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Showing content with the highest reputation on 07/07/2010 in all areas
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Welcome to the IHoP
1 pointTire siping creates more Leading edge's on the tires treads, basicly like having ALOT of little treads.1 point
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Welcome to the IHoP
1 pointEnclosure design time once again. The more, the merrier, valid for box orders Eat this JL Stealthbox design department !1 point
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Trouble Setting amp gains
1 pointAnd exactly how loud is that supposed to be? Every install has different variables that will affect the sound quality and output of it's components differently. If not, every competitor with a BTL would have the exact same score every time. Perhaps you just expected too much... Perhaps it is just an average install and you are expecting a competitor's install type output. If the output voltage is reading correctly, the amp gains are set right, period. It is now time to focus on the installation.1 point
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best 3k sub
1 point1 point
- Welcome to the IHoP
1 point- best 3k sub
1 pointIt is going to be very difficult to find a sub woofer that can comfortably handle that level of power and have a decent response curve. Wattage does not mean everything, and if this is for daily, there is no need to run that much power. Consider a higher quality amplifier, and maybe a single Fi BTL sub. In the right enclosure, you will be surprised. People need to get off this pissing match about wattage. 11vnetybugillion watts does not automatically equal huge output.1 point- Why is car audio so appealing.
1 pointThose were awesome. CAF has seemed like over the years it has mostly become an OT site with some heavy topics in there, with a sprinkling of car audio out in the audio sections from time to time, but few of those topics go very far or get into it that much. Here, guys like Neal, Sean, Brad, Nick, etc etc. the list goes on, the technical aspects are not going to get lost, and people are going to learn as a collective as we go along. I feel SSA is clearly one of the premier sites when it comes to the educated, or experienced approach to working on a car audio system. We have so many people who join up and just lurk so they can read the discussions here.1 point- Test tones, Sliding Tones, Pink Noise, all lossless for DL
Uncompressed audio as stored on an audio-CD has a bit rate of 1,411.2 kbit/s, over 4 times that of a 320 kbit/s MP3. Does this mean it is 4X as loud? Of course not. I am not sure what exactly it is you are trying to achieve with this one sided challenge of the difference in quality between an uncompressed format vs a compressed format. I would certainly prefer more accurate information as I set up my system. But really, it is up to the end user to decide what is best for them.1 point- 95 Eclipse Father/Son Project
1 pointWell I figured I needed to give some kind of update. The weather here has not been very cooperative. We did take a weekend off to go to Scrapin' the Coast which was fun but put us behind since it pretty much has rained on and off for the last two weeks. The paint work is really holding us up since nothing can really be solidly done until the paint is completed. This is how the car is sitting waitin' for some skin.... By sefugi at 2010-07-07 We did do a little project in our waitin'. We got a new center section for the rear of the car. Of course we had to make a mod to it. Since we are going with a aftermarket type spoiler which has no 3rd brake light we ran our wires to the center section and installed led's in the center section to give a 3rd brake light which will give brake lights across the complete rear of the car. We think it will be ok and set it apart from other vehicles on the road. Here are the pics of the process. By sefugi at 2010-07-07 By sefugi at 2010-07-07 By sefugi at 2010-07-07 By sefugi at 2010-07-07 By sefugi at 2010-07-07 By sefugi at 2010-07-07 That's all we have for now, if the weather gets better for the weekend might actually get something a little stronger to update with. Thanks for all the support!!1 point- Random Box built by Sound=Vibration
1 point- gauge size
1 pointUnless he plans to wrap the wire around his vehicle a few times for shits and giggles, it's not really going to matter. Iron Core Inductor FTW!1 point- Building my first IB subwoofer setup
My last setup was (4) Avalanche 15's in 12 cuft sealed with heavy EQ to get them down below 20 Hz. Honestly not quite enough with music. More than enough for watching movies. I am looking for effortless, clean, LOW bass with this setup. My front 3 are North Creek Rhythm Unlimited's from back when they came with the Scan Speak 9500 tweeter. Running each speaker on 335 watts RMS with a 50 Hz HP filter. Surrounds are the Standard Borealis kits with the 9500 tweeters. 200 watts RMS each with a 80 Hz HP filter. Rhythm_and_Borealis George broke-in and match all 8 7" drivers and the 5 tweeters. Cabinets are built just like the plans - they are heavy and solid! They are just an awesome sounding speaker. I built these speakers in October 2001 - This is the longest I have ever owned the same pair of speakers. No plans to replace them, unless I decide to build a set of line arrays like the ones I posted the build of here: Project over the past month. - SSA Car Audio Forum They are loud, but not as clean and do not image like the Rhythms, so I just keep going with what I have. . . Brian1 point- Why is car audio so appealing.
1 point- Help choosing a 10 inch midbass driver.
I would just get rough measurements. Your door is not completely sealed, it's more of a leaky sealed box, so your physical Vb is going to be different than the effective Vb. Without knowing the loss factor (i.e. the amount of the leaks) you aren't going to get it 100% accurate anyways. IIRC you basically have a pod built onto the door? You might get a rough measurement of that as well.....one thing you may consider doing, depending on what mids you are looking at, is to seal the pod. If you knew the volume you could calculate how that would affect the Qtc and Fc. You might be better off using a lower Qts lower Fs driver in a sealed enclosure to bump the Qtc up to the .6-.7 range since a high Q driver is going to be harder to find, and in your situation I would probably go for a higher Q alignment to try to get some more response in the 50-100hz range.1 point- Best 15" SPL Sub for Around $200?
I have an older Dual 2 ohm 15" SSA Icon (late '07 model) that would be perfect for ya. I haven't metered it but it's enough to cause very hard breathing to everybody that's sat in it thus far.1 point- Conclusion
1 pointI would be amazed if the 2006 4 runner doesn't have a 100 amp or better alternator. Likely more like 120-130 amps. Today's cars with all their accessories, electronics, and computer controls really require, and of course are outfitted with fairly high capacity alternators. (30 year ASE master certified technician here too, this isn't just talking out of my @$$) In fact, I quickly searched for the alt on google and found it is a 130 amp alt. 2006 toyota 4 runner alternator - Google Product Search1 point- Conclusion
1 pointI'd say at least 125, but I am an SQ guy who rarely ever pounds. But in my GN with a 1500 watt class AB and another 2X100 for comps i only have a 120 amp alt... well, it also has an AGM in the trunk... All things considered a 175-200 should be good for a DD ground pounder. Also, do the big 3. I know people recommend 1/0 but 4ga is enough for the short runs associated with the big 3. If you look at this chart you will see you can safely run 4Ga wire at 200 amps for runs up to 20 feet (although I would ideally like more for that distance). But look at the figures that matter... 200 amps can safely carry across 6 ga for 10 feet and 8 ga for 7 feet. Honestly, you shouldn't have a run longer then 7 feet, as ideally you want to complete the run with the shortest possible run to reduce the resistance in the circuit... But to be safe, double up on the minimum. Awaits the basting for not recommending 1/0 . But seriously, it's true.1 point- Conclusion
1 pointi can tell you are just getting started, so lets get a few basics out of the way. if you have a BTL then 1000w will work just fine, but you arent going to be maxing out your potential. if you are fine with this, get the 1000w amp. i would advise something in the 1500w to 2000w range tho. its always easier to start off with the "right " equipment than to have to buy something, sell it, and buy something else. that ends up getting expensive. as far as turning the sub on/off, yes you can do that with an EQ. But, you can also do that with a remote gain found commonly on larger amps. as far as your car and its electrical system, realize you need to do everything eventually. if you want to play with a big system, you are going to need the Big 3 done in 1/0, you are going to need at least 1 good battery, and you are going to need a better alternator. you can even do them in that order if you are on a budget. just realize that every thing you do is only going to make your system better. if you decide to skip something there will be consequences. like if you skip the alternator and get a second battery, then you will be fine until the batteries drain. you need to be able to recharge the batteries as fast as they are being drained. go too long without upgrading the alternator and you may end up with 2 dead batteries (fried is the wrong word. they will die from being overdrawn and cycled to death.) you may also want to read around on the12volt and bcae1.com. you will want to understand ohms law at least a little bit, and you will want a good digital multimeter and the knowledge of how to use it. and cheap and this hobby do not go together very well. you dont want the sound to be cheap do you? you get out of it what you put into it. so strive for quality equipment even if it means brown baggin it for a week or two.1 point- Conclusion
1 pointYour not going to get a good cheap alt. Pick one or the other, I suggest a good one. Give Rob a call at The Biggest And Baddest 100% USA Built High Output Alternators - DC Power Engineering1 point- Building my first IB subwoofer setup
What else is in the system? What are you powering these with, and how much space do you have behind that wall? That is almost 400 cubic feet required for minimum IB requirements. Of worthy note, it is best to build in room IB set ups in opposing manifolds to reduce movement and cancellation as well as increasing output, although with 8 18s output shouldn't be a concern. If it were my system, I would go with an opposing manifold on each side. Even with 2X6 construction there will be a lot of movement. By using opposing forces you effectively cancel out movement. I am still working up the nerve to cut into my ceiling to go IB, but I plan on doing it maybe next spring. I am thinking more along the lines of 2 ShivaXs, or maybe 2 Tempests on about 500 apiece though... I can't imagine 8 18" subs. But I will be watching this build, as I am with several others, to see what i can learn from others' mistakes1 point- Total Midbass Confusion
1 pointAlton brought up a good point with the phase. There are two different types of phase; Relative phase and absolute phase. The wiring of the speakers (having the positive wire from the amp connected to the positive terminal on the speaker) is relative phase. How the sound waves interact at the listening position (the "peak" of the soundwave from one speaker and the "peak" of the sound wave from the 2nd speaker both arriving at the listening position at the same time) is absolute phase. Relative phase isn't important. What we want is the speakers to be in absolute phase. Achieving this may require that we wire the speakers out of relative phase (reverse the polarity of one speaker relative to the other). Or, in other words, try reversing the speaker wires on one of the mids. Instead of connecting positive from the amp or crossover to positive on the speaker, try connecting the positive wire from the amp or crossover to the negative speaker terminal (and neg from the amp/crossover to pos on the speaker). This may help put the speakers in absolute phase in the midbass frequencies at the listening position, improving response. One word about phase, though. Since all wavelengths are different, some frequencies will be out of absolute phase while others will be in absolute phase. And reversing relative polarity will cause some frequencies to now be out of absolute phase while others will now be in absolute phase. This is one of the allures to using a 3-way front stage....you can wire the midranges out of relative phase without affecting the midbass (or vise versa). So, long story short.....just because all of the positives are wired to all of the positives doesn't mean everything is "in phase" when it reaches your head Unless I've still missed it.....where are your mids currently highpass? The crossover that comes with the speaker only handles lowpassing the mid, not highpassing it.1 point- Total Midbass Confusion
1 pointThere is a specific type of filter that is called a "shelf", and it is different than a standard HPF or LPF. I would be seriously surprised if your HU included an actual shelf filter. In fact I'd be very interested in know what HU that was as I don't know of any, and very few car audio processors actually have shelving capabilities. The graph of a standard HPF or LPF look like a gently rolling hill; a shelf filter looks like, well, a shelf (hence the name). DEH-P7200HD also a shelf will have a slope just depends how it's programmed soft knee or hard knee octave (Q) and decibals are all contributing factors. LPF and HPF are shelving filters they are basically true curve EQ's that turn down to "infinity" Also if you have a right angle shelf or cutoff point it will sound unatural and unpleasent, slopes are a must with shelves Since I have a recording and mixing backgroud been doing it for 7 years narrow definitions are a must This is where my understanding comes from. There are highpass shelving filters and lowpass shelving filters, but they are not the same as a "standard" highpass and lowpass filter. Your HU has highpass and lowpass filters, not shelving filters. The two should not be confused. Example of a Lowpass filter; Example of a Lowpass shelving filter;1 point- Total Midbass Confusion
1 pointDepends on who you talked to I wouldn't have many qualms with that range being loosely defined as "midbass". There isn't a universal chart that everyone in the audio industry uses to define those ranges. They are fairly arbitrary and specific to whatever source you are referencing. 120-150hz is by far the most narrow I've seen, and nobody else in this hobby is going to use such a narrow definition. So don't get confused when people on the forums or manufacturers use a completely different (and less stringent) definition for "midbass". There was actually another thread not long ago on this exact topic; What is considered Mid Bass? - SSA Car Audio Forum It depends on their reasons for saying that. There are some good reasons, and some not so good reasons. First and foremost, there is no set rules when it comes to setting crossovers in car audio. Well, I take that back....there is one rule. That rule; Set them to where ever sounds best. It's that simple. Really, that simple. No one on the internet can tell you where to set your crossovers points, there's far too many factors involved that can't be adequately analyzed over the internet. It's just not possible. There are a few caveats to this ofcourse. One would be the potential for physical damage to the driver due to overexcursion....this can be analyzed pretty well from modeling the drivers and noting their excursion over the bandwidth at a given power level. The other would be distortion. If a driver has been properly measured to exceed acceptable distortion performance, then crossing the driver so that it stays out of this range would be desirable. But pretty much, outside of that, it's whatever sounds best to you in your system. Crossover Slope Basics Read the link. If it's still unclear, feel free to ask and we can fill in the gaps.1 point- Total Midbass Confusion
1 pointThere is a specific type of filter that is called a "shelf", and it is different than a standard HPF or LPF. I would be seriously surprised if your HU included an actual shelf filter. In fact I'd be very interested in know what HU that was as I don't know of any, and very few car audio processors actually have shelving capabilities. The graph of a standard HPF or LPF look like a gently rolling hill; a shelf filter looks like, well, a shelf (hence the name).1 point- Total Midbass Confusion
1 pointI can't say I've ever seen a broadly accepted definition for "midbass". Just a simple google search for the definition of midbass results in 3 different frequency ranges from 3 different sources. The definition of "midbass" is going to vary depending on the source. There's no authority, that I'm aware of, that can or has defined the "official" range of frequencies that encompasses "midbass". Everyone's opinion and definition will vary. And just an FYI to others, when most people on the forums are discussing "midbass", as well as most manufacturers in our hobby, they are not talking about such a narrowly defined range. Here are the google search results; Regardless, our identification of sound and localization cues has little to do with what frequency range we arbitrarily define as being "midbass", and everything to do with the wavelength of the frequencies in relation to the dimensions of our head and the physiology of human hearing. If the slope of the crossover is decently steep, a subwoofer with a crossover point of 250hz should be pretty well within the realm of what I described above. That said, I wouldn't recommend a 250hz crossover point for a subwoofer for a number of other reasons. Without hearing the system, there are a number of reasons why the subwoofer might be obviously identifiable as being "behind" you. First would be any rattles/buzzing/humming/etc that may be coming from panels behind the listener. Second would be any mechanical noises that subwoofer might be producing. Third would be tactile sensations....for example, feeling the vibration of the back of the seat. That's a quick but certainly not comprehensive list of a few reasons.1 point- Total Midbass Confusion
1 pointLong subject. Unimaginably long subject. I'll try to condense it down into a digestible version. We localize midbass in the lateral plane only (i.e. left to right). We don't localize it on a vertical plane (high and low), and we don't localize it "front to back". Midbass is localized by way of what's known as Interaural Time Difference (ITD). That is, the brain localizes midbass laterally due a difference in the time arrival of the sound wave between the left ear and right ear. ITD dominates our localization ques in the frequency bandwidth where the wavelengths of the soundwave are longer than the distance between our two ears. Generally the more ITD you can generate, the wider the potential imaging. From this very basic knowledge, a couple things can be extracted. First, any midbass location that results in identical ITD will be indistinguishable to the ear....above your head, below your head, in front of you, behind you, it doesn't matter......as long as the ITD stays the same, your ears and your brain won't know the difference. Second thing we should notice is that worst location for a midbass is at a location that results in an ITD of zero; that would be directly in front of you, direct behind you, or directly above you. Related to this, since "imaging" in the lateral plane is a function of ITD, the "best" midbass location is a location that results in maximum ITD (i.e. the wider you can get the speakers, the better). Now, a few caveats to this: First, hearing rattling/buzzing/etc as a result of the midbass speakers exciting panel resonances (door panels, etc) or other noises will ruin the illusion. Second, the speakers must be operated within the bandwidth where ITD is the mode of localization. If you operate the driver outside of this bandwidth (this includes driver distortion, etc), then other factors will begin to contribute to our localization of the sound. Proper time alignment of the midbass drivers will need to be maintained with the other drivers in the system as well as between the midbass drivers themselves. Lastly (I think lastly, I'm typing this up semi-quickly), this does not take into consideration the effects of other factors such as reflections or other anomalies. In the midbass region, the physical aiming of the driver doesn't matter. The wavelengths are very large in comparison to the diameter of the cone. What this means is that the frequency response on-axis and off-axis is going to be identical. You don't need to worry about trying to aim the drivers at the listener or anywhere in particular. There is going to be no difference in response between being directly on-axis and 60* off-axis, for example. Drivers operating within a bandwidth where the sound is non-directional (i.e. no difference between on-axis and off-axis sound) are said to be in their "piston range". So, what did we learn from this very brief primer to midbass? Yes, you can mount midbass drivers behind you....your brain doesn't know the difference. Mount the drivers as wide as possible to maximize ITD. Aiming the drivers doesn't matter.1 point- Total Midbass Confusion
1 pointThe remedial version is this: All of those factors you mentioned can't be ignored. They all need to be considered when selecting a driver. How much and how important different factors are is going to depend on different variables. The skinny is that if you are not a discerning audiophile, chances are good we could toss out a selection of 5 drivers, you could pick your favorite based on aesthetics alone (Ooh, that one looks pretty!) and you would end up a happy camper. However, I would want to find out more about your current installation, setup and equipment before recommending you spend money and time installing midbass drivers. Where are your current speakers installed? Do you have sound deadening applied? What are your current speakers (not just brand, but model)? What are your current crossover settings for the mids and subs? What subwoofers are you using? What do you feel you system is "missing"? What headunit are you using, and does it have any equalizer adjustments?1 point- Will 1 Fi.Q 12 be louder than 2 CVR's?
q sounds better, i know from experience... i prefer 1 Q 12" over 2 kicker cvr 12's..tested this one a few different times.. q sounds better ... ..tested witha AP15001 amp in a 08 grand prix. CVR's in optimal box, Q in optimal cuft box also.. Q wins1 point- Sub Comparison pics
1 point- problems with amp running 2 fi ssd's
-1 pointsCan the inputs on the ap1500.1 fit 0 gauge? If so you should switch to all 0 gauge wire and do the big three. Maybe add a second battery in the back. Electrical is the most important thing in your install because without a good one, everything fails.-1 points - Welcome to the IHoP