B&C PBZ 40 15" for open-baffle midbass use?

[thadman 10+ year member]

Im looking for the lowest distortion midbass in an open baffle enclosure

Ive found a great deal on a pair of B&C PBZ 40 15" drivers and was wondering if they'd perform with low distortion (similar to Dayton Reference series) from 50-300 or so hz on a 24" baffle. The 8NDL51 (sp?) seems to be pretty highly regarded amongst this forum. Im crossing them off to an Ava 18" in a sonotube 18 on the low-end and a pair of Seas Excel W18Es on the topend.

Here are the thiele small parameters for the driver. Its got an 8mm xmax (pretty high for a PA driver), Qts .29 (I realize Ill have to do some equalization), Fs of 39hz, 97dB sensitivity, and a 2.4mH inductance (is this too high?)

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[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Have you gone to DIYAudio and asked this question? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I'd be more concerned about the Excel W18's on top...as they have a nasty breakup node when run too high, you're better off with planars (BG Neo 8's come to mind) in an OB like this.

 

[thadman 10+ year member]

Yes, the question is on multiple forums (diyma, diyaudio, and here)

The W18E will be crossed off around 1.5khz, so I wont have the opportunity to excite that nasty third harmonic

I dont think the BG Neo8 would transition very well to a PA 15" like this (400-600hz xover). Am I wrong? I'd love to use a pair, but I dont think they'd handle the low xover very well.

The Fs and Qts looks a little low and the inductance seems pretty high, but theyve got double the xmax of most PA drivers and crazy sensitivity. I've also found a pretty good deal on them. Will these play with authority and low distortion in their intended passband as midbass drivers?