Bill Fitzmaurice

Low xmax is why the Fridge was invented. It was loaded with guitar drivers that had around 1mm xmax. Today there are tens with 8mm xmax, so one of those could equal the low frequency output of a '69 SVT. The trade offs for very long xmax tend to be lower sensitivity and reduced midrange response, so all things considered a pair of modern tens with 4 to 5 mm xmax would be the better option. I use tens with 8mm xmax, but only in subwoofers.

The 10G40 is a nice driver, but only if it's compatible with the cabinet it's going into. Watts and inches barely scratch the surface of matching driver to cabinet.

The main advantage to higher power handling when not accompanied with a commensurate increase in xmax is resistance to abuse. Xmax tends to be more important as far as maximum low frequency output is concerned. That said, there are a lot of other factors that are significant as well. When you use software modeling software to see exactly what a driver will do you don't compare two or three specifications, you compare sixteen or more.

Where low frequencies are concerned the limiting factor far more often than not isn't the thermal power rating, it's the excursion limit, xmax. As a for instance, the Celestion BN10-300X has a 300 watt thermal rating, but with 4mm xmax it won't go any louder than the S2010, which also has 4mm xmax.

It's only 5kOhms because it's a line level mixer, so it usually deals with keyboard outputs of 600 ohms or less. 10kOhms would be the minimum to use with passives, with more being better. When I think of a mini-mixer it's more along the lines of the Mackie Mix 8.

It's the rare mixer that would have too low an input impedance to use with a passive bass; inadequate gain is more likely. However, whatever the OP has for his backing track source could have a very low output impedance, 600 ohms or less, and that would be a major problem using a passive bass with a passive splitter.

As have I. When it's encased within a BMW it's a moot point. 😊

In 55 years of playing I've never used any effects. I get a variety of tones, but they're sourced in technique, not electronics. What I can't get with my fingers I don't care about. I play six string as well, and for that I have a rack full of effects, because you can't duplicate time based effects with technique. Different jobs, different tools.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Disc_Digital_Audio

I can show you eighteens that only go to 60Hz and fives that go to 30Hz, so it's no. As for the missing fundamental, that's useful tech to a point, that point being when for whatever reason you can't use a speaker capable of going low, so at least it seems like it goes low. You don't see it used in pro-sound, because there's a lot more to deep lows at high SPL than just what it sounds like, namely what it feels like. The missing fundamental won't flap your pants in front of your rig, or pound chests out front.

The missing fundamental effect is real, but the harmonics that create the effect are electronically generated. The only way the speaker enters into the equation is that since it doesn't have to play the fundamental it can be smaller.

The differences aren't subtle at all when what's being measured is the off-axis response at a distance. That's where size actually matters.

Quite right. What I meant to say is that with lower impedance the cone will move further with the same applied voltage, and the further the cone moves the louder the sound. Current goes up, which causes power to go up, but the downside to that is too low a load impedance draws more current than the amp can comfortably deliver, both with respect to the power supply and the output devices. What's key to the oft mentioned 'I want to get all the watts out of my amp' is that to sound twice as loud requires ten time the power. At maximum output the average amp will only deliver 1.7 times the power into 4 ohms versus 8 ohms.

That's because an amp will deliver higher voltage into a lower impedance load. No matter, the difference in what you'll actually hear is slight, if any. There are a lot of factors that determine how loud a rig will go, and watts are only a minor part of the equation.

True, and if it has a tube rectifier you get more compression than with diodes.

SS or valve? SS OK. valve only if it has a 16 ohm labeled jack.

If you can hear the fan you're not playing loud enough!

The only way to know for sure is to use speaker modeling software to compare both drivers in that cab. You need the Thiele/Small specs on the Ashdown driver to do so, which may not be available.

Headphones have much flatter and wider response than speakers. The ideal headphone has no coloration, while all bass cabs have some coloration, and most bass cabs have a lot of coloration.

The math is quite daunting, if you do it yourself. Thanks to Bill Gates and other software developers you don't have to. Loudspeaker modeling software does all the heavy lifting.

There's no problem playing active bass through any rig, if it clips the input just turn it down. The problem you'll face with the BA 330 is it's not going to be able to handle lows at more than coffee house levels.

In general the higher the excursion the lower the sensitivity, although it's not a hard and fast rule, as excursion alone doesn't determine sensitivity. It's not easy to compare apples to apples here, but two drivers that use the same motor with different excursions are the Eminence 3012HO and 3012LF, at 6.2mm 100dB/w and 9.1 mm 95dB/w respectively. They also have different response, which is related to their different excursion, but only in part, as other parameters affect the result. This goes back to the fact that be it a raw driver or a finished speaker you can't consider just one or two specs, you must consider them all. With raw drivers that's usually not a problem, as most driver manufacturers publish all the driver specs. With finished speakers it's usually not possible, as very few publish all the specs, if any.

You can only turn the volume up so much before you either toast the voice coil or slam it into the back plate. Every 3dB reduction in sensitivity equals a doubling of power for the same output, assuming the amp has the required power to give. Your questions reflect the primary problem with specs. When they're incomplete what they don't reveal is usually more significant than what they do.

-3dB at 40Hz or any other frequency is meaningless in and of itself. I can show you 6 inch loaded speakers that are legitimately -3dB at 40Hz. The problem is that they only have 85dB/w sensitivity. Search: 'Hoffman's Iron Law'.

Or not. FRFR can apply to a small 1x10 PA main. It can also apply to a 2x15/2x6/tweeter monster. Most PA mains are FRFR, but by no means are most FRFR speakers PA mains. The confusion over this explains why this long dead horse continues to be beaten to excess.