Beyma 12CMv3 for bass cab

[Olioli]

I've been reading over the simple bass cab build on here from Phil Starr , and he uses the Beyma 12CMv2 driver and is a convincing advocate .Beyma have now produced the v3 which they say is an improvement of course , and uses a smaller enclosure. I was wondering if anyone has any opinion on which is better for a small bass cab , given that they are both on sale for the same price?

[Phil Starr]

I've had a brief look, they've changed the cone a little lightening it by 10g there's a corresponding increase in sensitivity and they've changed the suspension as well a little. the coil and magnet remain the same so power handling and excursion limits remain unchanged. The HF response of the speaker has changed with more noticable HF breakup in the older version. That's to be expected with a different/less stiff cone and a smoother response might have been what they were aiming for, though it may be a cost saving thing and they may just be rationalising so they can stock fewer cone types by sharing across different models.  I'd probably go for the Mk2 if you are building without a tweeter as the cone breakup gives you a boost in the high mids which will help you cut through a bit more in  the mix. The differences aren't huge though. I'll have a look later and re-model the system in WinISD to see if there is anything unexpected going on

 

Thanks for the heads up, this is still a good value for money driver so I'll check it is still suitable. Are you planning on building the 50l or the 30l cab?

[Phil Starr]

PS this probably belongs in the Amps and Cabs section rather than PA

 

Welcome to Bass Chat btw.

[Olioli]

Hi , thanks for the quick reply , I tried to post in Amps and Cabs but it took me straight to PA....i was looking at 50l , I'm tempted to go with the tried and tested V2 although since this is for more of a home-use situation perhaps the smoother upper range would be nice... I'm not using any kind of tweeter.

[David Morison]

Fs, Qts and Vas are all higher in V3 vs V2, so in a given cab & tuning, there will be a more prominent upper bass hump and less low bass.

 

[stevie]

You might like to take a look at the Celestion TF1230S, which is priced similarly.

[BassmanPaul]

On 15/02/2025 at 08:24, Olioli said:

Hi , thanks for the quick reply , I tried to post in Amps and Cabs but it took me straight to PA....i was looking at 50l , I'm tempted to go with the tried and tested V2 although since this is for more of a home-use situation perhaps the smoother upper range would be nice... I'm not using any kind of tweeter.

Remember that very often a unit built for use at home gets coerced into a gig situation by future events!

 

[Phil Starr]

Sorry I haven't found time to model the two speakers but @David Morisonhas modelled the bass response and it is just as you would expect from the changes they've made. I'd say that for bass guitar the 12CMV2 is the better speaker of the two for bass. It's also increased in price by 60% since I recommended it and is now in a price bracket where there are quite a few rivals.

https://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=LAVWSN12250AF is a lightweight Neo speaker at a surprisingly low price

https://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=FANSOV12300_2 currently looks a beter bet than the 12CMV3 and there

 are a few more speakers which are possibilitiesThe Celeston Pulse 12 looks promising.

 

I note that you ay this is for home use mainly. The advantage of the 12CMV is that it is a high excursion speaker and will threfore go louder than some of it's rivals. The spec of this design was to build a single driver cab capable of live work with a loud drummer on it's own. For home use it is overkill. The 8" design would be better sounding and have a deeper bass at the expense of a lower but still good maximum volume The 110T would give you a really clean sound and isn't far short of the 12 in volume. I've a wide range of cabs here and it is the 110T that I gig with most frequently. It's full range flat response, really compact and portable and loud enough for 60% of gigs and pretty much any rehearsal

[Olioli]

Thanks for all the advice , I've been trying to search in Basschat for  a 110T or Basschat 8" thread but am only finding Nekomatic's build for the latter.

A link to the original posts would be useful. Hmm , I may rethink , on the other hand it's easy to end up down a rabbit-hole comparing a zillion different speaker/cab combinations and I may just go for the Beyma.

 

[Olioli]

Ah , I did a bit of Googling and I found the 10" diy thread using the Celestion Pulse 10 ... is this still a recommended driver or has it been overtaken by others at this price?

[Phil Starr]

5 hours ago, Olioli said:

Ah , I did a bit of Googling and I found the 10" diy thread using the Celestion Pulse 10 ... is this still a recommended driver or has it been overtaken by others at this price?

Still the recommended driver.

 

Here's the 8" cab  

 

 

 

[stevie]

I agree with Phil that the eight-inch cab should be plenty loud enough for home use.

[Olioli]

I'm starting to get that too-many-options feeling along with going a bit cross-eyed over Thiele-Small numbers, I'd better just get on with something...But a last few questions....the 8" idea sent me looking around the web and of course I came across the Crazy 8 which sounds great , and is a possible way to go , but I'm not quite sure what they mean when they say it's been "designed"...without a port to tune it I'd have thought the speaker just sees an enclosed volume of air and one box is very much like another if they are rigid and airtight and the same volume. Can `I just put the Faital Pro 8PR200 driver in a suitable box and hope for the same kind of response as a Crazy 8? Is it worth the extra over the Fane Sovereign? I'm also looking at the Beyma 8P300Fe/N , although it seems to have a rubbery surround as opposed to paper and I read somewhere that this is bad for bass clarity , any truth in that?.. same goes for the Beyma 10BR60v2 which has a 30Hz-5000KHz range if specs are to be believed and sounds like a perfect compromise of size/power/frequency range for a home cab , but things that call themselves "studio" or"monitors" often sound a bit sterile at least in the hi-fi world...but then things in small closed boxes also tend to sound "boxy" in that world so maybe I have to re-calibrate my speaker-thinking for bass guitar.

That'll do ....whatever I come up with , many thanks for all replies and input , I'll put up some pics of the finished article before too long I hope.

 

[Phil Starr]

All cabs are 'designed' in that the cab is matched to a particular driver and if you swap that driver then it will be in a sub-optimal cab. In extreme cases you can seriously reduce the power handling of the driver and any sub optimal cab will have the bass response compromised. Fortunately most bass drivers of a given size and made for bass or PA use will cluster around a similar set of specs and work (sort of) in the 'wrong' cab. The crazy 8 has a tweeter and is a flat response design. The BassChat 8 has a single driver and hopefully is a 'musical' design. I did look at a wide range of other speakers for the BC8 and the Fane 225 is the best option for this design. That's not just the Thiele Small numbers but frequency response sensitivity, excursion and even price.

 

The other thing is to be wary of shopping by spec. Partly because adverts lie. Also you probably don't want any output below (arguably) 50Hz or so, particularly if it is in a domestic environment where room dimensions are probably smaller than the 30Hz wavelength. The BC8 has -10db @ 45Hz which is pretty good, more importantly it is fairly flat though the whole of the bass range giving good rendition of the crucial second harmonics of the bass.

 

Rather than thinking about the specs think more in terms of wht you are trying to achieve musically and practically.

[Olioli]

Thanks for all your input Phil , I appreciate your experience and the overview you have of all this., it's been a great help. I will very likely try the Fane , now I just need to get some drawings made , I've got a self-built fretless and a re-built amp so it's only right I should put my own cab together !

[BassmanPaul]

May I humbly wish you good fortune with the build? If you do the science properly you should arrive at a good result.

 

It's a great feeling using the system on stage for the first time and it making you smile!

[Chienmortbb]

I have just been noodling through the original 8" using the Fane 8-225, the one that sparked the idea of a BC108. It made me smile. It was designed to go with the modified After Eight combo (RIP) as @Phil Starrwill tell you, it was far from the ideal shape, being roughly a cube.