Hi All,
Whats the advantage of having higher power handling driver??
How does it effect the subwoofer performance??
For example, a 200W driver vs 600W driver.... assuming both have nearly same Xmax and BL.
Any suggestions please .....
Whats the advantage of having higher power handling driver??
How does it effect the subwoofer performance??
For example, a 200W driver vs 600W driver.... assuming both have nearly same Xmax and BL.
Any suggestions please .....
Advantage is that 600W should handle tree times more power. Speaker power handling is a bit difficult thing.
There are RMS and Peak power handling.
RMS power handling is typically thermal limit of voice coil.. which ofcourse depends on frequency too. Low frequency = more cone movement = better cooling by airflow.
Peak power handling is typically mechanical limit for speakers moving parts. However it depends on enclosure type / tuning etc..
Depending on music material / type.. many variables there is which affects real world power handling.
It is possible to blow up 1kWrms driver with 250Watts.
It is possible to play 250Wrms driver with 1kW rms amplifier at max power without any problems.
I have never had any problems, just make sure amplifier is not clipping and speakers mechanical limit is not exceeded.
There are RMS and Peak power handling.
RMS power handling is typically thermal limit of voice coil.. which ofcourse depends on frequency too. Low frequency = more cone movement = better cooling by airflow.
Peak power handling is typically mechanical limit for speakers moving parts. However it depends on enclosure type / tuning etc..
Depending on music material / type.. many variables there is which affects real world power handling.
It is possible to blow up 1kWrms driver with 250Watts.
It is possible to play 250Wrms driver with 1kW rms amplifier at max power without any problems.
I have never had any problems, just make sure amplifier is not clipping and speakers mechanical limit is not exceeded.
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interesting !!!!
In terms of power handling, 600W driver surely has an advantage.
If both drivers have the same Xmax (20mm) whats the advantage in terms of Bass with higher power driver?? Is it more accurate or any other advantage ?
In terms of power handling, 600W driver surely has an advantage.
If both drivers have the same Xmax (20mm) whats the advantage in terms of Bass with higher power driver?? Is it more accurate or any other advantage ?
Eh, i don't plan on more than 100w per driver.
Past that, the voice coil heats, going from 100w to 200w doesn't give 3 more db.
It may only be 1.5db which is hardly audible.
Excursion xmax and xlim (limit) are more important (to me) than 200w vs 800 wrms.
Past that, the voice coil heats, going from 100w to 200w doesn't give 3 more db.
It may only be 1.5db which is hardly audible.
Excursion xmax and xlim (limit) are more important (to me) than 200w vs 800 wrms.
Unless you have a dance club, the driver with the higher rating is likely to be substantially worse. If you value handling in a car, would you buy a heavy car with a large heavy engine or a Lotus? The design features that add to power handling detract from performance otherwise and with no compensating benefits short of the ability to toast your bread.
The problem of power compression due to hot voice coils on music at home ranges between non-existent to negligible.
B.
The problem of power compression due to hot voice coils on music at home ranges between non-existent to negligible.
B.
True, but, maybe if you are adding 12db of boost for an f3 sealed under 25hz, the power rating would help.
They always say: EXTENSION-SMALL SIZE-SPL ---> choose 2.
And they also say: sealed down to 20hz (and lower) needs lots of power.
Today, power is cheap and good, you could have a 1000W danish class D amp for a couple of hundred dollars... so...
If I wanted to make an small subwoofer with a extension down to 20hz (or less), I would loose SPL of course... but I can overtake that by using a Linkwitz Transform (which basically is a parametric eq), and that would require lot's of power, correct?
Also, something that in my infinite ignorance I could never completely understand is... power equals SPL? or not always? Because, I use my HT generally at moderate volume, maybe 70db or 75db... 80db at most when kids are not sleeping... Still I need lots of power in my sub to get to 20hz or even single digits response? I would assume yes (because of LT or PEQ) but it would be great if someone could confirm this.
Thanks!
Lets see you have a sealed sub which is -20dB at 20Hz.
Use EQ to make it flat to 20Hz.
Power requirements are now 20x compared to lets say 60Hz.
So you get 110dB at 60Hz with only 100Watts, but at 20Hz it takes 2000watts while trying to keep it up!
Power does not always equal to spl, example in case of bad room acoustics. If there are heavy standing waves keeping bass levels down, its not going to be any better having more power or bigger subwoofer.
Use EQ to make it flat to 20Hz.
Power requirements are now 20x compared to lets say 60Hz.
So you get 110dB at 60Hz with only 100Watts, but at 20Hz it takes 2000watts while trying to keep it up!
Power does not always equal to spl, example in case of bad room acoustics. If there are heavy standing waves keeping bass levels down, its not going to be any better having more power or bigger subwoofer.
And then there is driver sensitivity, all else being equal, a 90dB/W driver needs half the power than an 87dB/W driver. BTW, 600W for a sinlge driver is not realistic, its highly overrated. A better estimate of the power capability is coil size.
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Sensitivity rating is not that simple, as we know speaker sensitivity is not the same for all frequencies. Take a look as example some 18 inch bass driver having 99dB sensitivity. Now look at infinity baffle response, where sensitivity drops down to around 90dB at 70Hz and 85dB at 40Hz.
Sensitivity figure is good when looking for full band width of the driver but for bass drivers its quite different thing. Enclosure type etc can and does make a big difference too! Enclosure can be designed to give lots of gain boost.
Eminence lab12: Sensitivity: 89dB/1W/1m. Down to 87dB at 60Hz. Now put those to the lab sub horn enclosure and voila! Sensitivity increases to 100dB in bass frequencies.
One bass driver having 90dB sensitivity might actually play louder than another one having 100dB sensitivity in spec sheet. Same enclosure, but the first one actually has MORE sensitivity in bass frequencies.
Sensitivity figure is good when looking for full band width of the driver but for bass drivers its quite different thing. Enclosure type etc can and does make a big difference too! Enclosure can be designed to give lots of gain boost.
Eminence lab12: Sensitivity: 89dB/1W/1m. Down to 87dB at 60Hz. Now put those to the lab sub horn enclosure and voila! Sensitivity increases to 100dB in bass frequencies.
One bass driver having 90dB sensitivity might actually play louder than another one having 100dB sensitivity in spec sheet. Same enclosure, but the first one actually has MORE sensitivity in bass frequencies.
I disagree.
It depends on application. A low sensitivity driver in a small box can suffer from severe power compression in a domestic environment. I would choose the driver with the higher thermal rating even if I were only operating the driver to 200W. It will be measurably and likely audibly more dynamic.
Double yup (last 2 posts).
Seeing how much eq is added to sealed 18" home amplified subs.
They need a bunch of boost just to hit f3 near 30hz, especially sealed.
Looking at rythmic f18, with its 900 watt amp.
It is 117db @63hz, but 111db @31hz.
Data-Bass
$1650 isn't bad at all, compared to clean clean velodyne 18", or even my (perhaps) double 15" push pull (and cost to have box built) that requires an amplifier (but i have some).
Seeing how much eq is added to sealed 18" home amplified subs.
They need a bunch of boost just to hit f3 near 30hz, especially sealed.
Looking at rythmic f18, with its 900 watt amp.
It is 117db @63hz, but 111db @31hz.
Data-Bass
$1650 isn't bad at all, compared to clean clean velodyne 18", or even my (perhaps) double 15" push pull (and cost to have box built) that requires an amplifier (but i have some).
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