I just learned that although the frequency response may say 20hz-250hz, that doesn't mean it actually gets down to 20hz with little distortion and same sensitivity. So a sub could say it gets 20hz but the distortion could be crazy at even a low volume. This worries me. How do I know the distortion at certain frequencies for subs? BTW I'm looking at kickers, alpines, and jl audio for the most part.
Heres a generalization..... Even a tweeter will do 20 Hz... Just because a driver says it will do 20 Hz does not mean it will "effectively" perform good at that frequency. There are lots of things to consider. First of all in the mobile enviorment, there is not enough length in the cabin to even come close to reproducing those frequencies. (yes they can be felt from resonance and air movement) . Second, MOST recordings do not contain any measurable levels of output at that range. Several other factors are involved including box design..... Lets not worry too much about how a driver does at 20 Hz. Lets concentrate on say....from 35Hz on up...this is where you get the boom bass you want. If i remember right, for every octave going down, too achieve the same SPL you have to quadrouple the cone excursion....Someone correct me if I am wrong please..... Lets worry about where the music most listen too is, not subsonic artifacts that really dont matter! Thats my 2 cents on the issue....whether anyone likes it or not!
i have L7, W6,W3,W1...i don't think you'll have to worry much about distortion from those at decent power ranges. the W6 and L7 seem pretty resilient to over driving from my experience as well. I prefer to use subsonic filter, especially with ported even though my music probably doesn't do much below 40hz anyway
you may suck up some amplifier power trying to reproduce those very low frequencies that are barely present and really are not gonna get you any gains...I am with Viking...it is better to concentrate on what you will use...The distortion factor of the amp and freq response of the amp are probably more important too...
it is true what viking said... unless your a select few that listen to program material that has been remixed to reproduce deep sub 30HZ notes.. sure its not regular music, but at shows its more for show off purposes. my truck has been metered on a TL doing 135.4 @ 28~30HZ.. not too loud( but deep), but for a single 12'' sub on 900 watts, it isn't too bad. so yes focus on what you do listen too. if your not going to listen to slowed/remixed music then don't worry about playing down below 35HZ.
Actually, you are wrong. Most rap songs go well below 35Hz. Here is how I proved this: I hooked up an EQ and cut off every frequency below 30Hz. Then I played several rap songs through it and what do you know, some of the bass notes just DISAPPEAR! Thus proving that those frequencies below 35Hz are very important to me. Some songs I was able to get away with cutting below 25Hz but that was rare. Test 2: I hooked up a spectrum EQ and could see the bass notes filling up the entire 20-30Hz range. The EQs I was working with don't go below 20Hz so for all I know the bass could have used up even lower frequencies that 20Hz if you let it lol So, with that being said, I am determined to achieve those frequencies. I'm not doing IB anymore: I REPEAT I AM NOT DOING INFINITE BAFFLE ANYMORE! This will open up a lot more options for me. What I actually want to do is put maybe two 15"s here: Build a sealed enclosure and attatch it to that baffle board with added support.
Every EQ and spectrum display have what is called a "Q" factor too them. This is how wide or narrow the particular freq. affects adjacent bands. Essentially by doing what you did you rolled off the frequencies adjacent them. Just because an EQ says.."30Hz" on that particular adjustment, does not mean that is the ONLY freq it effects. It will also influence 20, 25,35,40, 45 Hz....... Let me see if I can dig up a pic somehow to better explain this.....
no I used an extermely steep roll off. I used software to do this... I can see exactly what frequencies are effected etc.
if you want your sub bass to play very deep building a huge ass sealed box for those 15's should work. the bigger the box the more efficient it becomes and power handling goes down. look for subs that will fit your build first, don't just go buy the cheapest sub you can afford. do some research.
