subwoofer differences

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shawn1972

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Joined 2005
#1
Is there a difference between subs(car,home and pro)?I would like to put economical sub on a tugboat so box size is not a problem.wondering if one is better in sq or spl or strength.We are making a dance floor 16 x 16 so the louder the better but not so distorted that its a mess.by the way i have 1100 watt alpine(car amp) but ohms might not be a deal from couple subs.thanks
 
#2
If it's for a boat, and there is a chance of spray getting onto it, look for a car driver with a polypropylene cone and santoprene or other rubber surround. If the dance floor is going to be enclosed, try a PA (public address) woofer... they can be huge and loud, and like big boxes to go low, but require little power for the output
 
#3
pic of fixer upper

thanks stocker.it is enclosed.The boat is 66' and there will be a dance floor.We are fixing it up now I just wasn't sure if a pro sub could go low?
 

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#8
shawn1972 said:
Is there a difference between subs(car,home and pro)?I would like to put economical sub on a tugboat so box size is not a problem.wondering if one is better in sq or spl or strength.We are making a dance floor 16 x 16 so the louder the better but not so distorted that its a mess.by the way i have 1100 watt alpine(car amp) but ohms might not be a deal from couple subs.thanks
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PA loudspeakers are a lot more efficient than home and car (sub)woofers. The SPL of home/car woofers usually is in the 85 ~ 90 dB range, while PA woofers have SPLs around 96 - >100 dB.

Disadvantage is higher cost (good PA woofers usually are quite expensive), an advantage is that you'll need less amplifier power because of the higher efficiency. For example, where you may need 2000 W of amplifier power for a car woofer to get some serious SPL, a PA woofer would need about something like 300-400 W to get the same SPL.

Some PA woofers won't go very low. This also has to do with efficiency. Below 40 Hz you're wasting your amp power.

Does your car amp provide 1100 W rms or max?
 
#9
You won't have to worry about low bass on your ship. Tough to hear over the engines.

1100 car watts (@ 2ohms?) will be enough.

PA drivers are the way to go, here's a 15" woofer made for what you are doing. Goes high enough to XO to a tweet. While you're at the site why not look around for moisture resistant tweeters?

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&PartNumber=264-425&DID=7
 
#11
thanks guys,I will look into your suggestions.Pics are from right at the end of last summer when we got it.Outside and in are painted now.8 man hottub was put on the back by bay doors last week.we just got all electrical problem solved(13000 watt generator,tons of batteries and charger)When I finish i'll put up more pics of sound system and dance floor.
 
#12
The space is small but probably open so I'm not sure if there is much room gain here. Is the dance floor there already?

I can see a couple of options.

1. vented or bandpass with pro drivers - high efficiency means less power required, and extension to typically 40 Hz or so which is probably enough - guessing midbass punch is more important

2. bandpass with HT sub drivers - extension is traded in for increase in efficiency and power handling - potentially more output from a compact sub

3. bass horn with HT sub drivers - bigger than the other options but best SQ

If you don't have a dance floor yet, you could build the subs under the deck where they vent into a dance floor which is raised up slightly.

The first option is probably the easiest. Are you going to build it in? You could make a single large enclosure by enclosing a part of the hull as the box volume and attach the walls of the sub to the base of the hull, possibly with some fibreglass to seal it. You would need some kind of manifold to vent the bass to the dance space.
 
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