is driver Sensitivity affecting otop performance

[joblow88]

so i was looking for cheep driver for my nex build of otop12 and i was considering grs pro 12 and then i relised the low sensitivity of these driver. I know that Sensitivity does not affect the performance of horns but a remember reading sonewere on this forum that the otop where not real horns. Im i wright? If that is the case does having a low Sensitivity driver will kill the performance of my cab??
https://www.parts-express.com/GRS-12PT- ... quantity=1

thanks a lot

[Grant Bunter]

I'll use the DR250 as an example here.
I used the Beta 10A in my 4.
If I'd have used the Deltalite 2510, I would have, IIRC, +5dB in mids response, compared to the Beta 10A.

There's 0.3 difference in sensitivity between the 2, the higher being the 2510 at 97.3 vs 97 for the Beta 10A.
The Otop is a horn.
So it's not driver sensitivity that's the issue.

Here is more telling about the GRS12:
https://www.soundimports.eu/en/grs-12pt-8.html

You'll notice response in the GRS12 starts to flatline at about 100Hz, has a big dip about 800Hz, then a not so smooth increase between 1 and 2K. The GRS is also rated to only 350W, less than Eminence's conservative figures.
It's a requirement of the design that any substitute driver has a rising response to 2.5K (by which stage the HF has taken over). That's very difficult to find in any other than Eminence drivers.

I wouldn't use it. I would at least build using the same drivers used in your first build so you don't have different EQ requirements...

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

The reason it has low sensitivity is that it has high Mms, cone mass, 73g compared to 49g for the 2512, 47g for the 3012HO. Horns work best with low Mms drivers. That mass also impacts midrange response. It's been said here numerous times but I guess it bears repeating: buy once, cry once.

[Seth]

Perhaps it's purely coincidental, but in my observations, drivers with lower Re (DC resistance) seem to result in slightly higher sensitivity too.

[joblow88]

The reason it has low sensitivity is that it has high Mms, cone mass, 73g compared to 49g for the 2512, 47g for the 3012HO. Horns work best with low Mms drivers. That mass also impacts midrange response. It's been said here numerous times but I guess it bears repeating: buy once, cry once.

Well i would realy like to do jus that but im currently broke as hell. I also have a grant from a youth program wich cover parts up to 150CAD (110USD) and i need to show up with some speaker by october. Normaly i would pay up the ballance but i just got injured so i cant work this summer and im at university the rest of the year... so i'm going to go for cheep driver with the plan to upgrade as the gigs bring cash.

so far there's the PRV 12W800 that also fits in the specs and the price range. I would rather go for the GRS because i can repurpose it for subs but if the prv sound much better i could go there.
https://prvaudio.com/products/12w800a/# ... ct_reviews

[joblow88]

I wouldn't use it. I would at least build using the same drivers used in your first build so you don't have different EQ requirements...

my first built is using 2512 so its kinda out of my price range

[Grant Bunter]

I wouldn't use it. I would at least build using the same drivers used in your first build so you don't have different EQ requirements...

my first built is using 2512 so its kinda out of my price range

Well, if you add in another EQ and amp because that's what you'd need to do to sort out the missmatch compared to the 2512 built one(s),
the driver price all of a sudden doesn't make it such a great deal right?
You wouldn't have to add those extras with more cabs built with 2512's.

I get that you're broke, but there's such a thing as scales of economy.
Do the gigs, get the cash, upgrade cab count then.

Neither the GRS or the PRV's response matches the 2512, which satisfies the requirement for rising response to 2.5K
And at <6 mm Xmax, the PRV's not going to take a lot of power, certainly not the power quoted, in a horn.

It's more $, but even the Eminence Beta 12A has that same rising response required, meaning no more additional gear, and upgradeable later...

[joblow88]

Beta 12A it is then

Thanks a lot