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It's no secret, a great many SMD Members have talent.  Talent that allows them to design and build great audio systems that sound great, perform, and last.  Want to be the next great talent in car stereo?  Want to become the expert?  Here's a road map.

1 - Get the best education that you can in mathematics and science.  Don't settle for Bs - strive for As.  If you didn't do well in these subjects in school, the sooner that you can accept the fact that you simply cannot become the expert without a strong foundation in math and science the quicker you will reach your goals.  This is the first step on the road to success.  Now that you've accepted that, time to turn your weakness into strength.  Check out books at the library and learn the material, enroll in night classes at the local community college, watch all of Tony D'Amore's educational videos, etc.  Math and science are the foundation at which every aspect of our hobby originates.

2 - Accept the fact that the laws of physics govern every facet of the hobby.  There is no escaping this.  The audio hobby (both home and car) has been rife with opinion, subjectivity, and conjecture for decades.  The main reason for that is because so few of the consumers have an education that can discern marketing from science.  [If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit - W.C. Fields.]  Fact - larger cable has lower resistance per foot than smaller cable of the same type.  Opinion - Running ground cable(s) from the front to the rear of your vehicle will improve the performance of your charging system (see #5).

3 - Develop the ability to listen.  It's more difficult today than ever to understand who to listen to, but that's a function of #1 and #2.  When you do find someone worth listening to, listen.  Take their words as gospel.  Use your knowledge to prove/disprove things you may hear from them (see #5) that contradict your beliefs and then discuss your findings with them.  Good teachers are also good listeners.

4 - Fine tune your input filter.  The internet is the largest resource of information in the history of mankind.  There is as much bad information available as good - your filter will help you separate fact from fiction.  Good information is not synonymous with post count.  Some people have lots to say and they do so by expressing themselves every chance they get.  That doesn't necessarily mean than what they're saying is valuable to you, or anyone else for that matter.  Focus your time listening to those with a proven track record based in science - no matter how much you may not like their findings.

5 - Embrace the idea of formulating a hypothesis and then proving / disproving it to yourself.  For example, I tell you, "Capacitors can enhance the performance of your system."  I formulated that hypothesis in 1986 and then spent the next several years proving that to myself.  Sometimes you can formulate the hypothesis and prove / disprove it in an afternoon.  In other cases, that takes years.  Either way, you profit from the results as well as the process it took to obtain them.  Documenting the hypothesis, process, and findings makes it science - not opinion.

6 - Recognize that learning is a never ending process.  The more you know about a given aspect of the hobby, the more you want to know about it.  Knowledge is power.  Those who embrace the quest for knowledge will always stand out from the pack.  The knowledge is out there for those that seek it.

7 - Respect the complexity of a given aspect of the hobby.  For example, good sound is a function of system design, component selection, installation execution, the environment, and tuning.  You really just can't drop in any old set of TOTL component speakers and expect to get anywhere near what they're capable of by ignoring those things.  For example, do your mounting locations favor speakers with better on-axis response or better off-axis response?  Choose the wrong speakers from the word go and you'll get poor results no matter the price of the speakers or how well executed.  I can't tell you how many times I've listened to a vehicle with inexpensive gear that was executed correctly that sounded just amazing.  Same can be said for vehicles with TOTL gear executed poorly with "less than optimal" results.  Unfortunately, the latter is often the norm and not the exception.

8 - Embrace attention to detail.  Properly executed terminations.  Proper speaker baffles.  Correct wire routing and protection.  Proper mounting hardware (drywall screws are for drywall).  It all adds up.  If you don't believe that, see #5.  Cut corners in any one area and it's a compromise.  Cut corners in all areas and it's a CF.

9 - Learn the vocabulary of the audio hobby.  Audio, like any other hobby, has a vocabulary specific to it.  Learn it.  Understand it vehemently.  Consider the question, "Should I get a third octave or a parametric equalizer?"  To answer it, you'll need to know what an octave is, what a third of an octave is, what an equalizer does, the undesired side effects of its functionality (phase shift, band to band interaction, etc.), and the differences between third octave and parametric equalizers.  Then, you'll need to know which is more suited to solve the acoustic problems at hand.  To understand how to overcome those, you'll need to know a fair bit about acoustics (see #1 and #6).

10 - Continuing education.  The experts never rest.  They are constantly evaluating new developments, products, technologies, and ideas in pursuit of solutions to problems that are difficult to overcome.  In addition, they're constantly evaluating their foundation in an effort to improve it by incorporating things they've learned from others, from mistakes, or from successes.

The next great talent in car stereo could be you.  But I warn you - nothing worth doing is ever easy.  Now get to it.  You've got much work in front of you.

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Tony Candela - SMD Sales & Marketing
Email me at [email protected] to learn about becoming an SMD Partner!

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Fact or Fiction?

Now that you've read the above, let's tackle one of the most common things in audio - Peak and RMS ratings of speakers.  One of the two following statements is true, which is it?

1 - The Peak rating of a speaker is the amount of power the speaker can handle on peaks while the RMS rating of the speaker is how much power the speaker can handle continuously.

2 - The Peak rating of a speaker is the very same as the RMS rating of the speaker, just expressed differently.

Hint:  You'll use #1-4 and #6 to solve and the answer will be a function of #9.  If the answer you arrive at is different from the answer you expected, then you benefited from #10.

Tony Candela - SMD Sales & Marketing
Email me at [email protected] to learn about becoming an SMD Partner!

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On 5/18/2017 at 0:45 PM, snafu said:

Fact or Fiction?

Now that you've read the above, let's tackle one of the most common things in audio - Peak and RMS ratings of speakers.  One of the two following statements is true, which is it?

1 - The Peak rating of a speaker is the amount of power the speaker can handle on peaks while the RMS rating of the speaker is how much power the speaker can handle continuously.

2 - The Peak rating of a speaker is the very same as the RMS rating of the speaker, just expressed differently.

Hint:  You'll use #1-4 and #6 to solve and the answer will be a function of #9.  If the answer you arrive at is different from the answer you expected, then you benefited from #10.

 

I miss these games...

 

1 - Peak is defined by BCAE as double RMS power for a short period of time, and RMS as the continuous AC thermal power handling of the driver. Assuming the RMS rating is accurate, this one is true. It's worth noting that these are thermal ratings, not mechanical ones. 

2 - I guess I explained this one in 1 when I defined RMS and peak ratings. This one is false, it's a separate power measurement altogether. 

Edited by SnowDrifter
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SD - You're an asset to SMD sir.  Your desire to learn is always on demonstration in these threads.  For that I salute you.

Due to an extreme lack of interest, I'll provide the correct answer now.

Peak "Power" is defined as follows:  Vpeak^2 / R = Ppeak

RMS "Power" is defined as follows:  Vrms^2 / R = Prms

Where: V=Voltage in Volts, R=Resistance in Ohms, and P=Power in Watts

Now, among audio gurus, most will agree that there is really no such thing as RMS Power.  They'll use the words continuous power comfortably, but they are not comfortable using the words RMS Power to describe continuous power.  RMS Voltage, yes.  RMS power, no.  That being said, the ratings you see slapped on the outside of the box are derived via the two above formulas using the nominal speaker impedance (Z - a wildly changing variable) in place of R (a fixed constant).  So . . . let's do some math.

Consider the following:  A sine wave of 10V Peak (AC obviously) driving a subwoofer with say . . . a 2 Ohm impedance for the simplicity of the math.

Now, I can't actually draw a sine wave in this post, mainly because I'm not smart enough (Edit, I found one - see below !) . . .

The math goes as follows:

Vpeak^2 / R = Ppeak
10V^2 / 2 Ohms = Ppeak
100V / 2 Ohms = 50 Watts Peak

Now, let's do the math for RMS Voltage so that we can use that to compute RMS Power.

Vrms = Vpeak x .707
Vrms = 10V x .707
Vrms = 7.07V

Vrms^2 / R = Prms
7.07V^2 / 2 Ohms = Prms
50V / 2 Ohms = 25 Watts RMS

In summary, the amplitude of the sine wave remains a constant here - 10V.  The only difference is the RMS conversion, which is used as an equalizer to approximate the AC energy under the sine wave when comparing it to it's DC equivalent - a flat line.  Using this conversion, our 10VAC sine wave has roughly the same energy under the sine wave as is under a flat line with an amplitude of 7.07VDC.

So . . . the correct answer is #2.  Peak and RMS Power ratings are the same, just expressed differently.  Now, imagine how many subwoofers and speakers have been blown by overpowering them by a complete lack of understanding of this simple concept.  I'm not sure where the "The Peak rating of a speaker is the amount of power the speaker can handle on peaks while the RMS rating of the speaker is how much power the speaker can handle continuously" bit comes from or how it even got started.  But, we just used science to disprove it.

This rabbit hole is a deep one in audio.  This is one of about ten thousand mis-understandings that are fiction that are passed around as fact.  Become the expert and learn the facts.

10VPsine.png

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Tony Candela - SMD Sales & Marketing
Email me at [email protected] to learn about becoming an SMD Partner!

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Here's another one.  See if you can choose the correct answer.

Clipping your amplifier will damage your speakers.  Yes, this is true, but why?

1 - Clipping shears off the top and bottom of the waveform.  The resultant AC signal to your speakers is really more like DC.  This is hazardous to speakers and the voice coils can be damaged as a result.

2 - Clipping can damage your speakers when the result of clipping is overpowering.

Go.

Tony Candela - SMD Sales & Marketing
Email me at [email protected] to learn about becoming an SMD Partner!

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#2. Clipping by itself can be harmful, but an underpowered clipping, speaker isn't damaged the same as with overpowered clipping. My own experiences as proof that half power to subs and clipping due to "3/4 volume" rule when I was ignorant of proper settings. 

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I would say one and two. One because as the driver is reproducing the clipped portion, it is not moving. Applying power without motion will cause overheating of the coil. Two because as in the previous condition, the driver is in effect overpowered due to reduced motion with power applied.

91 C350 Centurion conversion ( Four Door One Ton Bronco)

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Two HDS315 Four Qubes Each 34hz (Two HDC3.118 and New Box Coming Soon)

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