Review: Beyma 12LEX1300Nd

There’s no shortage of high-wattage drivers with flashy specs and boasted features. The question is: does the 12LEX1300Nd just look the part, or can it actually deliver?" Let´s have a look into a serious work machine.

This review is sponsored by ms-sound (www.ms-sound.cz), who kindly provided the speaker for testing. While sponsorships are very welcome, all technical results and measurements remain completely independent and unbiased.

Looks and build quality:

Sharing the design with its ferrite brother, I will reiterate the design description of this unit. The 12LEX1300Nd clearly positions itself as a high-end subwoofer performer. With its cast aluminum frame featuring distinctive X-shaped spokes, heavy cone treatment, large motor, and a 1300W power rating, it fits that category very well. The design feels mature and purpose-built, with a clear focus on professional performance in every aspect.

This time, with "upgraded" 4.0" in/out copper wound voice coil, stabilized by a 7" spider that is infused or soaked with layer of silicone even from the top side. Neck joint between the cone and spider is reinforced here somewhat more. Color-coded push terminals connect to in-spider woven tinsel leads. With 5,5" dustcap, helping to further optimize the straight cone integrity. It is clear upgrade over the ferrite brother.

Neo motor structure is built with very similar cooling strategy to the ferrite model, with just two less direct coil cooling vents, probably for more forced cool air exchange. As with the 12LEX1000Fe, here also Beyma advertises its Malt Cross® Technology Cooling System, cited from manufacturer´s webpage: "The Maltcross technology is a forced convection circuit inside the heart of the driver that helps to lower the working temperature of the coil and also acts like a demodulation ring, linearizing the inductance of the transducer." This neo model mentions addition of aluminium demodulating ring to its motor, for even better performance characteristics. You know a high-end PRO driver when you see it.

Driver specifications:

• Size: 12" type
• Power Handling: 1300W AES
• Impedance: 8 Ohm
• Frequency Range: 50-1500Hz
• Sensitivity: 96 dB (1W/1m)

T&S parameters set:

The measured parameters are a fair match for a lightly broken-in unit. Qes and Bl are slightly below the published specs, but not to a concerning degree. Keep in mind, the driver was measured following an undocumented torture session during high-power-to-reckless-level listening tests the previous day. The glues certainly were burning-in.

The Xmax value includes a “plus” suffix, as the driver performs admirably under overload conditions — maintaining control and composure beyond its rated excursion.

Performance evaluation and general rating:

The driver performed well within its specifications. In free air, it sounded strong and snappy; in the test enclosure, it played strong with little additional kick to it. As with most 12" PA drivers with aggressive cooling, the ratio of mechanical and airflow noise to output SPL can sometimes feel a bit on the poor side — despite design efforts to mitigate this. At full power, some distracting noises are audible, though still within the expected limits for a driver of this class. 12LEX1000Fe can be considered as a "quieter one".

This driver may not be the best choice for high-frequency motor-out use or loud hi-fi applications, but in our lab tests, the driver showed excellent behavior overall. If you're specifically looking for a capable 12" PA bass driver, this one is certainly worth considering.

• Buy if: You want an excellent 12" high-end bass driver for PA deployment.
• Skip if: You want to move lot of air by a single driver cone for little money.

The displacement-to-dollar score makes it clear: this is a driver built for specific applications. I’d hesitate to recommend it blindly for general-purpose or “just grab a woofer” scenarios.

*The following section is available to Bassometry members only.* (Free sample):

Large Signal Performance Results:

This section presents the driver’s behavior under high excursion and high power power conditions, highlighting performance aspects such as distortion, excursion limits and compression. Measurements are conducted using controlled lab procedures to reveal transducer behavior beyond small-signal specs.

For a full explanation of the test methodology, please refer to our Bassonomy section.

What does the score say? That it is one nicely engineered, sturdy driver, short of lab-grade ideal acoustical device. As it is one of the first drivers in the test, what say you? Is this score "hall of fame" worthy already?

Resonance frequency shift of 29.8% and Impedance shift at Xmax of 16.1% Indicate great balance of cone control, steered little on the efficiency side.

DC cone offset: In this case, negligible. Across the usability spectrum, it was firmly under 5% of Xmax (meaning 0,55 mm here, nearing the measurement error). And let me tell you what I found about speaker suspensions... In the large cone center position platteu, depending on the driver, it is not uncommon to push the cone by such distance, and the cone will just stay there. So, this result cannot be more ideal. Engineers at Beyma certainly had cone control in mind, and that care brought this very exceptional result.

15Hz - 50Hz at Xmax behavior: There was no unstable behavior during high power frequency sweeps, the driver was always under control. Power draw was well within expected limits, securing sustainable operation across the working frequency range at full tilt. The sturdy cone held under high frequency strain. Brief 75Hz push showed remarkable strength.

THD figures: While figures deep below the resonant frequency outside the usable band were falling into just "good" performance for true subwoofer work, the result for 50Hz "where bread and butter" is for the driver, the figure just breached "excellent" behavior at 50Hz.

Excursion behavior: This unit performed impressively under overload conditions. It comfortably handled a short-term overload of +3dB, and even tolerated an undocumented +4dB burst without any signs of distress - nasty audible artifacts, mechanical noise, or damage. Mechanically, the driver maintained distortion levels below 10% to up to 2dB boost over specified Xmax value.

SPL compression test:

Note that this test reflects an isolated low-frequency scenario. Once the driver is placed in a specific enclosure, the results can vary significantly. However, as a point of reference, this data set still holds substantial informational value and offers useful insight into the driver's raw performance characteristics..

It is not that easy to establish firm control over the cone, while not causing the suspension to eat up too much power from the supplied signal. Beyma did tremendous job in this department though, allowing this piece to operate with +2dB overload beyond Xmax before the output level rises slower than input, establishing this point as the limit of its "peak usability", while still maintaining superb control. At Xmax, suspension compression measured 0.79dB, increasing to 1.85dB at Xmax +3dB. These are excellent results that reflect strong performance and control.

Final words: "Yes, you want this." Totalling with 90,7% performance score, great overload behavior, this is an excellent behaving, well built, sturdy driver worthy of high end deployment. Listing prices for this unit are quite average, but if you manage to strike a deal of street/dealer price, you will be pleasantly surprised by the value of this one.