ULTIMATE subwoofer challenge... can you do it?

[kingfootga]

I was surfin the net today, when i came across something quite peculiar... i saw a company called Powered4Sound claim that they can make 2 6.5" audiobahn's sound like 1 15" sub in a large ported box, but with incredible sq. The subs metered out to 146.5 dB's in a car. Thats freaking amazing. however, there is no information as to how they acheived this... they wont tell for obvious reasons. Their company makes boxes they call the "snail shell" which is basically some sort of bastardized transmission line from what i can tell. I want to know how they made these subs so loud and sound so good. The only information i've been able to come up with is that it has like 17 folds and a membrane... i think. Now obviously, they can't be using the sound directly radiating from the driver; theres just not enough VD so they are obviously doing something to the rear wave, or whatever its called. Only thing i can think of is some sort of frankenstein transmission line/ folded horn, but i dont know what purpose the membrane could serve. Anyone have any ideas on their design? I challenge all of you to figure it out.

Its gonna be tough... i think
Greg Lightfoot



Here look at the videos


http://www.powered4sound.com/p4s%20meets%20gately.wmv
and
http://www.powered4sound.com/sixes.wmv

their website for reference

www.powered4sound.com

by the way, the 6 1/2" "super subs" (as i call them) are not it snail shell boxes, they are in some custom thing

[kingfootga]

Plus, it'd be so cool to put some of those in my car, just for the "DAMN!!! thats 2 6 1/2" subs?!?!?!?!" factor; i like to be unique.

[Volenti]

hmm, from the video I couldn't see where the open end of the "line" exited (unless it's a slot underneath the angled driver, hard to tell in the video) but the enclosure was positioned very optimally in the car (lots of cabin gain)

[postman]

What frequency did they meter it at ? Probably something woosey like 90hz :P I remember total recoil or something made 2 6x9 speakers get around 145 or something.

[SkinnyBoy]

I wanna do this....

can we assume they are TLs? with good drivers?

[BAM]

Looking at the picture on the website of the Plexiglass Snail-Shell (I assume that's the enclosure we're discussing), it looks almost like a daline with a transmission line that does not taper, but rather expands, towards its terminus. I wonder where they've got their engineer chained up...or maybe they went dumpster-diving at Bose.

(in the Bose Low-Quality Assurance Center, a man sitting at a desk opens a file folder. He reads quickly over the design notes, then promptly dumps the entire folder in the trash.)
Man: "Nope, too high-quality..."

(Actually now that we mention Bose, I wonder, if it can do this with a 6.5" woofer, how would it do with a 5.25? I don't think there are that many good 5.25-inchers made anyway.)

[gonefishin]

anyone ever put a labsub in their pinto hatchback?


I wonder (too) what freq this was measured at...and hiw much distortion the 2 6.5" "woofers" make at that spl.

[The Paulinator]

If those are osunding good at 29hz, that's pretty impressive, but the only reason for doing that, that I can see, is to brag that you're getting that sound from 2 6 1/2 drivers, because you could easily house a 12" in each of those enclosures. I would be more interested if it were done with a much smaller enclosure. Otherwise, I don't see the value in it except for show.

[5th element]

Also I question the authenticity of the notes produced, he claimed to be blasting out 29 hz or something. Now I could hear the note with no problem from the video with my 5.25 sealed w15cy's. Now just for my own test I put a 29hz thru them and blow me, not much at all LOL. So I was hearing harmonics on the vid hmmmmm. I also D/L the missy eliot they played and well the bass on that to me is all thump and no wallop. In other words the the 50-100hz thats impressive but not LOW LOW LOW. Also maybe it was just me, but i think i heard the cones smacking against the endstops with the "29" hz in the car that is.

But on another note two peerless HDS 6.5's produce a surprising amount of bass, and very comfortably fill my room with bass. Now if you had an optomised t-line or something and cabin gain with high excursion drivers this could be possible, take it out of the car and it would probably suck tho. There is a reason why B&W, Martin Logan and REL use BIG drivers in their subs. If this could be done then dont you think manufactures would have done it before, besides if there was a clear cut way of doing this I dont think only a couple of blokes would have figured it out and not the rest of the Loudspeaker engineering world.

[SkinnyBoy]

look... I can't believe this....

there witnesses.... one guy with 4 tens says there two 6.5s are louder.... another says its as loud and low as 4 12's....

one guy says it sound like a single 15 or single 18....

another says atleast a 12, or 2 really good 12's and no distortion...

another says it hurts his ears....

I can't see any 6.5's having high enough efficiency and high enough cone excursion and power handeling even with some super dumer box to be able to be compared to 2 15inches....

they say they are giving these 200watts (not sure if thats total, or each) one or 2 15'm might take 500watts.... and have a high efficiency... and be able to move more air.... and thats the key... 29hz is frikkin low...

if 2 6.5s can do this... then 2 8's could make you cry.... (which is actaully what I wanted to... theres a ******** at my school with like a 15inch piece o crap... be nice to show him what a good system sounds like...


also with those 6.5's some guy really knows his stuf.....

it its not like a 15, it has the response and mids of an 8 or a 10 but it sounds like it has the power of like 4 12's powering it....

the mic wouldn't pick up the 29Hz very well....

some people are stupid... if they can't see the speaker, they think its not there... perhaps there is more to this.. perhaps its a trick... I can't ever see 6.5s giving 29Hz at a level that hurts!!!

AHHH!!!!