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 out. 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 talk about 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 really be cheated. To get lower notes and louder output, you need a physically larger speaker. Engineers can work all sorts of wizardry to make a 10″ speaker sound really full. At the end of the day, however, when you compare two equally manufactured speakers of different sizes the larger one will have the greater bass extension. Lower bass has a lower frequency, measured in hertz (Hz). Hz is the number of times per second a woofer moves in and out. 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 absolutely 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 simply sounds best when played through a system with adequate bass response. In most DJ’s heads, we equate bass with larger speakers. With that in mind, the equation larger speaker = best choice makes sense to us. Sure, subwoofers are an option, but those cost more money. Plus they’re so big and hard to move around. Aren’t 15″ tops the perfect compromise? In reality, 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 that there are two speaker drivers inside the cabinet, one high and one low. The highest frequencies are handled by the tweeter. The low frequencies are handled by the woofer. However, there’s one more component to sound apart from high and low and that’s mid-range. The mid-range is important. Like, really important. It’s where the majority of the sounds live that we as humans are familiar with. Vocals? Yep. Guitars? Yep. Wind instruments? You betcha.
In a 2-way speaker, those sweet, sweet midrange notes are also handled by the woofer. This means the woofer is doing double duty producing both 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 big, 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 at once. With a 15, you’re trying to get the portability of a PA speaker and the bass extension of a subwoofer in one package. Unfortunately, they don’t do either job too well. Before even discussing sound, we can touch on their portability. If you’re 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, a lot of 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 make sure 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 all the way 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 really aren’t gaining a whole lot by moving from a 12″ speaker to a 15″. I looked at the specs of a handful of very common 12″ and 15″ speaker models from a variety of manufacturers. Do you know what the average increase in bass extension was between 12″ and 15″? 4 hertz. In case you didn’t know, that’s practically nothing. Plus, most of the time you were moving from a low-frequency extension of 50 or so Hz to 47. The lowest note 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 smaller tops combined with subwoofers. The benefits of going this route are many. First off, you can purchase smaller PA speakers. If you’re delegating bass to the subwoofer, you don’t need a 15″ speaker (and probably not even a 12″ speaker). Paired with a subwoofer, an 8″ or 10″ speaker is going to do an amazing job of reproducing the highs and mids of your music. Now, if you’re doing a smaller event or one that doesn’t need a lot of low end, you’ve greatly reduced the size of your load in. 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 larger event you can bring the subs and get the job done right.
Most importantly, your sound is going to be much clearer and louder. With the PA speaker no longer having to worry about handling the low notes, it can run more efficiently. Bass notes eat up an amplifier’s power. With the bass gone, all of that sweet juice goes straight to the mids and highs. The same is true for the subwoofer – all of its power will be focused on giving you the heart-pounding low notes that us DJs crave.
There’s another benefit of having separate top speakers and subwoofers – coupling. Low frequencies are reinforced and become louder when they are produced close to a boundary, like a wall or a floor. This is because low notes travel omnidirectional 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 a lot of its potential sound energy. With a separate subwoofer on the floor, the low notes are reinforced, 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 clearer sound quality and more volume output. If you’re putting your speakers on top of the subs, I even think that subwoofer poles look better than tripods. Sure, it may cost a little more upfront, but the benefits of choosing a smaller speaker and subwoofer are many. You can always buy 1 to start and the next one when you’re ready, but we highly recommend at least having 1 subwoofer.
Thank you so much for stopping by The DJs Guru Blog today and visiting our site. If you’re interested in coaching or buying advice check out our coaching page or contact us directly. We’re always here to help and answer your questions to help you learn, grow and succeed. Please comment below and let us know what you think of today’s article, any other opinions out there we’d love to hear them! See you on the flip side!
