Making the most out of the power and available airspace!?

[Chase Wallace]

I've been trying for many months how to figure out the perfect system for my vehicle given the power I have available, airspace available, size and location of the port and limitations on the subwoofer placement due to their size. I had come to the conclusion that the only way that I was going to be happy was to cut the cab so I could get the airspace for 4-18's or 4-15's. I've always had in mind that cone area was the most cost effective way to get louder but I'm not sure if I honestly fully understand how different setup's match up when talking about power vs cone area. I'm hesitant to cut the cab of my truck due to loosing resale value and bed space as I need this truck as a work truck. The question I've been asking myself lately is "what setup would give me the most cone area while still fitting inside the cab without cutting or giving up the back seating area. 18's are basically too big to fit. It might be possible to fit 2-3 but there wouldn't be enough airspace for even 2-18's when accounting for box volume and port surface area needed. 4-12's would require too much physical box volume especially accounting for the port area. 

2-15's would fit with the correct box volume and port area requirements. So that's a setup that could physically fit but with only 353 square inches of cone area. I've never really put much thought into going with 10" subs because of the number required and the fact that it's typically more expensive to go with a higher number of speakers BUT I got this crazy idea the other night. 8-10's should fit and would give me 628 square inches of cone area. That's just slightly less than the cone area of 4-15's yet they would require much less box volume and port area than 4-15's. That sounds to me like a "too good to be true" situation. Does anyone see anything wrong with this?

My next question might sound noobish but I find it a little confusing. Would 4000 RMS divided by 8-10's be louder than 4000 RMS divided by 4-10's? Logically I want to say that double the cone area should be louder on the same wattage BUT 4000 watts on 4-10's means each speaker has twice as much power. 1000 RMS per speaker over 500 RMS per speaker. I thought from what I had read that 2x the power basically doubles the output. But I also thought I had read that double the cone area doubles the output. So can anyone clear this up in simple terms for me? Would 4-10's with 1000 RMS each be just as loud as 8-10's with 500 RMS each? It seems like I'm missing something because I would think 4000 RMS with double the cone area would be louder than 4000 RMS with half the cone area. Yet I thought double the power doubled the output meaning that 1-10" with 1000 watts should be twice as loud as 1-10 with 500 watts or the same as 2-10's with 500 watts each. I hope everyone understands my questions because I've given myself a headache.

You're insight would be highly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[ShadeTreeMechanic]

Wow that's a long post. I am on my phone now I will try to read this later.

[Chase Wallace]

Lol thanks ShadeTree, It's not that long of a post when typing on a computer. I guess not many people actually use a computer now days lol. I'll be looking forward to your reply though =)

[Joe X]

Your best bet to get a meaningful answer is to detail your situation, that is, what is your exact vehicle model, max dimensions for a box and what is your budget (this is the one that usually limits your performance).

[ShadeTreeMechanic]

^^^Joe can help you figure out the best compromise. For a given setup, if you double the power or cone area it will be twice as loud. Twice as loud is 3db. There are a ton of different factors that play into this when space is limited. One of them is being able have a port big enough that still fits inside the box.

[Chase Wallace]

Joe X, I've tried that before lol. My question is pretty general. You could look at it like this. Will 1-10 with 1000 watts be just as loud as 2-10's with 500 watts each?

The actual situation is that I'm thinking of using 8 Sundown EV3 10's given 4000 watts, 500 watts each or 4 Sundown SA-10v3's given 4000 watts for 1000 watts each. The boxes would be built to the correct specs for both. I would love to save the space and use 4 but I can give up some more space and fit 8 if that would be louder which I think the extra cone area would be louder with 8.

[Chase Wallace]

3 minutes ago, ShadeTreeMechanic said:

^^^Joe can help you figure out the best compromise. For a given setup, if you double the power or cone area it will be twice as loud. Twice as loud is 3db. There are a ton of different factors that play into this when space is limited. One of them is being able have a port big enough that still fits inside the box.

Yeah but I've already figured out the port area needed and ports I would use for both setups. I can make either setup work. I realize double the power should make something twice as loud and double the cone area should make it twice as loud. I have 4000 watts to work with. 4000 watts on 4-10's or 4000 watts on 8-10's. That's double the power to the 4 so does that mean the 4 with double the power should do the same as 8 with half the power? Either way its going to be 4000 watts total so it seems to me like splitting that 4000 between 8 would be louder because it's twice the cone area. But then again I could just give twice the power to half the cone area and they should be just as loud? I'm sorry but it seems a little confusing to me. I'm not doubling the total power. It's going to be 4000 watts in either situation.

[3vil]

Twice the cone area, but less used xmax. I feel like you are oversimplifying things here.

[Chase Wallace]

5 minutes ago, 3vil said:

Twice the cone area, but less used xmax. I feel like you are oversimplifying things here.

So do I, thats why I'm asking peoples opinions. I had another topic awhile back and I was told Xmax isn't a huge factor and it's more about how fast the cone moves where as xmax gives it the ability to play louder at lower frequencies. I'm not trying to argue with you. I've just feel like I've gotten quite a bit of conflicting information myself.

[3vil]

I'm not implying that I have the answers for you. More to the point, I'm curious  to learn more in this subject myself. I feel that realistically, testing is the only way to get definitive answers for your vehicle.