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I'll put in my 2 cents since this is not a specific manufacturers forum. Both drivers have close enough mechanical parameters that they would behave the same nearly the same in the same box. Both drivers have the same motor force 288.75 for the sp4 and 288 for the evil. Yes the evil has more BL due to more "L" length in coil wire. However this also increases resistance which has to be taken into account. However the Evil has a slightly higher SPL rating .2 increase. Due to the slightly better Mms weight and motor force ratio due to the 10 gram lighter moving mass. So in a world on paper the Evil would be ever so slightly louder in an enclosure where the drivers would reach xmax at 3,000 watts. However in an alignment that took 3,250 watts to reach xmax the Evil would have an ever so slightly more advantage being the sp4 could not displace as much air due to not hitting xmax. However it would not be enough to be audiblly different due to the minute difference. So as a customer in my opinion it comes down to one thing. Fi prides itself in being a DIY company. It expects its customers to be able to take the info given and help themselves in enjoying the product. Which in return allows for a less expensive product. SSA on the other hand is a dealer network company and prides itself in bring able to work hand in hand and guide the customer. This of course take time and time is money. So there comes into play the slightly higher costs. So it comes down to what type of customer you are. Are you the one that can handle the expected wait time (you are told prior to purchasing) and can use the product at a DIY'er or do you need daily updates on product status and enclosure recommendations and install help.

In laymen's terms an amp amplifies the signal going in to it. Your headunit may put out 2 volts where a line driver may put out 6 volts. Lets just say the amp is capable of amplifying that signal 10 times. Now per the works of Mr Ohm voltage times the current going though a resistor creates power. The resistance of the resistor (speaker in this case) determines current flow. (Not going into that on this explanation) Now a one ohm speaker will always pull the same amount of current (not getting into inductance not going there here). Lets just pick a easy rhetorical number and say a one ohm speaker will allow 10 amps to go through it. Now the amp hooked to the radio turns that 2 volt signal to 20 volts coupled with the current flow of the one ohm speaker you get 200 watts. Now the same amp hooked to the line driver turns that 6 volt signal to 60 volts coupled with the current flow of the speaker you get 600 watts. But all amps have "gain adjustments". This adjustment is there to compensate for the voltage coming from your source. Most amps will work from say .5 volts up to 10 volts. So you just adjust it so the amp puts out rated power. Which is directly related to the voltage it puts out and the resistance of the speaker. Bc a 1 ohm speaker will allow more current than a two ohm speaker the amp doesn't have to multiply that voltage as much to achieve the same output power. (Remember voltage x current = power) Now amps can only multiply that signal so many times. So if the amp will only put out 600 watts at one ohm (the 60volts x the 10 amps) but you want 1,000 watts to ur one ohm speaker the I ly way to get there is to increase voltage. So you use the line driver to bump the input voltage to 10 volts which the amp multiples to 100 volts. However the amp can't accurately handle 100 volts (akind to hooking a 110 volt toaster to 220 outlet) so it puts out clipped signals or could be destroyed. So, to answer the question a line driver is only needed when your input voltage is so low that it falls below the range of the amps "Gain adjustment". Which is normally so low that a line driver is not needed.

So the answer is that you don't have any valid test measurements demonstrating that the amps exceed the factory power specs as you previously stated, as you are relying on those two [meaningless] clamp tests as the evidence that they exceed rated power ?

I understand why vs threads aren't allowed but this one is something I've been wondering about also. Op has legitimate questions. We ask this info from manufacturers all the time. I'm tuned in for the answer

Hi SSA, 1- I want to know what's a line driver specifically for? 2- Also is it worth having? 3- I've heard that the higher the voltage the better, but I don't really know what is meant by that. Please explain. 4- I have an Audiocontrol Eql concert series, does this have a line driver? My hu is a Jvc KD-R730BT. Thank you.

All amplifiers will run @ 12v I guess I should have been clearer the amps operate from 10v to 16v or from 10v to 18v In that case it would be helpful if you listed what voltage was used per output reading. All those are @ 14v

Well that's your opinion and you are entitled to it so if you have any more questions feel free to ask. One thing about us you will find out we aren't here to deceive or lie to make a sale of amplifier. We are used to all the doubt as we have been through this for the past year. He's not stating you're out to lie, cheat,or do a disservice to the customer. He is stating a FACT that the testing methods are not a valid comparison to the measuring practices used by the factory, and even then we're assuming the factory is measuring them Properly as well. We're not trying to be hard on you, we are simply trying to convey that the member base here knows better than to put validity in clamp tests and other "simple" methods. IT's not an opinion, it is a FACT. Others may use it, and there is a certain group of people who do think because Bob and Jim use it in their youtube videos that it must be the way it's done.

There are only 3 situations in which a line driver is needed. 1) When you are using a very low preamp voltage source (such as an MP3 player) and it's output is below the level necessary to drive the amplifier to the necessary power levels. Almost any headunit on the market will have sufficient output voltage to drive almost any amp on the market to full power output. 2) When you have unavoidable noise induced into the system during signal transmission and you need to boost the signal to increase your signal to noise ratio (this will be very rare) 3) When you have a low voltage headunit and the amps makes an unacceptable amount of thermal noise with the high gain setting (though this is more a fault of the amplifier than the signal voltage level) That said, line driver is sometimes a generic term and a product that features a line driver will something also offer other useful features such as equalization. But that's a different situation entirely. My comments above were specifically in regards to the line driver feature.

They weren't tested using a valid test methodology with calibrated equipment and compared to the factory specifications using the same thresholds. Which means the answer to my question is no, and the claim that they produce more than rated power is unproven and unsupported. Normally a company makes a claim when they have the evidence to actually support it. Nothing against your amps. But you have nothing to actually support your claim, and unsupported claims I do have a problem with. It's misleading and breeds ignorance among consumers. Especially when a company is using something as useless as a clamp test to verify their "rated power" and promoting it as the evidence that they exceed "rated power".

The primary purpose of the line driver is to keep you line voltage up by sourcing more current. Not needed most of the time...

Well in my case it is not free shipping since I in alaska so.. do I get 250$ off? ;P haha, anyway I do have a lot of respect for both companies, and I really like the way the evil is presented and such as a product. Which for me is why I consider it even if it was the exact same loudness and such. One thing I would recommend is for SSA to somehow try to pull it further from the SP4 if it is quite different in reality. Its all in the marketing I guess, the way its presented. Which they did pretty good with the whole Evil name and look, but if they could take it a littler further somehow more so in specs than presentation. Just my thoughts so far.

you are hilarious when it comes to that hate button! lol I think Mark and Aaron should set it up like it use to be so people can see who hated on them []

Build the enclosure for desired response, not system power

I met my new bitch today. Apparently part of my gig is getting an apprentice. While that may seem to be a downside, I am actually pretty pleased. I am definitely not a natural. I have worked with and know guys who are just gifted, born that way. I am not, I have spent a lot of time learning in school, and most importantly from other techs. I always listen, and have learned from master mechanics and guys who couldn't change a spare tire. I have gotten very good, and I share my knowledge with anyone who asks. So it is kind of cool that I can be that guy. Plus I get paid for what he does to help me.

Build it a bigger box.

Funny that no one gave him any real helpful info... Except free domestic shipping. But is that enough to justify a $250 difference? I'd imagine the evil would be slightly louder on the same power given that the specs show it having more motor force. Everything else is damn near the same. It would honestly be good info for users to have, maybe give examples, this driver might be better for this and this one is better for that.

personally I try to hide all my wiring as best as possible, so I don't care if it looks pretty. And besides, what is so wrong with plain black wire? Myself my power is red and my ground is black, but I've had this wire for about 7 years now, and in multiple vehicles. Everytime my vehicle changes I pull out the system and wiring, look it all over and inspect it for any possible damage, then re-install. So money well spent for me. I see no need for blue/silver/pink/purple/green etc... When someone tells me that they can get wire in all different jacket colours all I see are $ signs.

This has come up a lot lol but to answer your question you kinda have to see one in person to better understand. The amps have the same amount of components as any other amp but just say instead of 8 small transformers on the power side there are 4 double stacked used. Same for the ones on the output side instead of 4 there are 2 double stacked. Our amps are a little taller than most companies because of this. As far as the capacitors its the same instead of using a lot of smaller ones we just use fewer larger ones. We could have used the same board layout as everyone else but what would have been the point. That would have been a waste of everyone's time and effort. Hope this answers your question. Well thanks a lot for answering my question! That actually helps a lot. So, knowing the information you've provided, what are some of the pros/cons when using few larger ones vs several smaller ones? (ones being the capacitors and the transformers or any of the other amplifier components.) Mainly this was done to make a smaller amplifier for the given power size mainly in length is where the difference is . Width may be a little smaller than some other companies but honestly our amps should be about the same width wise. Now as far as pros or cons I really cant say to be honest. Its just the way that the boards were designed, they are designed to be very efficient and that they are. They have exceeded all the factory specs power wise even for what they are rated to do @ their 1 ohm rating. How are factory specs measured, surely a digital multimeter, pocket oscilloscope, and clamp meter are just for marketing?

nice bro! am i reading that right you peaked at 33 hz!?

it will be fine,.

nice!

3 years later....... and that wont happen these are jacobs comp boxs.