DC Sound Lab Level 4 D2 Full Review

[splblazer98 1]

This sub was tested in my 05 four runner. DbDrag style seald on the dash. This is only the 3rd time testing in this vehicle, but it works well because as an suv it has a large cargo area and doesnt have some rediculous peak like my old crx had. I ran into some heat issues throughout the day and this is only 2/3s of what I planned to test. Look for frequency plots in a few days.

SPL results

From the beginning of throwing the sub in the box i realized I had a decent spl sub on my hands. I started testing with very minimal power, 10.4 watts , just to show the effeciency of this sub and the fact that you do not need to drop 2000 watts on a driver for it to be loud. After throwing in a MD napalm to get a peak score for todays testing of 142.5 @ 48hz on 2453 watts to get a benchmark to base my results on I began upping the power. Here is the chart of my testing @ 48hz which was determinded to be peak frequency on lower power.

I reached a peak of 143.3 there and proceded to test at 49hz for higher power levels as peak frequency often shifts at higher dB levels. Sure enough 49hz was louder over 1000 watts. Here is the testing of 49 hz with a peak at 143.5 on 1700.16 watts.

After doing that testing I decided to try upping the frequency once again to 50hz at an even higher power level, from 1300watts up the 50hz was again louder than 48hz. 50hz was determined to be the peak frequency at the maximum power i tested at today. Testing at 51hz yeilded similar results to 49hz hence those are not charted.

here is my complete spread sheet with all my current test values for spl and power. As you can see i paused testing for 5 minutes to give the woofer a rest at 2000watts after i had been beating on it for over an hour with tones.

A note on the power this subwoofer can actually take. For SPL I would say around 2500-2700 watts for a burp is about the thermal limit for this sub. Mechanically this driver can take a little bit more, but in all reality you shouldnt need to push much more power through this driver.

In conclusion to compare this subwoofer to many other subs tested in this exact same box during the test session in a different vehicle it is among the top 5 loudest subs tested and for the power pushed to it its amazing how loud it actually was. I will be doing this same testing with an sx in a couple days to do a better head to head comparasion, but i believe the results show clearly how loud this sub can potentially get.

Daily listening results

To finish up the day I through the sub in a 1.8 cube box with a single 4" aero tuned around 35 hz to do some quick listening results before all daylight was gone. With my limited amount of power and time listening to the driver I would compare it mostly to a SX w/ improved sound. It produced music much more accurately than my sx's i had in the past in similar boxes. It still is not a Si mag, but for a daily driving sub for the average listener it will definately satisfy ones bass needs.

No pictures or videos of it installed in the daily install because of night time catching up with my testing, but i hope to have pics/vids of that up in the coming days.

Edit

One note on playing this subwoofer daily. When it comes from the buildhouse the suspension on this subwoofer is rather stiff. I through this sub into the daily listener before doing the spl portion of testing, and to be honest thought the sub sounded like an SX. After putting it through the spl testing and some time on 20hz tone and then back into the daily it sounded much better. Break in is a must for this driver, as the sound difference is night and day between the two.

To summarize all the results I would definatly recommend this sub to someone looking for a nice subwoofer to "ground pound" with. The everyday listener will enjoy the subs loud and decent sounding aspects. And for the pricing offered currently in the group buy over at Steve meades forum and SSA I would expect these subs to sell out quickly

A+ to DC Sound Lab for this subwoofer.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Nice review.

[splblazer98 1]

Id like to do one on a SSA sub

[DevilDriver 28]

Id like to do one on a SSA sub

Fork over the money for it and I'm sure you'll have no problem doing so.

[c0rrupted0ne 0]

very nice review.

Edited October 13, 2009 by c0rrupted0ne

[Noobtastic14 0]

Nice Review!

-Drew