Subwoofer Myths And Facts

[littleitaly1990]

That 1000 watt RMS sub is still going to move at 800 watts, just proportionately less. It still has less heat being generated in the first place, and excursion IS going to take place at 80% of RMS. I do agree with you, though, on the fact that the cooling properties of a subwoofer change with power input. I respectfully disagree that this is going to cause a coil to melt in the real world on music with a clean signal under RMS. Also, obviously, the enclosure is the biggest factor of all.

Lanman, not to thread jack, but how do you like those 1232Ds?

We can agree to disagree here. I don't think it is likely by any means, but things happen

[Sable Nave]

MYTH: You have to break in a subwoofer with a certain method of playing before you can increase power to its RMS rating.

Fact: No you dont.

I agree with this to a point, I've seen people install their drivers an hour before a competition, and still come out winning. But it's still recommended to loosen up the spiders

[littleitaly1990]

I agree with this to a point, I've seen people install their drivers an hour before a competition, and still come out winning. But it's still recommended to loosen up the spiders

I treat breaking in a sub like I treat breaking in a couch. It works perfect from the start....but what's more comfortable than a ten year old worn-in couch?

[lanman31337]

That 1000 watt RMS sub is still going to move at 800 watts, just proportionately less. It still has less heat being generated in the first place, and excursion IS going to take place at 80% of RMS. I do agree with you, though, on the fact that the cooling properties of a subwoofer change with power input. I respectfully disagree that this is going to cause a coil to melt in the real world on music with a clean signal under RMS. Also, obviously, the enclosure is the biggest factor of all.

Lanman, not to thread jack, but how do you like those 1232Ds?

Absolutely love them. They work very very well in small ported boxes, and just finished a half wall (below the back window line) for them. 8 cubes with swappable port up the top. I had them subs up port back in my trunk, they wanged, but I had a ton of cancellation. They're "rated" at 1100rms, but I know of guys who have run 2k rms daily to them.

[bkolfo4]

what about if a sub has a super stiffspider and the sub will take 2500 rms and your throwin it abit below what will get it to move lets say you need like 600 watts to move it a quarter of an inch and your throwin it 475 wont it heat up over time? and like if your runnin a pa amp thru a sub to make it a loud speaker? cause then its making it play loud but its not moving the cone much at all.

If it can truely handle 2500 watts RMS, it will laugh at 475 watts, even if it is not moving much. And it will still dissipate heat without moving.

[brewer_brewer]

i'm working on something right now that will allow for sub to be powered past thermal and still survive.

think water pump for your car.

i have been testing this for the past couple weeks and i'm almost there.

what i did was take apart an aluminum radiator, bought a windshield wiper fluid reservoir and pump, and basically made a radiator for the motor of a re sx.

it fits onto the motor, has fins like a radiator and the wiper fluid reservoir and pump circulates water through the fins.

so far i've been able to give the sub full clipped power off of a AQ 1200D and it doesn't get warm to the touch after a good minute of full clipped power.

its not perfect because the coil is inside of the motor, but i found out that if you can keep the motor cool for the most part it will help to pull the heat off of the coil.

eventually i plan to build my own motor, put a water passage through the internal of the motor, and pump water through it much like the coolant system in your car's motor block.

its a work in progress and i'm not ready to show people YET.......

[brewer_brewer]

^^^^this is mainly just for comps where you would be giving massive amounts of power with a clipped signal.

[bkolfo4]

Sweet. I remember Ray setup tubes to blow cold air through the basket vents on his MT's. . .

As long as the box is designed correctly and the subsonic filter is set correctly, getting the heat out is the trick.

For those that do not know, subs are VERY inefficient, so most of the power you input is turned to heat.

[brewer_brewer]

i'm looking for someone that has an extreme spl setup that generates massive amounts of heat to test this out on.

i've been able to keep the motor at a steady safe heat with this design. but i'm in need a big setup to truly test this out on.

[Ben Building]

Absolutely love them. They work very very well in small ported boxes, and just finished a half wall (below the back window line) for them. 8 cubes with swappable port up the top. I had them subs up port back in my trunk, they wanged, but I had a ton of cancellation. They're "rated" at 1100rms, but I know of guys who have run 2k rms daily to them.

I have 2 1232Ds also and they're great. I got them as just some decent kick-around speakers, but they have really impressed me. I have them in a ported box with 2.75 cf per sub, tuned to 22 hz. Which is way bigger than recommended, but I was going for a certain Effect. They give up output, but the lows are magnificent. Nobody that hears them believes that sound comes from only 2 12s.

I've thrown 1500 RMS each at them in that box just to try and hurt them mechanically and they stood up to it easily. The cone is aluminum, which helps it too.

Lanzar is supposed to be shipping the 1233 and 1533 soon, which are rated for 3000 RMS each, but, so far, I haven't been able to get my hands on any. I hope they don't blow at 2,400 watts, when my volume is on 19.