JBL 2235h vs. JBL E-145

[Dr.db]

Hey volks,


I finally got to compare these bassdrivers and want to chare my impressions with you.

Setup:
High+Mid => 2405 + 2440 joined with 2390 driven by a small Toshiba transistor. Passive Crossover with Mundorf-parts.
Low => 2235h vs. E-145 in 5 cubic feet plywood-enclosure, 2235h tuned to 30hz, E-145 tuned to 40hz. Both driven by a Pioneer(~1980) amp with 120w rms @8ohms. Crossover was a simple coil, nothing fancy....
Room => 30m² with carpet, heavy curtains and lots of furniture.... Though I wouldn`t call it overdamped!
Speaker`s and sitting position where placed about ~1meter off the walls.

We have listened to many different genre`s;
classic rock , Dire Straights , ZZ Top
80`s & 90`s Pop , Elton John , Simply Red , Yello
Electro , Malente
Techno , Moonbotica, Trentemoeller
Hip Hop , Afroman
Drums , Charly Antolini

These two drivers perform in a different manner, everybody expected this....
BUT, I expected both have equaliy many pro`s and contra`s. I have to say, the E-145 won in nearly every aspect!
It sounded way more musicaly to our ears. It just apeared to make everything right. Every single instrument sounded as real as it could be. Audio-stage was well lined up, it never sounded blurred!
The 2235h sounded kind of bored. Music just passed by, but it was nothing "special". Not as dynamic as the E-145. By far! However it offered a sovereign presentation. Even midrange sounded nice to my ears, which really impressed me when taking the heavy cone in consideration. 2235h just sounded like a good hifi-speaker. Never got annoying and sounded just flawless.
Nothing was really wrong, but nothing was perfect too.

Talking bass....
Of course, the 2235h gives a little more of that. But it isn`t a big number, really. The E-145`s bass sounds very well staggered, where as the 2235h struggles to distinguish the different bass notes. Get the wrong track and the 2235h tends to sound boomy. It isn`t really boomy, but when it is directly compared to the E-145.... which just plays more precise... I think you got me
I have to admit, the 2235h has more grunt in the very low section. That´s a fact! But we had very very few tracks where we could locate a big loss on the E-145.
With 95% of our music, we did not miss anything with the E-145.
But we got plenty of directivity and a very harmonious reproduction of music.


I hope this helps you guys

[Mostlydiy]

Great, thank you for charing your experience. I guess there is a reason JBL used the E145/150 in their Everest DD55000 back in the days. It would be interesting to compare it to the newer 1500Al/Fe woofers.

/Mostly

[Ian Mackenzie]

Depending on woofer placement and crossover point you might try change the 2235 tuning to28 hz or as high as 34-35 hz. The presentation will be quite different

[Ian Mackenzie]

In another forum someone compared a modern low distortion woofer to am Altec XXX woofer.

The Altec woofer as preferred because it "sounded" more musical?

The simple fact is some 2nd harmonic distortion kind of fills in the blanks in some situations.

This is the peril of accuracy.

Used correctly both the2235 and the E145 do a good job, ie2235 for sub E145 mid bass

[jerv]

Well - the E145 actually have more bass then the 2235, given a box that is big enough. Put the E145 in 275 liters (9 - 10 cu.ft) at tune it to 30 Hz, and you will have more bass level all the way down to 20 Hz compared to the 2235 in 5 cu.ft. And the 2235 does not benefit from a bigger box in the same way as the E145.

Both drivers are (in practice) not xmax-limited in normal alignements, and the E145 has about 3dB more bass output for the same input due to its higher sensitivity. Plus an underhung voice-coil with excellent linearity.

No wonder JBL used this in the Everest DD55000.

[ivica]

Hey volks, I finally got to compare these bassdrivers and want to chare my impressions with you. Setup: High+Mid => 2405 + 2440 joined with 2390 driven by a small Toshiba transistor. Passive Crossover with Mundorf-parts. Low => 2235h vs. E-145 in 5 cubic feet plywood-enclosure, 2235h tuned to 30hz, E-145 tuned to 40hz. Both driven by a Pioneer(~1980) amp with 120w rms @8ohms. Crossover was a simple coil, nothing fancy.... Room => 30m² with carpet, heavy curtains and lots of furniture.... Though I wouldn`t call it overdamped! Speaker`s and sitting position where placed about ~1meter off the walls. ........................

Hi Dr.db,

Interesting experience and explanation,
Looking at the simulations quite different "results" would be expected.
Here "expectable" behaviors of 2235H and E145-8 in the 5cf box, tuned to 30Hz and 40Hz (as explained).
Here 2.5mH and 40uF low-pass filter applied, and 10Veff voltage source.

Regards Ivica

[Dr.db]

@ Ian Mackenzie:
We should have tried different ports, that is true.
It`s a shame we didn`t, but somehow time ran out.... But this could have changed a lot, I assume.
And of course, more upper bass subjectivly tends to sound more precise too i guess...

@ jerv:
The final enclosure for the E-145 we are going to build will be aprox. 6,5cubic feet, this should add about 1-2db output below 50hz...


@ ivica:
I wouldn`t say your simulation differs a lot from what happened in our listening-room.
The E-145 was proportional louder in the mid bass. But it didn`t seem like 6-7db as your simulation tells us... e.g. the low bass wasn`t that much quiter...
But the tendency is correct!
E-145 is louder in the upper bass, but almost plays as low as the 2235h. Just a bit quiter in the lows...

[Dr.db]

I have a silly question; how could I reduce sensitiviy of the E-145 between about 100-400hz for about 4-5db to flatten the response without using an equalizer ?

Sensitivity between about 400-800hz should be left untouched....

[grumpy]

have a look at the original Everest network...

[more10]

Thanks for sharing!

[grumpy]

"Thanks for sharing?" I will assume that wasn't intentionally rude sarcasm.

http://www.lansingheritage.org/image...est/page10.jpg

[ratitifb]

[Dr.db]

Thanks grumpy and ratitifb for the crossover-data


I think more10`s "Thanks for sharing" was meant to be heard by me, for sharing my experience with the driver-comparison....

[grumpy]

I think more10`s "Thanks for sharing" was meant to be heard by me, for sharing my experience with the driver-comparison....

I'm sure you are right. Was difficult to discern without context.
hope the Everest info is useful.

[Dr.db]

Yes, it is