Which Faital Pro 12"?

[chyc]

I've got the plans for a BFM Jack 12. The plans recommend a premium driver of the Eminence Kappalite 3012HO, but for two reasons I would like to go with Faital:

 

1. Eminence is American. Nothing against American products, but I would prefer to support European if possible
2. Faital looks to me a smidgen cheaper for similar performance.

 

However there are a number of speakers available. Some are outside the recommended T/S parameters such as the 12FH500, but there are two main ones which fit, the 12PR300 and the 12PR320. Looking at these side-by-side on paper it looks like the 320 has lower extension, and the 300 is more sensitive and perhaps gives a little more in the upper register. I've never done this sort of thing before. So, with that in mind:

 

1. For those who know more about cabinet building, which would be the more appropriate for the horn loaded cabinet? I'm not an aggressive player and the loudest I expect to get will be for light rock and country. I'll be building the box with tweeters, which are crossed over at 2k.
2. What kind of player would choose the 12PR300 and which kind of person would choose the 12PR320?
3. The 12FH500 fits all parameters except the Qts, where it is too small (.3>.25). What does this mean in real-world terms? How bad would fitting this speaker into a cabinet designed for the larger Qts?
4. Am I nuts for swapping the 3012HO for a Faital 12PR320? I asked on BFM's forum and BFM himself said that the Faital won't be so good in the mids. I personally thought the SPL of the 3012HO looked a bit like a ski slope above 1k which wouldn't be a good thing for a speaker! The good/bad thing about opinions is that everybody has one, so what do other people think about comparing the 3012HO to the 12PR3_0?
5. With my first criterion above (and a slight preference for the second), is there another speaker manufacturer I should be looking at? Beyma? Anything British made?

 

Any help appreciated. Yes this is ultimately for helping me build a BFM cabinet, but a large part is for my general education

[nekomatic]

I’m on holiday without access to speaker modelling capability, but if you have the volume of the cab and the port dimensions then I’m sure @Phil Starr could do some calculations for you. 

[Bunion]

Sounds like your looking for something like the Greenboy fearless f112 which is a 900 watt frfr cab.

apart from the neodymium Eminence Kappalite LF it also has a 5" FaitalPro driver and a B&C horn with a Faital Pro 1" compression driver bolted on

the crossover is important for the gaps in frequencies.

One of the cleanest cabs I’ve played through but handles a B string like a boss 

 

[chyc]

Well for my part I did some digging and found this thread which seems to discuss differences in the 12PR300 and 12PR320. If big names such as Vanderklay and Bergantino are using the 12PR300 then I don't think I'd be disappointed with that, even if the thread seems to lean toward the 12PR320 as more bang for buck.

 

Not sure I'd like to go for a GB Fearless, what with me already parting with money for the plans for the BFM cab, coupled with the fact it uses the Eminence woofer.

[Bunion]

Apologies, I wasn’t suggesting you went with the fearless or the eminence 12” I was linking the specs more for the mid and horn.

it just sounded like you were building a similar cab 😄

[Phil Starr]

3 hours ago, nekomatic said:

I’m on holiday without access to speaker modelling capability, but if you have the volume of the cab and the port dimensions then I’m sure @Phil Starr could do some calculations for you. 

The Jack is an unusual design and has been optimised to work with specific speakers. To be honest I'd expect Bill's advice to be the best advice you can get if you want to build one of his designs.

[fleabag]

If you have bought the Jack 12 plans, then build the cab with the recommended drivers.  There's little point in going off piste.

Bill knows what he's doing. 

[chyc]

Again, I'm posting stuff as I find it, and thank you all of you who have helped me here.

 

Re the "ski slope" mids on the 3012, apparently that is a deliberate design choice and is quite musical and practical. I read on a thread at The Other Place that the boosting in the high mids is so that you get a better off-axis response. How true that is wasn't confirmed, and as I say, it was on The Other Site.

[nekomatic]

On 21/08/2022 at 00:33, Phil Starr said:

The Jack is an unusual design and has been optimised to work with specific speakers. To be honest I'd expect Bill's advice to be the best advice you can get if you want to build one of his designs.

Ah, I didn’t look up the design. Apologies for rashly volunteering you!

[GlamBass74]

I trawled around for suitable alternatives, but none had the rising response in the mid range that the plans called for. 

[Passinwind]

On 20/08/2022 at 11:09, chyc said:

Not sure I'd like to go for a GB Fearless, what with me already parting with money for the plans for the BFM cab, coupled with the fact it uses the Eminence woofer.

Plans are not not available to DIY builders anyway, so it's pretty much moot what drivers it uses. 😉