Someone Make a FAQ And Make It A Sticky
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All Show No Go Sedan
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Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,143
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From: Clifton, VA, Virginia, US
Rep Power: 317 
Someone Make a FAQ And Make It A Sticky
I'm no expert by any means, but it really irritates me when people say that a capacitor can do all these things that it can't. All it can do is stop your headlights from dimming if you're drawing too much power from ur car. It will do nothing to make your system sound better. I know a lot of people who go into car audio are newbies, so a FAQ could help them out. I'll even start it a little bit.
IS "X" Brand Good?
People have different opinions about products, it just depends on who you ask.
General Rule of thumb is "You get what you pay for" Most good amplifiers will cost you. There are acceptions though such as the JBL BP Power Series, although it comes with no subsonic filter.
Some brands most people would tell you never to buy are a lot of the ones on ebay such as: Pyramid, Legacy, American Pro, Road Gear, etc. These 1400 watt amps that cost $100 only put out about 1/4 of their claimed power.
Is This amp too much/too little for my subs?
More power than the subs is rated is actually better, because you have more headroom for distortion. Less power than the subs are rated as fine too (to a degree, don't give a 2000 watt sub only 100 watts). The only thing to remember is to not distort the signal. Distortion is what kills subs.
What's the Difference Between Sealed, Ported, Bandpass?
Bandpass- Subs are actually enclosed into the box behind a sheet of plexiglass, and had ports. Advantage: Loudest, Disadvantage: SQ is worst out of all 3, takes up a lot of space
Sealed- subs are mounted on the box with no ports. Advantage- SQ is best of all, box can be small, Disadvantage- Not as loud as the other 2
Ported- Basically a sealed enclosure but it has ports on it. It is basically in the middle of sealed and bandpass. Good SQ as well as gets loud.
If properly tuned though, any of these boxes can sound good. Just general rule.
Why buy from a car audio shop rather than ebay or an internet store?
If you buy from a car audio shop, it will probably cost more for the same product, but you will have a place to go directly to if you have any problems, and you can probably just exchange it for a new one. You can also test out the product there before you buy.
If you buy from Ebay or an online store, you don't get to test the product. It is much cheaper though compared to a store. If you need warranty service it might be a hassle with someone on ebay considering you don't have a receipt. You will most likely have to send it in, spend money for shipping both ways, and wait months to get it back.
Oh yea, Another General Rule For Car Audio: Performance is 90 % install, and 10% equipment. A good install can make anything sound good.
That's enough for now. I have work to do, its 4:20 in the morning
IS "X" Brand Good?
People have different opinions about products, it just depends on who you ask.
General Rule of thumb is "You get what you pay for" Most good amplifiers will cost you. There are acceptions though such as the JBL BP Power Series, although it comes with no subsonic filter.
Some brands most people would tell you never to buy are a lot of the ones on ebay such as: Pyramid, Legacy, American Pro, Road Gear, etc. These 1400 watt amps that cost $100 only put out about 1/4 of their claimed power.
Is This amp too much/too little for my subs?
More power than the subs is rated is actually better, because you have more headroom for distortion. Less power than the subs are rated as fine too (to a degree, don't give a 2000 watt sub only 100 watts). The only thing to remember is to not distort the signal. Distortion is what kills subs.
What's the Difference Between Sealed, Ported, Bandpass?
Bandpass- Subs are actually enclosed into the box behind a sheet of plexiglass, and had ports. Advantage: Loudest, Disadvantage: SQ is worst out of all 3, takes up a lot of space
Sealed- subs are mounted on the box with no ports. Advantage- SQ is best of all, box can be small, Disadvantage- Not as loud as the other 2
Ported- Basically a sealed enclosure but it has ports on it. It is basically in the middle of sealed and bandpass. Good SQ as well as gets loud.
If properly tuned though, any of these boxes can sound good. Just general rule.
Why buy from a car audio shop rather than ebay or an internet store?
If you buy from a car audio shop, it will probably cost more for the same product, but you will have a place to go directly to if you have any problems, and you can probably just exchange it for a new one. You can also test out the product there before you buy.
If you buy from Ebay or an online store, you don't get to test the product. It is much cheaper though compared to a store. If you need warranty service it might be a hassle with someone on ebay considering you don't have a receipt. You will most likely have to send it in, spend money for shipping both ways, and wait months to get it back.
Oh yea, Another General Rule For Car Audio: Performance is 90 % install, and 10% equipment. A good install can make anything sound good.
That's enough for now. I have work to do, its 4:20 in the morning
Last edited by Aznnp77; Apr 5, 2003 at 11:07 AM.
Registered!!
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From: bay area, california
Rep Power: 338 i will take part of the load off you by doing some of it, you can clean up after me.
shop versus internet? i couldnt agree with you more! i think there are far too many people buying online then having us install it. its irritating, at the least. they then blame us when it sounds like **** becuase they didnt do good equipment matching.
Brand X. if something sounds good, it sounds good, no matter if its american pro, pyramid, zapco, or rockford fosgate. if it sounds good it sounds good, no matter if it was $100, $1000, $10,000, silk, metal, paper, carbon fiber, kevlar, plastic, made ofmr goat hair, assembled in germany or by an 8 year old in taiwan. there is no relationship.
power to subwoofers: ratings are company fabrications. some are too high, some are too low, and some are dead on. what a subwoofer really needs fomr power output is tested in the real world, and isnt even measured in wattage, as the same power rule applies to amplifiers. again, its called equipment matching, and is known through experience. if you want examples, ill throw in teh shiva, that is rated for like 675 rms but reaistically wants 300 rms, and the DD w6, which is rated for 90 rms, but reaisically loves 250 rms or more. again, its amplifier and tuning and install dependant, but the fact is, it can go both ways. numbers lie. its why you should never buy based on numbers
shop versus internet? i couldnt agree with you more! i think there are far too many people buying online then having us install it. its irritating, at the least. they then blame us when it sounds like **** becuase they didnt do good equipment matching.
Brand X. if something sounds good, it sounds good, no matter if its american pro, pyramid, zapco, or rockford fosgate. if it sounds good it sounds good, no matter if it was $100, $1000, $10,000, silk, metal, paper, carbon fiber, kevlar, plastic, made ofmr goat hair, assembled in germany or by an 8 year old in taiwan. there is no relationship.
power to subwoofers: ratings are company fabrications. some are too high, some are too low, and some are dead on. what a subwoofer really needs fomr power output is tested in the real world, and isnt even measured in wattage, as the same power rule applies to amplifiers. again, its called equipment matching, and is known through experience. if you want examples, ill throw in teh shiva, that is rated for like 675 rms but reaistically wants 300 rms, and the DD w6, which is rated for 90 rms, but reaisically loves 250 rms or more. again, its amplifier and tuning and install dependant, but the fact is, it can go both ways. numbers lie. its why you should never buy based on numbers
i boogie for the raindrops
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 4,497
Likes: 1
From: Jackson, Mississippi
Rep Power: 0 What's the Difference Between Sealed, Ported, Bandpass?
Bandpass- Box is designed to naturally crossover subs to only play specific frequencies. Used lotsa times in situations where youre runing 15's and 10's. Also used by some large manufacturers to give the "cool, it has plexiglas" look. In those cases it is quite good at squeezing volume out of subs while leaving nothing pleasurable to the ear. .
Advantages...
Cone motion is controlled more and therefore mechanical power handling is increased.
Cones are physically protected from contents of trunk flying around.
Output is easily channeled directly into the interior of sedans.
Disadvantages...
Difficult to build (not recommended for newbies), and very sensitive to misalignment due to calculation or construction errors.
the way they're built lotsa times hides any distortion that occurs as a result of amplifier clipping or overexcursion and so will give you no warning that the driver is over-stressed and about to fail.
Need substantial mid-bass reinforcement to make up for narrow bandwidths in efficient alignments.
Transient response is largely dependent upon the alignment chosen....wider bandwidths will result in sloppier performance, narrower bandwidths (and thus higher effiencies) result in better transient performance.
They can oft times be quite large.
Sealed- subs are mounted on the box with no ports.
Advantages...
Small enclosure volumes
Shallow (12 dB/Octave) roll off on low end
Excellent power handling at extremely low frequencies
Excellent transient response/ group delay characteristics
Easy to build and design
Forgiving of design and construction errors
Disadvantages...
Not particularly efficient
Marginal power handling in upper bass frequencies
Increased distortion in upper bass over ported design
When using high power and small box, magnet structure is not in an ideal cooling environment
Ported- Basically a sealed enclosure but it has ports on it, be they round, square, slotted, curvy, etc. . If tuned low, low end extension will be greater than a sealed box, if tuned high, can be extremely loud but useless for playing music.
Advantages...
3-4 dB more efficient overall than sealed design
Handles upper bass frequencies better with less distortion
Magnet is in good cooling environment
When properly designed, a ported box will slaughter a sealed in terms of low frequency extension
Disadvantages...
Size (not so critical outside the mobile environment)
More difficult to design/ can result in boomy, nasty sounding bass if misaligned
Aperiodic - go here - http://www.elitecaraudio.com/home/ht...le.php?sid=105
Infinite baffle - sub is mounted between two separate areas, such as on the rear deck where the trunk and cabin meet
Advantages...
No box necessary!
This means it's usually cheaper to design and implement in your system
Disadvantages...
Requires that a good seal be obtained between front and rear of driver. In a car, this can be quite difficult and may require the installer to remove trim panels to plug any holes that would let energy "bleed through".
The responsibility for damping cone motion rests solely on the driver's suspension. As fatigue sets in, this becomes a critical issue in infinite baffle set-ups.
Less efficient in the sub-bass region than above mentioned enclosures.
Potentially more expensive drivers than good boxable woofer - The suspension must be extremely hearty and long-lasting to withstand high power applications.
Isobaric - take any of the above, mount a second subwoofer on it the opposite way, kinda like a clamshell, switch the polarity on the outer speaker (switch + and -)then take the enclosure size for the original, cut it in half, double the power (since double the drivers) and done!
advantages : 1/2 the airspace needed
disadvantages: gotta use twice the amount of drivers and twice the amount of power to get the same effect as the original
dual chamber vented - gotta go get some info on it.
and you wondered why you were off
Bandpass- Box is designed to naturally crossover subs to only play specific frequencies. Used lotsa times in situations where youre runing 15's and 10's. Also used by some large manufacturers to give the "cool, it has plexiglas" look. In those cases it is quite good at squeezing volume out of subs while leaving nothing pleasurable to the ear. .
Advantages...
Cone motion is controlled more and therefore mechanical power handling is increased.
Cones are physically protected from contents of trunk flying around.
Output is easily channeled directly into the interior of sedans.
Disadvantages...
Difficult to build (not recommended for newbies), and very sensitive to misalignment due to calculation or construction errors.
the way they're built lotsa times hides any distortion that occurs as a result of amplifier clipping or overexcursion and so will give you no warning that the driver is over-stressed and about to fail.
Need substantial mid-bass reinforcement to make up for narrow bandwidths in efficient alignments.
Transient response is largely dependent upon the alignment chosen....wider bandwidths will result in sloppier performance, narrower bandwidths (and thus higher effiencies) result in better transient performance.
They can oft times be quite large.
Sealed- subs are mounted on the box with no ports.
Advantages...
Small enclosure volumes
Shallow (12 dB/Octave) roll off on low end
Excellent power handling at extremely low frequencies
Excellent transient response/ group delay characteristics
Easy to build and design
Forgiving of design and construction errors
Disadvantages...
Not particularly efficient
Marginal power handling in upper bass frequencies
Increased distortion in upper bass over ported design
When using high power and small box, magnet structure is not in an ideal cooling environment
Ported- Basically a sealed enclosure but it has ports on it, be they round, square, slotted, curvy, etc. . If tuned low, low end extension will be greater than a sealed box, if tuned high, can be extremely loud but useless for playing music.
Advantages...
3-4 dB more efficient overall than sealed design
Handles upper bass frequencies better with less distortion
Magnet is in good cooling environment
When properly designed, a ported box will slaughter a sealed in terms of low frequency extension
Disadvantages...
Size (not so critical outside the mobile environment)
More difficult to design/ can result in boomy, nasty sounding bass if misaligned
Aperiodic - go here - http://www.elitecaraudio.com/home/ht...le.php?sid=105
Infinite baffle - sub is mounted between two separate areas, such as on the rear deck where the trunk and cabin meet
Advantages...
No box necessary!
This means it's usually cheaper to design and implement in your system
Disadvantages...
Requires that a good seal be obtained between front and rear of driver. In a car, this can be quite difficult and may require the installer to remove trim panels to plug any holes that would let energy "bleed through".
The responsibility for damping cone motion rests solely on the driver's suspension. As fatigue sets in, this becomes a critical issue in infinite baffle set-ups.
Less efficient in the sub-bass region than above mentioned enclosures.
Potentially more expensive drivers than good boxable woofer - The suspension must be extremely hearty and long-lasting to withstand high power applications.
Isobaric - take any of the above, mount a second subwoofer on it the opposite way, kinda like a clamshell, switch the polarity on the outer speaker (switch + and -)then take the enclosure size for the original, cut it in half, double the power (since double the drivers) and done!
advantages : 1/2 the airspace needed
disadvantages: gotta use twice the amount of drivers and twice the amount of power to get the same effect as the original
dual chamber vented - gotta go get some info on it.
and you wondered why you were off
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