Does size matter? Why 15″ Speakers Aren’t The Best Choice for DJs
Why 15″ speakers aren’t the best choice for DJs and performers. Speakers come in many different sizes, from the tiny 8″ to the mighty 15″ low-end woofer. Many new DJs and performers subscribe to the “bigger is better” mentality and go straight for the 15s when starting. But what if there was a better way? What if I told you that the 15″ PA speaker isn’t all it’s cracked up to be? Today, we’ll discuss why speaker diameter matters, why 15″ speakers aren’t the best choice for DJs and performers, and how you can level up your speaker game. All while saving your back from unnecessary wear and tear!
Size matters
Well, in speakers, at least. You see, physics can’t be cheated. You need a more prominent speaker to get lower notes and louder output. Engineers can work all sorts of wizardry to make a 10″ speaker sound complete. At the end of the day, however, when you compare two equally manufactured speakers of different sizes, the larger one will have the more significant bass extension. Lower bass has a lower frequency, measured in hertz (Hz). Hz is the number of times a woofer moves in and out per second. The lower the bass note, the lower the Hz, and the larger the driver you need to create the massive sound wave. It’s why an 18″ subwoofer will steamroll an 8″ speaker in the bass department. It just has more physical areas to work with.
And that’s why DJs reach for 15s. You need bass if you’re at all current with your music selections (as in, not playing music from the 40s and 50s). The music we are asked to play as DJs sounds best when played through a system with adequate bass response. In most DJ’s heads, we equate bass with larger speakers. Considering that the equation more prominent speaker = best choice makes sense to us.
Sure, subwoofers are an option, but they cost more money and are big and cumbersome. Aren’t 15″ tops the perfect compromise? While we may get a few extra Hz on the low end, we sacrifice something else—clarity.
The other half of the equation
One thing many DJs either don’t understand or fail to remember is that most PA speakers are 2-way. This means two speaker drivers are inside the cabinet, one high and one low. The tweeter handles the highest frequencies. The woofer handles the low frequencies. However, there’s one more component to sound apart from high and low: mid-range. The mid-range is essential. Like, SUPER important. It’s where most of the sounds live that we, as humans, are familiar with. Vocals? Yep. Guitars? Yep. Wind instruments? You betcha.
In a 2-way speaker, the woofer handles those sweet, sweet midrange notes. This means the woofer does double duty, producing low and midrange notes. Why does this matter? Because low notes are pretty hard for the speaker to reproduce. They require the speaker cone to move in and out a lot. Not rapidly (that would be the tweeter), but significant, powerful movements forward and backward. Midrange, on the other hand, requires faster but smaller movements. Think of the bass as big and bulky and the midrange as more delicate.
Why 15s aren’t the best choice for DJs and Performers
Herein lies the problem with 15s – they’re trying to be two things simultaneously. With a 15, you’re trying to get a PA speaker’s portability and a subwoofer’s bass extension in one package. Unfortunately, they don’t do either job too well. Before even discussing sound, we can touch on their portability. If you’ve owned a pair of 15″ tops (like I have), you know they’re a beast to move. Even modern speakers with plastic cabinets are much more awkward to haul than their 12″ counterparts.
The bigger problem, however, is their sound. With the larger 15″ driver trying to do double duty as both a woofer and a subwoofer, much clarity is sacrificed. At smaller volumes, you may not notice it, but when things get loud, distortion creeps in. The woofer begins to push to its limits to ensure it reproduces the bass notes, losing the speed and precision needed for the midrange frequencies. If you’ve ever cranked the “bass” control in your stock car stereo up, you’ve heard this effect. Things start to sound muddy and gross. Sure, there’s a little more punch, but at what cost?
The truth is, you aren’t gaining a whole lot by moving from a 12″ speaker to a 15″. We looked at the specs of a handful of prevalent 12″ and 15″ speaker models from various manufacturers. Do you know the average increase in bass extension between 12″ and 15″? 4 hertz. In case you didn’t know, that’s practically nothing. Plus, you were moving from a low-frequency extension of 50 or so Hz to 47. The lowest note of a bass guitar is at 40Hz, so moving from 12″ to 15″ still won’t get you everything you need.
There’s a better way.
So what’s the alternative? Splitting things up. I’m talking about using more portable tops combined with subwoofers. There are many benefits to going this route. First off, you can purchase smaller PA speakers. If you’re delegating bass to the subwoofer, you don’t need a 15″ speaker (probably not even a 12″ speaker). Paired with a subwoofer, an 8″ or 10″ speaker will do a fantastic job reproducing your music’s highs and mids. Now, if you’re doing a minor event or one that doesn’t need a lot of low-end, you’ve significantly reduced the size of your load. You’ve created more flexibility in your gear inventory. You can show up with your small speakers for that fashion show or open house event in a small sedan. When it’s time for a more significant event, you can bring the subs and get the job done right.
Most importantly, your sound will be much more transparent and louder. With the PA speaker no longer worrying about handling the low notes, it can run more efficiently. Bass notes eat up an amplifier’s power. All that sweet juice goes straight to the mids and highs with the bass gone. The same is true for the subwoofer—all of its power will focus on giving you the heart-pounding low notes we DJs crave.
There’s another benefit of having separate top speakers and subwoofers – coupling. Low frequencies are reinforced and louder when produced close to a boundary, like a wall or a floor. This is because low notes travel omnidirectionally from the speaker in all directions. When on the floor or against a wall, those sound waves are focused and increased because they are reflected off of the boundary. Using only a 15″ woofer in a PA speaker, your low-end driver is separated from the floor and loses much of its potential sound energy. The low notes are reinforced with a separate subwoofer on the floor, giving you even more output.
Putting it all together
If you can’t tell, we are big advocates of separate speakers and subwoofers. It’s just the proper acoustical way to do it. We would take a pair of 10″ tops and 15″ powered subwoofers over a pair of 15″ PA speakers any day. They give more flexibility to split up equipment based on the event’s needs. They provide more transparent sound quality and more volume output. If you’re putting your speakers on top of the subs, we think subwoofer poles look better than tripods. Sure, it may cost a little more upfront, but there are many benefits to choosing a smaller speaker and subwoofer. You can always buy 1 to start and the next one when you’re ready, but we highly recommend at least having one subwoofer.
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