I was just wondering what the differences are between different sub sizes, 10", 12" 15" 18" What do all the sizes have in common, and what is different. What makes one size better than the other.
Is a 400W 18" sub better than an 800W 10" sub? (just examples)
Just something I would like to know about.
Replies (2)
asplundher on 05/14/2005 07:19:50
The main difference is the amount of displacement. The more air you move, the more bass it will net. So in general the larger subs tend to give louder bass at lower frequencies. Yet this can also present a problem for they also tend to require a lot more airspace to perform in. Running larger woofers in a small vehicle can also make the bass overbearing and hard to tame.
Say you have a relatively small car with smaller speakers (3.5" - 5.25") in the stock locations. These sizes normally don't produce much midbass. Then, blending in a larger sub (12" and up) with the smaller mid to high speakers may become somewhat of a problem. A large gap in frequency response can likely occur where the subs and mids meet for the larger subs are pumping lower frequencies louder than what the mids can blend in with.
So larger is not always better regardless of power. That is not to say that smaller subs (8" -10") can't perform well. It's all matter of being able to blend in with your highs in order to get a natural and balanced response.
As for the wattage difference issue, that too can net the same results if the mids don't exhibit enough midbass to keep up with a very high power sub. A good sub design would be one the efficient in size and power to match the total system.
So I would say it goes as far as what the rest of the system consists of to determine what size subs and how much power is better.
swez on 05/14/2005 10:38:54
Very good point Ash! It's about blending and knowing the general limits of the sound environment we are dealing with.
Unfortunately, we often do not have access to an RTA, pink noise generator and a calibration mike. These tools are great for finding peaks and dips in the installs for high SQ/SQL minded.
Also, lack of adequate baffling for small format drivers can really cost us mids and midbass performance. After some experiemntation, have learned that one can get very nice MB preformance from 4.0 - 5.25" drivers. Unfortunately, an enclosure was needed to get that performance. Doors and dash installs are not well suited to optimization of MB/MR as they are infinite baffles. No air spring resistance to control the coil and improper airspace containment to give robust MB performance either.
One solution is to sound dampen the doors/dash well and seal our leaks as best we can. For additional MB enhancement, the rear deck speakers should be enclosed as well. This really helps a great deal and also serves to block heavy bass wave energy from the subs in trunk mounted locations.
Finally, having adequate ACTIVE EQ at our fingertips can easily compensate for natural peaks and valleys we find in most car audio installs. Parametric EQ or 7-10 band units can do wonders if we take out time and find the hot spots and dips.
Hope this whets a few appetites to dig deeper,
Swez
Is a 400W 18" sub better than an 800W 10" sub? (just examples)
Just something I would like to know about.
Replies (2)
asplundher on 05/14/2005 07:19:50
The main difference is the amount of displacement. The more air you move, the more bass it will net. So in general the larger subs tend to give louder bass at lower frequencies. Yet this can also present a problem for they also tend to require a lot more airspace to perform in. Running larger woofers in a small vehicle can also make the bass overbearing and hard to tame.
Say you have a relatively small car with smaller speakers (3.5" - 5.25") in the stock locations. These sizes normally don't produce much midbass. Then, blending in a larger sub (12" and up) with the smaller mid to high speakers may become somewhat of a problem. A large gap in frequency response can likely occur where the subs and mids meet for the larger subs are pumping lower frequencies louder than what the mids can blend in with.
So larger is not always better regardless of power. That is not to say that smaller subs (8" -10") can't perform well. It's all matter of being able to blend in with your highs in order to get a natural and balanced response.
As for the wattage difference issue, that too can net the same results if the mids don't exhibit enough midbass to keep up with a very high power sub. A good sub design would be one the efficient in size and power to match the total system.
So I would say it goes as far as what the rest of the system consists of to determine what size subs and how much power is better.
swez on 05/14/2005 10:38:54
Very good point Ash! It's about blending and knowing the general limits of the sound environment we are dealing with.
Unfortunately, we often do not have access to an RTA, pink noise generator and a calibration mike. These tools are great for finding peaks and dips in the installs for high SQ/SQL minded.
Also, lack of adequate baffling for small format drivers can really cost us mids and midbass performance. After some experiemntation, have learned that one can get very nice MB preformance from 4.0 - 5.25" drivers. Unfortunately, an enclosure was needed to get that performance. Doors and dash installs are not well suited to optimization of MB/MR as they are infinite baffles. No air spring resistance to control the coil and improper airspace containment to give robust MB performance either.
One solution is to sound dampen the doors/dash well and seal our leaks as best we can. For additional MB enhancement, the rear deck speakers should be enclosed as well. This really helps a great deal and also serves to block heavy bass wave energy from the subs in trunk mounted locations.
Finally, having adequate ACTIVE EQ at our fingertips can easily compensate for natural peaks and valleys we find in most car audio installs. Parametric EQ or 7-10 band units can do wonders if we take out time and find the hot spots and dips.
Hope this whets a few appetites to dig deeper,
Swez
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