If you know about subs, educate me

[8ight]

I know about rise and all, that's why I keep stressing that I am wanting answers taking into account nothing but the construction of the driver. I also know how speakers work and what their components are/do, why are some badass is what I want to know.

[Sheena]

i'm going to slap you.

they're "badass"

because of the box/tuning/music/amp/electrical used.

theres nothing more to it.

all 2.5" coiled drivers have about the same configuration, just different motors, different surrounds, spider stiffness configuration, different types of coil technology.

theres a lot of factors, but all 600w drivers realisticly wont be able to withstand over double wattage clamped.

[8ight]

I don't think you know where I'm going with this.

[8ight]

Off the subject of Sundown, why oh why did I mention it, I'll try to explain myself better. Those parts you bring up, what about them makes them good for high power handling? If I'm going to build a sub for stoopid power, what do I look for in individual components beyond the obvious?

[Quiet]

You can break it down into two functions...

Thermal Power Handling: voice coil/former/cooling mechanisms

Mechanical Power Handling: cone/motor/suspension

Things that affect thermal handling are: internal cooling capacity, voice coil design, enclosure design, rise. Also take into account how long you will apply said power.

Things that affect Mechanical Power Handling are: box tuning, box volume, even box type (sealed/vented/bandpass), rise

From this you can determine yourself how much power you can put into a sub.

[Noel989]

He's talking about the sub not the application.

How would you determine if a sub is good?

Is basically what he's asking

[Sheena]

all of his questions have been answered, im not sure what in the hell else hes looking for.

theres nothing magical in a sub

[WastedTalent]

Off the subject of Sundown, why oh why did I mention it, I'll try to explain myself better. Those parts you bring up, what about them makes

them good for high power handling? If I'm going to build a sub for stoopid power, what do I look for in individual components beyond the obvious?

I may be there along with you 8ight. Like for example, why is the lower brand stuff not as good as the higher brand stuff? Obviously quality of components but if I were to take a look at 2 different brands... Brand A and Brand B. Both 12" subs. Brand A is $300 a sub but Brand B is $375, should I go with B because it's more expensive so "better"? I'm not that way as price doesn't mean it's better, but for the new new people who may think that... What makes either "better" than the other? If you're looking at the specs and they're recommended subs (like how he mentioned sundown), how do you choose?

Maybe that's what he's trying to say?

[Quiet]

Just for fun, I re-read the OP. I do think I answered it somewhat.

But just as so you know, nobody goes by any standard when they rate their subs RMS handling. Some use CES standards( LIke RF) but other than that, it's all relative to the points in my last post. You may never know the accurate RMS handling of any given sub, since the application will be different in each given install.

vented boxes let subs cool better than sealed boxes do... so you gain a little RMS handing that way.

rise lets less power into your sub, so it's actually not taking as much as you think it is

6th order boxes are vented on both sides, and if you're not careful, your mechanical limit will be pretty far under the rated RMS.

High tuning a vented box will dramatically decrease the power you can put into your sub at lower frequencies.

Now, for what makes one sub "better" than another, well, you'd really have to know what gauge the coil was wound with, what material, how well the pole-piece is vented, spiders, cone mass... unless you sourced all the materials and built it yourself, you will just have to take the manufacturer's word for it on RMS power handling.

Edit: The point here being, you will always choose the wrong sub because you will find a better one later. That is the way it is.

[Sheena]

the extra you pay for is to cover the cost of tooling for the new subs.. like baskets..

sub a might have double stacked magnet

sub b might have triple stacked magnet

sub c might have neo magnet

they're all different, thats what sets them all apart.

different motors, different strength spiders, different voice coil layers (4 layer, 8 layer, flatwind, not flatwind)

mostly you pay for the brand.

sub a is rated at 1250w rms and has the same equipment as sub b which is rated at 1500w rms. (just different motors, cones, spiders and coil technology used, still 3" 4 layer coil)

sub a costs less, but is a well known brand that can obviously take more.