|
New member Username: NevadaguyPost Number: 1 Registered: Apr-10 | Anyhow, I was into bass back when I was 17/18 years old. I am 35 now. When I was a kid I owned 4 12" kicker solobarics (first rendition) and 2 1000w Linear amplifiers (if anyone remembers Linear). That system hit pretty hard. I recently purchased a kicker comp vx 10" and a R5001 fosgate prime amp (I wanted a little bit of bass). That little system produces more than the $7000 system I had years ago...Why?? (I am new to the game again) |
|
New member Username: NevadaguyPost Number: 2 Registered: Apr-10 | Anyhow, to complete my message. The solobarics ended up getting stolen, so I lost interest. I did NOT want this much bass with the new system -- just something nice. I have a civic del sol. The install guy was extremely surprised at the SPL coming out of that little woofer and said it had to be because of the acoustics of the vehicle. How has technology changed so much as to allow a 10" to sound better/louder than 4 12" solo's back in the day? It literally makes my vision fuzzy....Some nice input would be great -- and yes, I am a noob all over again. |
|
Gold Member Username: FrkkevinTeam DLSSuperNatural... Post Number: 7551 Registered: Nov-05 | seems likely your old setup was an install issue rather than equipment having a small car does help |
|
New member Username: NevadaguyPost Number: 3 Registered: Apr-10 | The old install was done by "professionals" and not by myself. I don't remember much, as this was 18 years ago, but I do know that it was a bandpass box -- I think something along the lines of a 5th order -- I know it was tuned for a specific frequency. What I did not mention is that this new little setup tested at a db level of around 150 (he tested in the shop). This doesn't seem right, because the amp does not get hot, the speaker doesn't look like it is doing a ton of work, and there is NO distortion at all, yet I can hear the damn thing 1/2 a mile down the road. Any thoughts? |
|
Gold Member Username: FrkkevinTeam DLSSuperNatural... Post Number: 7552 Registered: Nov-05 | not sure how he is metering it but it must be an ac mic with a high sensitivity.... or metered in a port on a termlab it be good for that to do a 140.. |
|
Platinum Member Username: GlasswolfColumbia, SC USA Post Number: 12815 Registered: Dec-03 | 3 things. class D amplifiers (80% efficient as opposed to that old Linear class AB that was about 60% efficient) MUCH more excursion on modern subs, and a better BL curve, yielding much better performance in the proper enclosure than old subs (the old round solos only had about 12mm Xmax as opposed to modern subs offering 28+mm Xmax, meaning they can travel forward and back much farther, allowing them to move more air per their surface area) your Del Sol is a VERY small cabin, and the less air in teh cabin that the sub has to move, the more efficiently it can perform. If you had the same sub in a station wagon or an SUV it wouldn't sound as loud. yeah OI remember the old days, too. I've been working in the car audio field for about 20+ years now. |
|
Gold Member Username: TejcurrentPost Number: 2191 Registered: Apr-07 | Funny because a lot of people tell me similar stories. I remember when I had 2 18s and a guy told me he had 2 18s on "more power" 10 years ago than the 8kw I had at the timef. He asked to hear mine, but after 10 seconds of demo bailed out saying he wasn't used to the bass anymore lol. You've got old ears (tastes change with age) New equipment is more efficient small car vs larger old vehicle Better enclosure? It isn't doing 150 on the termlab, I'd need to see it to believe that. |
|
New member Username: NevadaguyPost Number: 4 Registered: Apr-10 | About the db level..that is just what the install guy said -- I have no proof of that. My old system would shake windows a few blocks away, but this one feels much more intense on my sensations..my stomach gets upset, my gf's hair gets thrown forward, my vision becomes fuzzy on the lows and I definately cannot speak over the volume..- is it because of cab size and amnt of air being pushed in such a small space?? Also, the distortion is a lot less than I remember with my 4 12"s. |
|
Gold Member Username: Livin_loudMW2 Addict Post Number: 3099 Registered: Jan-06 | a 10" woofer off 500wrms just doesn't sound very powerful lol.. |
|
New member Username: NevadaguyPost Number: 5 Registered: Apr-10 | I agree! LOL.. That's why I am trying to understand the differences between what I had when I was 17 years old and this small system that sounds louder to me...I am a scientist by career and have a hunger to understand everything that I don't. I think it is only about 300 wrms because it is only a 4 ohm load -- this all doesn't make any sense to me..it "should" be puny in comparison..oh, btw, it is a ported box..my other car was an isuzu i-mark (for comparison of car volume size). |
|
Platinum Member Username: GlasswolfColumbia, SC USA Post Number: 12820 Registered: Dec-03 | The distortion you had with your old system may have been due to poorly adjusted gains causing the amps to clip. that was and still is very common, both with home garage installs, and even with a lot of "professional" jobs. A lot of work I used to get in, was just a matter of cleaning up the sloppy work done by other big box store install bays like circuit city and best buy. anyway, install is a big factor, as is system design, vehicle environment, amount of power, charging system in teh car, amount of driver surface area and excursion, and subwoofer enclosure design and build quality. Many variables. My old system I ran in IASCA Pros back in the early 90s was in a Ford Festiva, and I had (various Alpine and Pioneer head units), an Orion 2125SX amp running 4 orion hard domes, 4 orion soft domes, 4 orion 5" mids (all on hand built passive filters) and an Orion 280GX on two Cerwin Vega 12" ported subs crossed over with an orion 200CRX and pre-amped with an orion 300PRQ. All of that was powered with a 1200CCA battery and Lestek 150A HO alternator on 4AWG power and ground. The car hit in the low 140dB range, played down to about 32Hz, and I couldn't see out of the mirrors or windows with the pre-amp volume @ about 1 o'clock.. I could play KLF's White Room, or Floyd's DSotM CD, and some notes hit low enough that you couldn't hear anything at all, but the steering wheel was vibrating a solid 1.5" up and down and looked like a blur.. and your chest would hurt. good times. Now I'm using a Pioneer P9 head unit and signal processor, two Orion 2250SX amps, a single sealed Fi Q18, and DynAudio system 360 front stage. Nothing too major, but a good SQ setup. Hits loud and deep, always clean, and very smooth. That's all in an old fastback now. Times change. The technology has changed a lot, too. Everything is surface mount now instead of solid state, subs have a lot more excursion and their motor control is far, far superior to what it used to be. A lot of the signal is digital now from the source media straight to the amplifiers preserving better signal quality with less loss, distortion, or coloration. Amps are more efficient, more powerful, and smaller. They even have a lot more features integrated into them now, like subsonic filters, crossovers, and signal processors. Lots of changes, but really a lot of it just comes down to good planning, and good execution. |
|
Platinum Member Username: GlasswolfColumbia, SC USA Post Number: 12821 Registered: Dec-03 | If you want a better understanding of basic car audio, by the way, try here: http://www.bcae1.com/ absorb the whole site. It's worth the read. |
|
Gold Member Username: The_image_dynamicSan Diego, California Post Number: 5684 Registered: Dec-06 | Not to split hairs here Glass, but the sentence "Everything is surface mount now instead of solid state" doesn't make sense. |
|
Platinum Member Username: GlasswolfColumbia, SC USA Post Number: 12831 Registered: Dec-03 | when I say solid state, I mean pre-SMT through-hole technology. Things you could solder by hand instead of being done by machine on a 6-layer PCboard. When I was in school, SMT was just starting to show up in consumer electronics, and really wasn't very common, and was still very expensive. Things change. Anyway, SMT vs through-hole, if that suits ya better. |
|
Platinum Member Username: Rovin1 15 = 152.5 DBs ...Trinidad & T... Post Number: 16158 Registered: Jul-05 | i think Troy might be onto something with the older ears theory ... |