Eminence Speaker FAQ

For bass and pro audio enclosures the volume is very crucial, as bass and pro audio speakers are more cabinet dependent. It’s not as crucial for guitar speakers for the following reasons:

1. Guitar speakers have rather odd parameters (high resonant frequencies, high Q values, and low Vas)

2. Guitar tone is very subjective

3. Guitar speakers don’t have to play as low in frequency, and 4.) guitar speakers are used to create tone, rather than just reproduce sound. The wood type of the cab and the tonal characteristics of the speakers are much more important to focus on than the dimensions.

We generally recommend building to similar dimensions of a cab you have heard before and that you know sounds good. Also, keep in mind that a larger cabinet volume will promote more low end. A smaller cabinet won’t provide as much low end, but may sound tighter and punchier. Also worth noting, in choosing an open or closed back approach, decide if you want a more focused sound with enhanced bass response (closed back) or a more room-filling, and for lack of a better word, a more “open” sound (open back).

All of our crossovers are designed for use with 8-ohm high-frequency drivers and 8-ohm woofers. It is not recommended to use a different impedance. If you use a 4-ohm high-frequency driver with an 8-ohm crossover, the crossover point will double. If you use a 4-ohm woofer with an 8-ohm crossover, the crossover point will halve. The result of using 4-ohm components with a 2-way 8-ohm crossover will leave a hole in the response. If you use a 16-ohm high-frequency driver with an 8-ohm crossover, the crossover point will halve. If you use a 16-ohm woofer with an 8-ohm crossover, the crossover point will double. The result of using 16-ohm components with a 2-way 8-ohm crossover will be an excess of overlapping frequencies, and it could introduce abusive lower frequencies to the high-frequency driver.

Actually, we don't use a fuse, but rather a High Positive Current Coefficient Resistor (HPCCR). Unlike a fuse, as the HPCCR gets hotter and hotter its resistance goes up at a very fast non-linear rate. A fuse does not change its resistance very much until it reaches its burn out current. We use the HPCCR to compress the current level to the tweeter and high pass section of the crossovers to protect them. A standard fuse will not add this compression and you will likely experience tweeter failure.

Using the Wizard in an open-back cabinet is an "at your own risk" situation. For optimal performance, we recommend the Wizard for a closed-back cabinet. The Wizard is one of the most efficient, detailed guitar speakers we offer. These are good traits, but also reasons that make it more prone to accentuating non-musical nuances, known as “cone cry.” Cone cry is inherent in all guitar speakers that use lightweight, full paper cones. It is easily found with a noise signal generator and a test sweep on any model, but typically, it is not audible when playing guitar normally through the speaker. If cone cry does create a problem during normal playing, it is not necessarily a case of having the speaker in the wrong cabinet. We feel it could be a combination of things, like a bad pairing of speaker, amp, cabinet, and/or the guitar. Even playing style and pick attack can be culprits.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to predict where cone cry might occur, which makes recommending for or against specific applications impossible. We have found from testing various situations that an open back cabinet is a key contributor. For what it's worth, this has not been a big problem with this speaker. We have only seen a few isolated incidents since its release in 2005. We have heard from many people, including some manufacturers, who are using the Wizard in open back cabinets with good results.

You may need less power handling from your high-frequency driver than you might expect. High-frequency drivers will only see a small percentage of system power if a proper crossover network is used. The woofer section sees the brunt of the power in a system because lower frequencies are more abusive. A lower crossover point is more abusive on the high-frequency driver.

As a general rule of thumb, we estimate that the high-frequency driver will see about 20% of the system power with a 1.5kHz-2.5kHz crossover, 15% with a 3.5kHz-5kHz crossover, and 10% with a 5kHz and up crossover (all based on a minimum 12dB/octave slope). So, for a 400-watt system with a 1.6khz crossover, you may only need an 80-watt high-frequency driver. Plus, high-frequency drivers are typically much more efficient than woofers. You must attenuate the high-frequency driver to more closely match the output of the woofer. For every 3dB of output that is attenuated, the power is cut in half. If you attenuate the 80-watt high-frequency driver 6dB in the example above, you would only need a 20-watt high-frequency driver for the 400-watt system.

Eminence speakers are distributed through our dealer and distributor network. Please see our dealer locator to find a dealer.

We do not recommend the Kilomax18 for most \"traditional horn\" or scoop boxes because it has a very high moving mass (Mms), a long coil, and a high Qt. Most \"traditional horns\" such as \"W\" boxes require a driver with a super low Qt and a light Mms; the Omega Pro 18 is the best choice for older style horns, W-bins, and scoops. The Kilomax is more suited for reflex boxes or \"modern horns\" by which we mean ones that are designed per Leach\'s horn design equations. The cone is strong enough for traditional style horns, Leach style horns, Reflex designs, sealed designs, and bandpass enclosures. It is the motor of the Kilomax that is not well suited for traditional horns or scoops.

All Genuine Eminence loudspeakers (those speakers listed on this website) are supported by a 3-year warranty against any manufacturer's defect in the continental United States. All retail consumers should contact your Eminence supplier for warranty and service information. Eminence Speaker does not recone or repair speakers. We do offer recone kits for all Pro model Genuine Eminence Speakers (i.e, Kilomax Pro, Omega Pro, Sigma Pro, Kappa Pro, and Delta Pro). These kits come packaged 10 kits per box for 10", 12", and 15" models and 5 kits per box for 18"models. Please contact your local dealer or distributor to purchase.

For custom-manufactured speakers, availability of repair parts, recone kits, and warranty service is totally at the discretion of the OEM product manufacturer. Eminence does not offer warranty or repair service or recone parts except to the OEM manufacturer for which the specification was originally produced. Availability of repair parts, recone kits, and warranty service is totally at the discretion of the OEM product manufacturer. Eminence does not offer warranty or repair service or recone parts except to the OEM manufacturer for which the specification was originally produced. Eminence custom manufactures these products for these customers and will not infringe upon the rights of those customers to provide parts and service for their products.

Eminence recommends that you contact the manufacturer of the cabinet or amplifier in which the speaker is loaded for information on repair or replacement parts availability.

In the U.S., the companies listed below are also well known for carrying a wide range of loudspeaker replacement parts as well as reconing services and may be able to assist with your service needs. Eminence provides this list as a service to our customers, but does not guarantee that the companies listed offer original replacement parts or provide a specific level of service:

Advance Sound
1201 Hilton Rd.
Knoxville, TN 37921
865-558-5770
www.advancedsound.com

Audio Lab of Georgia
3611 Clearview Place
Doraville, GA 30340
770-455-0571

Bronx Electronics and Prosound Co.
3382A Boston Rd.
Bronx, NY 10469
718-515-9213

Central Florida Speaker Repair
714-716 W. Smith St.
Orlando, FL 32804
407-423-3566
www.centralfloridaspeakerrepair.com 

The Circuit Shop, Inc 
3716 - 28th Street SE
Kentwood, MI 49512
800-593-0869

Consolidated Audio Technology 
130 Cannonball Rd.
Pompton Lakes, NJ 07442
973-831-7500

Lil' Peanut Productions 
735 N. Lynhurst Dr
Ste B
Indianapolis, IN 46224
317-536-1819

Loudspeakers Plus 
450 S. Spruce st.
Unit G
Manteno, IL 60950
847-963-0725
www.loudspeakersplus.com

Simply Speakers LLC 
2826 23rd Ave N
St Petersburg, FL 33713
727-571-1245
www.simplyspeakers.com

Sound Check 
917 N. Irwin Ave.
Green Bay, WI 54302
920-435-2525

The Speaker Exchange 
8217 North Nebraska Ave.
Tampa, FL  33604
800-849-6972
813-237-4800
reconingspeakers.com/

Tri-State Loudspeaker 
650 Franklin Ave.
Aliquippa, PA 15001
724-375-9203

To assist our customers with box designs, we have also included recommended box designs for all of our PA, bass guitar, and acoustic guitar speakers. You will find these designs on each speaker's detail page. 

The LABHorn design has five points that you must consider when using them:

1. You cannot hear the driver distort when you push them too hard. So, most people do not know when to turn them down. They push them till they break. It takes a while to get used to the extra clean sound of this cabinet and learn how hard you can push it.

2. They were designed to be used in groups of 4 to 6 cabinets to get the desired SPL at very low frequencies (below 45 Hz). A lot of folks are running them as singles and trying to EQ the bottom end to get more low bass output. This pushes the drivers past their safe operating range very quickly. If you need a lot of very low bass, use more cabinets.

3. When one driver quits working, the other driver will fail as well because they both fire into a common high pressure cavity. The user needs to look on the drivers as a single more expensive driver. You always need to use two, so buy two.

4. Air leaks will kill the driver. The driver has a VERY loose suspension and requires that the small chamber behind it be absolutely air tight. Care must be taken to get that chamber sealed and keep it sealed. Before every show, check all the screws that keep the cover on as they may work loose and cause a leak.

5. You must use a high pass filter set to 35 Hz and that has a slope of at least 24dB per octave to realize the real potential of the design. Many people are using huge power on these cabinets day in and day out, but they are the ones who run steep high pass filters on them. 

If you don't see your speaker listed on our website, then it is one that we "custom-made". Until January 2000 when we debuted our own "Genuine Eminence" distribution line, Eminence Speaker only made custom designed speakers for companies who loaded them in cabinets or sold them as "raw" drivers. We don't assign model numbers to custom speakers. All of our OEM speakers are identified by their spec number. We attach a small label to either the side of the magnet or the inside one of the basket arms with our spec number and manufacturing/date code on it. The spec number will begin with the size of the speaker (i.e. for a 10" it would be 101123). The manufacturing/date code number is as follows: 

<table width="450" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>EIA# for ESC</td><td>Year</td><td>Week </td><td>Serial #</td><td>Metal Group</td></tr><tr><td>67</td><td>-01</td><td>12A</td><td>0217</td><td>G1</td></tr></table>

The "67" tells you that the speaker was built by Eminence, the "01" indicates that the speaker was built in 2001, and the "12" means it was built the 12th week of the year.

We attach a small label to either the side of the magnet or on the inside arm of the basket with our spec number and manufacturing/date code on it. The spec number will begin with the size of the speaker (i.e. for a 10" it would be 101123). The manufacturing/date code number is as follows:

<table width="450" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>EIA# for ESC</td><td>Year</td><td>Week </td><td>Serial #</td><td>Metal Group</td></tr><tr><td>67</td><td>-01</td><td>12A</td><td>0217</td><td>G1</td></tr></table>

The "67" tells you that the speaker was built by Eminence, the "01" indicates that the speaker was built in 2001, and the "12" means it was built the 12th week of the year.

Custom manufactured speakers are proprietary to the original equipment manufacturer. If you need T/S params or other information, please contact the manufacturer.

In the U.S., please use the "Dealer/OEM Access" link in the main menu to submit your request. Please note that you will need to supply a resale tax certificate or business license if your state doesn't provide resale certificates.

Outside of the U.S., please contact the distributor for your area to request information.  

Using the menu at the top of this page, please click on "Buy/Sell Our Products" to find a dealer or distributor near you.

Eminence Speaker does not sell seconds or close-outs. 

Yes, if you wanted an 8 ohm version. An "A" after a Genuine Eminence model number denotes an 8 ohm version of that speaker, "B" denotes a 16 ohm version, and "C" denotes 4 ohm.

We can't sell any speakers that were custom-made for another company except to that original company. You must contact them directly for replacements. Even if the company is no longer in business, we never stock any OEM speakers and do not have any available for sale. However, there might be a suitable replacement in our Genuine Eminence line. Just email us at <a href="mailto:info@eminence.com">info@eminence.com</a> with the spec number from the original speaker and we will be glad to cross-reference it.  

You will find the spec number on a small label attached to either the side of the magnet or the inside one of the basket arms with our spec number and manufacturing/date code on it. The spec number will begin with the size of the speaker (i.e. for a 10" it would be 101123).

When a speaker is labeled 8 ohms, it is actually a nominal reading. An ohm meter measures the resistance to direct current (DC), but music is alternating current (AC). A speaker's impedance to AC depends on frequency and the nominal rated impedance is sort of an average impedance over the usable frequency range of the speaker. You will find that a 8 ohm speaker will be between 5.1 and 8 ohms, 16 ohm speaker will be between 11 and 16 ohms, and a 4 ohm speaker will be between 2.1 and 4 ohms.  

Yes, you should match up your impedances. One reason is that you will get maximum transfer of power. The other reason is that you can sometimes approach unsafe and dangerous conditions. When in doubt, it is safer to go higher in impedance to help protect the amplifier. 

We label our terminals so that when a positive DC voltage is applied to the speaker's positive terminal, the cone will push out away from the magnet. Generally speaking, the positive terminal is usually on the left when the speaker is facing up. On our neodymium models, this is opposite. The positive terminal is marked in red on the right when the speaker is facing up.

It is also easy to identify the polarity of a speaker with a 1.5V battery by connecting the negative lead of the battery to one of the speaker terminals and the positive lead of the battery to the other speaker terminal and observing which way the speaker cone travels. If it moves out, then the positive speaker terminal is the one connected to the positive battery lead. If the cone moves in, the positive battery lead is connected to the speaker's negative terminal. 

It is important to match the speaker load with your amplifier's output impedance for a couple of reasons. One reason is that you will get maximum transfer of power. The other reason is that you can sometimes approach dangerous conditions for your amp if you have the incorrect load. When in doubt, it is safer to go higher in impedance to help protect the amplifier. The manner in which your speakers (in a multi-speaker system) are wired together determines the overall impedance.<table width="100%" id="wiring-diagram-table"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" valign="top"><strong>Wiring Configuration for 2 Speakers in Parallel </strong></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1243" style="margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px;" title="Wiring two speakers in parallel" src="http://www.eminence.com.php5-14.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/wiringparallel2.gif" alt="Wiring two speakers in parallel" width="162" height="60" />

Two 4 ohm speakers = 2 ohm load

Two 8 ohm speakers = 4 ohm load

Two 16 ohm speakers = 8 ohm load</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><strong>Wiring Configuration for 2 Speakers in Series</strong></td>

</tr><tr><td colspan="2"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1245" style="margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px;" title="Wiring two speakers in series" src="http://www.eminence.com.php5-14.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/wiringseries2.gif" alt="Wiring two speakers in series" width="178" height="56" />

Two 2 ohm speakers = 4 ohm load

Two 4 ohm speakers = 8 ohm load

Two 8 ohm speakers = 16 ohm load</td>

</tr><tr><td colspan="2"><strong>Wiring Configuration for 4 Speakers in Parallel </strong></td>

</tr><tr><td colspan="2"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1246" style="margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px;" title="Wiring four speakers in parallel" src="http://www.eminence.com.php5-14.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/wiringparallel4.gif" alt="Wiring four speakers in parallel" width="310" height="61" />

Four 8 ohm speakers = 2 ohm load

Four 16 ohm speakers = 4 ohm load

Four 32 ohm speakers = 8 ohm load</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" valign="top"><strong>Wiring Configuration for 4 Speakers in Series/Parallel </strong></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1248" style="margin-left: 30px; margin-right: 30px;" title="Wiring four speakers in series/parallel" src="http://www.eminence.com.php5-14.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/wiringseriesparallel4.gif" alt="Wiring four speakers in series/parallel" width="125" height="100" />Four 4 ohm speakers = 4 ohm load

Four 8 ohm speakers = 8 ohm load

Four 16 ohm speakers = 16 ohm load</td></tr></tbody></table>

The speaker is the last link in the tone chain and is often overlooked. The Eminence objective with the Patriot and Redcoat guitar speaker lines is to educate players on the merits of changing speakers to improve tone. It's also one of the easiest and most cost effective ways to tweak “your sound”. We are offering a wide array of guitar speakers, each one with its own flavor or unique tonal characteristics. We are confident that there is a guitar speaker within our Legend, Patriot, or Redcoat series that will compliment your amp, guitar, speaker enclosure, and playing style, and that it will ultimately improve your tone.

You want to compare each speaker's SPL rating (measured @ 1W/1m). This tells how loud the speakers will be. Eminence recommends that they be within 2 dB of one another. This will insure that one of the speakers is not significantly louder than the other. The power rating is really only good for determining the maximum continuous power that can be applied. 

Generally speaking, the power rating of the speaker does not determine the break-up mode. Break-up is most influenced by the cone. It commonly occurs quicker in thinner, lighter weight cones. However, higher power speakers often have heavier cones with slower break up, but not always. This is why we have a column on our <a href="../tone-guide/">Guitar Speaker Tonal Characteristics and Application Guide</a> for break-up modes. With that guide, you can compare how the speakers break-up in relationship to one another (slow, medium, fast).

Differences in size, shape, weight and the material of the dust cap significantly affect the top end. A small, conical type cap may give you a little more sizzle on top. A felt material may give you a smoother top end. We often use a Zurette or porous material that minimizes coloration of the tone.

Speaker break-in will vary from model to model. It can even vary between two of the same model. The degree to which a speaker has reached break-in is a very subjective topic. Some players like them right out of the box and others want to beat them to within an inch of their lives. Most players hopefully fall somewhere in-between. There really is no "magic" inherent in speaker break-in methods. The speaker will continue to break-in naturally throughout its lifespan, but the most noticeable amount will occur early on. Some of the most widely used techniques for break-in include: Playing music through the speaker at moderate volumes for a few days (some players even have specific songs they use), Using a Variac, Hanging the speaker with the cone facing downward to promote suspension sag, and Physically moving the cone up and down. We often use a noise signal generator at 20Hz with enough current to get the speaker moving smartly for a few hours, but without abusing it. Guitar speakers are generally not accustomed to very low frequencies and it is easy to harm them if you are not careful. The most highly recommended and safest way is several hours of higher volume playing.  

The British tone is synonymous with the likes of the Beatles, Cream, and Marshall amplifiers. We can credit Fender, Peavey, and St. Louis Music in working with Eminence, Oxford, CTS, Electrovoice, and JBL for our American tone. While you may find certain models in one series that have tonal relationships with models in another series, the difference is almost always apparent in a side-by-side comparison. This distinctiveness can most commonly be heard in the mid-range detail and break-up characteristics of each series. We’d all like to tell you that these differences are magical and were conscious design choices during the development of British and American tone. In reality, the difference in parts vendors and speaker construction methods likely played just as significant a role in the resultant tonality of both.

Each material, of course, has different magnetic properties and cost. Neodymium seems to be the wave of the future, especially with reduced weight and overall costs coming down. It produces the most magnetic flux per ounce, making it ideal for use in multiple speaker cabinets to maintain performance while reducing handling and shipping weight. Alnico is a composite of aluminum, nickel, and cobalt. It is the most rare and most expensive. Alnico is commonly thought to produce the most "Vintage" tone and has a reputation for sounding compressed. Ceramic is the cheapest and most common material. If you are comparing speakers that have the same magnetic flux, but generated from different magnet compositions, you probably won't notice a difference in tonality. Differences in tonality that are often attributed to the magnet material probably have more to do with the positioning of the magnet and resultant differences in magnetic flux within the motor structure. There in lies the mojo!  

Eminence uses 3 types of former material in our guitar speaker series: paper, Nomex and polyimide film. Each material lends a subtle, but noticeable and effective difference in overall warmth. Paper formers are the warmest and polyimide formers are the brightest. Each material will also result in a different level of power handling capability: polyimide handling the most, and paper handling the least.

Our Guitar Speaker Tonal Characteristics tab on each guitar speaker's product page recommends the best choice of enclosure for each speaker. It is a parameter-based recommendation considering the total Q or Qt of the speaker. If the Qt is above 0.7, we recommend open back. If the Qt is below 0.7, we recommend closed back. A speaker with a Qt relatively close to 0.7, can be recommend for both. There are a few cases with very efficient and lively speakers, where the wrong enclosure application, combined with certain amps, guitars and playing styles, can accentuate and or result in undesirable nuances in the speaker‚ more commonly known as cone cry. This is hard to control and can usually only be solved by changing the speaker or the enclosure.

There is a black, rubber boot on the magnet. Remove the boot and you will find a gray magnet label, on the magnet and adjacent to the terminal, with the model name/specification number on it.

Any model that is not already offered in a 16-ohm version as specified in the Eminence catalog and on the Eminence website can only be custom ordered by an enclosure manufacturer in minimum quantities of 50 pcs. If demand tends to dictate a 16-ohm version of any particular model, we will certainly consider stocking it for sale to our distributors and dealers.

If there are no Eminence branded markings on the speaker, then you likely have an OEM customer's proprietary design. Any specifications, warranty issues, or questions should be directed to the OEM company that sourced the product from Eminence. Here is a video to help you find the information on the speaker in order for us to help you:

http://www.youtube.com/v/yOx4JYHW3-w?hl=en_US&amp;version=3

The Legend GB12 is a speaker with distinctive British tonal characteristics that are often associated with Vox or Marshall products. It has many of the qualities of the Private Jack, but is much warmer and smoother, lending a little more bottom end. Private Jack has all of the same great qualities of other well-known vintage British speakers including thick mids, an extended top end, and the controlled break-up you would expect from a classic British speaker.

You may need less power handling from your high frequency driver than you might expect! High frequency drivers will only see a small percentage of system power, if a proper crossover network is used. The woofer section sees the brunt of the power in a system, because lower frequencies are more abusive. A lower crossover point is more abusive on the high frequency driver. As a general rule of thumb, we estimate that the high frequency driver will see about 20% of the system power with a 1.5kHz-2.5kHz crossover, 15% with a 3.5kHz-5kHz crossover, and 10% with a 5kHz and up crossover (all based on a minimum 12dB/octave slope). So, for a 400 watt system with a 1.6khz crossover, you may only need an 80 watt high frequency driver. Plus, high frequency drivers are typically much more efficient than woofers. You must attenuate the high frequency driver to more closely match the output of the woofer. For every 3dB of output that is attenuated, the power is cut in half. If you attenuate the 80 watt high frequency driver 6dB in the example above, you would only need a 20 watt high frequency driver for the 400 watt system.

Using the Wizard in an open back cabinet is an "at your own risk" situation. For optimal performance, we recommend the Wizard for a closed back cabinet. The Wizard is one of the most efficient, detailed guitar speakers we offer. These are good traits, but also reasons that make it more prone to accentuating non-musical nuances, known as ‚Äúcone cry.‚Äù Cone cry is inherent in all guitar speakers that use lightweight, full paper cones. It is easily found with a noise signal generator and a test sweep on any model, but typically, it is not audible when playing guitar normally through the speaker. 

If cone cry does create a problem during normal playing, it is not necessarily a case of having the speaker in the wrong cabinet. We feel it could be a combination of things, like a bad pairing of speaker, amp, cabinet and/or the guitar. Even playing style and pick attack can be culprits. Unfortunately, it is difficult to predict where cone cry might occur, which makes recommending for or against specific applications impossible. We have found from testing various situations that an open back cabinet is a key contributor. For what it's worth, this has not been a big problem with this speaker. We have only seen a few isolated incidents since its release in 2005. We have heard from many people, including some manufacturers, who are using the Wizard in open back cabinets with good results.

Actually we don't use a fuse, but rather a High Positive Current Coefficient Resistor (HPCCR). Unlike a fuse, as the HPCCR gets hotter and hotter its resistance goes up at a very fast non-linear rate. A fuse does not change its resistance very much until it reaches its burn out current. We use the HPCCR to compress the current level to the tweeter and high pass section of the crossovers to protect them. A standard fuse will not add this compression and you will likely experience tweeter failure.

All of our crossovers are designed for use with 8 ohm high frequency drivers and 8 ohm woofers. It is not recommended to use a different impedance. If you use a 4 ohm high frequency driver with an 8 ohm crossover, the crossover point will double. If you use a 4 ohm woofer with an 8 ohm crossover, the crossover point will halve. The result of using 4 ohm components with a 2-way 8 ohm crossover will leave a hole in the response.

If you use a 16 ohm high frequency driver with an 8 ohm crossover, the crossover point will halve. If you use a 16 ohm woofer with an 8 ohm crossover, the crossover point will double. The result of using 16 ohm components with a 2-way 8 ohm crossover will be an excess of overlapping frequencies, and it could introduce abusive lower frequencies to the high frequency driver.

For bass and pro audio enclosures the volume is very crucial, as bass and pro audio speakers are more cabinet dependent. It’s not as crucial for guitar speakers because 1.) guitar speakers have rather odd parameters (high resonant frequencies, high Q values, and low Vas), 2.) guitar tone is very subjective, 3.) guitar speakers don’t have to play as low in frequency, and 4.) guitar speakers are used to create tone, rather than just reproduce sound. The wood type of the cab and the tonal characteristics of the speakers are much more important to focus on than the dimensions. I generally recommend building to similar dimensions of a cab you have heard before and that you know sounds good. Also keep in mind that a larger cabinet volume will promote more low end. A smaller cabinet won’t provide as much low end, but may sound tighter and punchier.

Also worth noting, in choosing an open or closed back approach, decide if you want a more focused sound with enhanced bass response (closed back) or a more room filling, and for lack of a better word, a more ‚Äúopen‚Äù sound (open back).  

We don't necessarily have a 12" model related to or designed towards Ragin Cajun, but Screamin' Eagle has the most similar characteristics. Like Ragin Cajun, Screamin' Eagle has a well-balanced American tone with tight, well-defined lows, crisp mids, and articulate highs. It is also warm and full.

<img src="http://www.eminence.com/img/faq_cone.jpg" class="alignleft" style="margin-right:20px; margin-bottom:30px;" >It is normal to see some of the surround of the cone covering a portion of the mounting holes. The outer dimension of the cone must be larger than the inner dimension of the front sealing gasket. This ensures the surround of the cone has enough surface area for proper placement and adhesion to the frame. It is safe to punch your mounting bolt or screw through the material covering the mounting hole. Just be sure you do not harm the cone inside the inner dimension of the front sealing gasket.

Eminence Engineer's rule of thumb for Polyfill pillow stuffing for speaker boxes is:

• Minimal Fill is 1/4 lb per cubic ft of box volume. 
• Normal Fill is 1/2 lb per cubic ft of box volume. 
• Heavy Fill is 3/4 lb per cubic ft of box volume. 

Our engineers never go much more than Heavy or it just gets too dead sounding and it just does not sound good.

V(total) is the gross internal volume of the cabinet.  Height x Length x Depth (internal dimensions) =  Gross Volume of the enclosure.  

V(total) = Gross Volume of the enclosure.

“Vb” is the internal box volume. It is determined by taking V(total) (the Gross Volume of the enclosure) and subtracting anything that displaces volume within the enclosure such as recessed handles, speaker, port, and bracing or any other item displacing volume within the enclosure.

Vb = Net volume =  V(total) minus anything that displaced volume within the enclosure.

What is the proper way to connect speaker wire to binding posts?

Binding posts are one of most common ways of connecting speakers to amplifiers. Installation is simple in four easy steps. 

Click Here for Illustrated Instructions.

STEP 1: Take your speaker terminal and unscrew the caps covering the binding post until you see a small hole through its center. The caps are usually colored with red and black representing the polarity of the terminals respectively.

STEP 2: Twist the bare speaker wire to create a single strand.

STEP 3: Insert the wire into the exposed hole. 

STEP 4: Now tighten the cap to secure the wire in the post. Make sure it gets locked by the silver ring.

For best results, port placement should be symetrical.

Click here to see examples of port placement.

Please see this wiring diagram for correct L-Pad connection.