate him. Don't just throw a number in his face with no explanation. Hell, commiserate -- tell him it's a stupid system but everybody inherited it long ago!
A good answer is easier with a clear question giving the make and model of everything.
"The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- G. “Bernie” Shaw
Post 12 made on Thursday May 1, 2014 at 16:19
Mr. Stanley
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Its like exagerating d##k size... you mean it's that long when flaccid or erect? (she asked)...


8>)

Last edited by Mr. Stanley on May 1, 2014 18:01.
"If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger."
Frank Lloyd Wright
Post 13 made on Thursday May 1, 2014 at 17:05
highfigh
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8,311
It's not how big it is, it's how big it feels.

Yeah, I'm referring to speakers.
My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder."
Post 14 made on Thursday May 1, 2014 at 17:36
bcf1963
Super Member
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September 2004
2,767
Have you noticed, that the TV size info is now typically: 65" Class, or some other fairly ambiguous term. They almost never really measure the actual dimension of the "Class" they include themselves in.

As a consumer, we've all become hardened to the marketing lies, and we don't usually even think about it. Feel free to ask your customer about when he goes to any large chain, that has commercials of the food, if he expects it to really look like that, when he receives it? Just look at a Big Mac, and then an advertisement for a Big Mac. You'd be hard pressed to imagine they were the same thing.
Post 15 made on Thursday May 1, 2014 at 18:00
Mr. Stanley
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There was an old blues song... one of the lines went "It ain't the meat, it's the movement"...

I guess this could apply to speaker cone travel too!?
"If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger."
Frank Lloyd Wright
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