[D148L0]

Sealed. No question about it. Nowadays you can buy a single sub (and the amp to match it) that handles more power and more efficiently than 4 subs just a few years ago. You can have both SPL and the SQ you can only get from a sealed enclosure.

Bandpass are great enclosures as well. Sure, they can make a lousy sub sound "ok", but they can also make a good sub sound superb. Only thing, the enclosure has to be perfectly built. By the way, some of the finest subs in the car audio industry are specifically designed for bandpass enclosures...

Ported... sure, if you prefer loudness over quality.

 

[D148L0]

an amp can only push half as much power through an 8 ohm as compared with a 4 ohm.

I agree with you, your post mentiones the correct basics. However, the quoted statement is not accurate. It is not necessarily half as much power when you go from 4 to 8, as is not necessarily twice as much if you go from 4 to 2.

 

[D148L0]

don't get a 10" sub and put it in the trunk, you'll hear absolutely nothing. 12"+ (i recommend 15s) would be perfect.

Subwoofer size by itself does not make any difference in the amount of sound you can hear.
Explain me how a difference in diameter can make a difference in dB.
And don't say is a matter of personal taste. This is physics and audio basics.

 

[D148L0]

Generally it is. If an amp's rated at 400w at 4ohm, it will run 800w at 2ohm. The exceptions to this generalization are when an amp would overheat or maybe distort if it were pushing 800w at 2ohm, so the manufacturer keeps the power lower.

Exactly. Generally it is. Just to add another exception, regulation of the power supply also will modify the "doubling" rule.

You're right, but keep in mind that majority of the time 15s are rated to handle more power than 10s.

I agree. I was just waiting for Mystical's reply before making myself clear. There is a couple of common misconceptions I would like to talk about. I hope you can cooperate in the discussion.

 

[D148L0]

well obviously there's exceptions. if he wants to go ahead and a 10" W7, or other high-end: high-power-handling sub(s) in, then yeah *shrugs* but for the most part, for the cars we have, and for the majority of subs out there, i'd recommend something 12" or higher.

There is no need to go high-end. There are plenty of high power handling 10s for every budget. As a matter of fact, the maker of the subs in your pictures offers an 8" that handles as much power as a 12" from the same brand, and it is not one their expensive models.


Now, some basics:

First common misconception: bigger means louder.

How loud a woofer is depends on the power it handles, and how effective it is to use that power (efficiency). NOT on it's size. Bigger woofers were made to satisfy the need of properly reproduce lower frecuencies, which require more power to be produced.

If we follow the old bigger = more power handling concept, at a given power a 10" is more likely to sound louder than a 15".
In other words, a 100W amplifier will make a 120W 10" sound louder than a 160W 15".
In the other hand, let's say you have a 10" and a 15" that have the same power handling and efficiency. At a given power, they will be equally loud.
The frecuency range at which they are loud is what changes depending on their size.

With the power handling of today's subwoofers, more than ever the correct approach to recommend one is to know the kind of music they are intended for.

 

[D148L0]

ahh but you assumed that when i said "high-end" i meant "high-priced", but you'll notice after "high-end" i put a colon, and specified: high-power-handling. i never implied that only high priced subwoofers are high power handling.

also, i'm not sure what you mean when you say the maker of my subs offers an 8" that handles as much power as a 12" from the same brand. i assume you're talking RMS...(and i'm pretty sure you are, because later in your above post you mentioned a "160W" and "120W" sub, which is their RMS wattage) in which case there's no 8" and 12" sub of the same brand in their lineup that shares the same rated RMS wattage.

I agree with the high end stuff. Just added that there are cheap high power subs.
The 120 and 160W were fictional values.

You are right, the specific wattage is 125W RMS for the 8W3 V2 and 150W RMS for the 15W0. I was using the power chart as reference to point the similarity, but I should have added the specific values.

What about efficiency as topic for the other thread?
Later.

 

[D148L0]

Of course you can compare them. Both share the same principles and purposes.
The intention of posting about the two of them is to reiterate about the importance of choosing a sub based on the kind of music you hear the most, power handling should be secondary to that.

the bigger the cone size (i.e. 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 24, etc.) the more power handling... simply because more power's needed to move the sub. like cars: a smaller car doesn't require a very big engine to move it, while a big car needs a bigger engine.

I agree in the fact that usually the bigger = more power handling. However, it is not because of size itself, it is because of the frecuencies they are intended for.
Now that is a great topic for the basics thread.

 

[D148L0]

they're two completely different models of subs, with completely different designs... and meant for different purposes. so you really can't compare them by saying that an 8" of one model has ALMOST as much power handling as the 15" of another model...

That is the same as saying 2 subs from 2 different brands made with different technology and design can't be compared. In this case, other than the number of voice coils and increased power handling, there are not drastical differences between the W0 and the W3 series.

They share the same purpose: bass reproduction. They have different applications, based on the frecuencies they were designed for.

The only reason to mention them was to point that a small and a huge sub can handle the same amount of power, and nothing else.

the reason a bigger subwoofer usually has higher power-handling than a smaller sub is not because of the frequency it's designed for... it's because the larger the sub, the more power it requires to move. however (as you mentioned), it IS designed to hit lower frequencies (the larger subs i mean) but lower frequencies aren't what makes it require more power. moving the sub requires more power ,since it's big

Let me put it this way: There are 15s rated at 125W RMS, there are 8s rated at 125W RMS. That means that both diameters require 125W RMS to fully accomplish their purpose. However, an 8" will not be able to reproduce the same frecuencies the 15" does.
Lower frecuencies move greater volumes of air. That is what requires the power, not the size for itself. Size makes possible to move those amounts of air in a better way.
If size was the determinant factor for power handing, there would be no point in making an 8" rated at 50 RMS and another rated at 125, or a 15 rated at 150 and another rated at 1000.
More RMS will only make a sub to reproduce the same frecuencies louder than another of the same size with less power handling, assuming they are similar in all other aspects.

 

[D148L0]

What I have heard is that audiobahn is pretty fair when rating their subs, and they can take serious power. However, you will get practically the same volume with an amp a little less powerful than 800. Just make sure to use RMS values when matching.

 

[D148L0]

No problem. 600 Watts RMS sounds OK. Look for the RMS @ 4 ohms, since the difference between a 2 and a 4 ohm output varies greatly from amp to amp.
How much do you want to spend?
Take a look at this:

750 RMS @ 4 ohms. I personally recommend MTX as a great bang for the buck. MTX amps truly perform as good as others twice their price.
http://www.cardomain.com/item/MTX1501D

Or this one, 600 RMS @ 4 ohms. Autotek also works very well:
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13926

Also look for the voltage rating. If they say an amp delivers 100 W @ 14.4 V, then it's output in real world applications (lower voltage) will be lower, too.

Do some research, and we''ll comment on your choices.

D148L0

 

[D148L0]

Sparkomatic??? Man, I don't even recall that one...

 

[D148L0]

What is "dynamatting my trunk"?

Dynamat ( http://www.dynamat.com/ ) is a brand of products made to improve the acoustic conditions in car enviroment, mostly by reducing resonance and vibration. They have different products for different applications.
When applying that kind of stuff to your car, even if it's from another brand, most people say they are "dynamating" it.