BEST 18 INCH SUBWOOFER for MY setup!!!! help out guys thanks :)

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

If no one clipped their amp reckoned would be scare..In most fields continuous is considered over 30 seconds, it depends on what standard you use..

But your correct, the original standard put in place was white noise for 8 hours..

I believe that's inaccurate when rating a speaker though..

I'd use pure test tones for 10 minutes unclipped and rate it at that..

We all know music is dynamic but like you said they have boosted tracks and it can be harmful if your not careful..

All in all the highend woofers can take 2500 if you not clipping the **** out um..

Back in the old dd9500d days I put 3200 to a single woofer with no problem..

The new ones take 4kw if your mindful.

Any of the woofers will do fine..

Go ahead and give one of them 4000W clamped power and let me know how many tracks you get through on your average rap CD. I bet you couldn't even get through "Black Sabbath" cd which is 1969 metal and only 5 songs (actually it's a bad @ss CD)

Pink noise is a good test for amplifiers, not so much for woofers IMO. The biggest manufacturer of speakers in the USA uses the 60hz 8 hour method to determine their "MAX POWER" rating with half that for their continuous power rating, knowing full well that 80% of people will see a max rating of 1200W and hook up 1000W amp to it and clip the hell out of their favorite Lil Wayne CD and clip the hell out of it. Rating by this method you almost guarantee you won't see any returns. Rating speakers any other way is really expecting a lot of responsibility on the part of the end user which in the world of retail in America just flat out doesn't work most of the time.

That Sundown 2500 is a beast and fully capable of blowing any single woofer if you're not careful.

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

OP is NOT going to clamp 4kw out of his 2500, even if wired to .5ohm with ZERO rise. But I agree a 2500watt amp can kill any sub out there if you're not paying attention.

2 18" HDC3's with copper coils would be quite loud off that amp and should take the power all day long, assuming it's clean...

 

[Mitch86 5,000+ posts]

I get your point hispl..but really you're just arguing to be arguing. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif I don't think anyone here thinks their sub will take 2500 watts clamped power for 8 hours straight on a test tone. But we are talking real world, dynamic music situations. Just like anything else though, you have to be careful when pushing things to their limits for extended periods.

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

It was clamped for burps.. I didn't bup it for more than a couple secs

I could run it all day on those amps..

I've seen a few woofers handle a clean 2500 clamped on music..

If you want to rate your drivers like that be my guest,

Just don't tell others how to..

Also rms is .707 of peak..

If everyone rated their drivers like that people wouldnt be impressed..

I'm a industrial electrician and work with some of the most knowledgable engineers around

According to catipillar Allen bradley amount other companies..

Rating a woofer should be done buy measuring coil tempatures under normal operating temps to avoid any parameter variance, but who does that?

The ratings are pretty realistic..

They account for impedance rise and understand these things..

I'm positive that any of the woofers rated for 2500 like the mayhem,zcon

99 ets will easily take a 2500 even clipped 5%.. On music properly implemented..

 

[Echo42987 10+ year member]

Scratch all your choices and do a wall of Sundown 8"'s //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

Scratch all your choices and do a wall of Sundown 8"'s //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Time to derail this thread for just a second, I really like your sig.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

IMO continuous power handling means just that CONTINUOUS. I have run single subs on 3K, 4K, and 6KW. My point is it is misleading to say "XYZ-****** brand sub can take 2500W no problem" when you don't know how it is going to be used. Not knowing what his impedence curve is or what his definition of a "song" is, it's irrisponsible to say that he won't have any problem with a single sub on that amp.
The 1200W test tone for 8 hours is extreme, but I'll wager most subs will fail in under 20 minutes at 2000W with test tones (that's basically half a Young Jeezy cd depending on impedence curve of the sub).

The point is if you use a pair of subs you'd have to really really try to hurt them with that amp (assuming they're good quality 3" coil), with a single sub you'll need to use your head or you'll be on here asking why your 3000W rated sub blew up.

It's not as hard to run power like that as your are making it out to be.

 

[Echo42987 10+ year member]

It's ok. The thread isn't going anywhere productive.....

 

[GAMEOVERCCA 10+ year member]

IA DP18, the right box, 2500rms... call it a day

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

2 Fi SSD 18's //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[GAMEOVERCCA 10+ year member]

2 Fi SSD 18's //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

no.. IA DP's with a buck designed box... simple as that..

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

It's not as hard to run power like that as your are making it out to be.

Nor is it hard to blow up a woofer with an amp like that Sundown 2500. Too many variables to say. I wouldn't hesitate running that power or more to a single sub myself, but I certainly wouldn't sell a sub and tell someone they could run it "all day long" on 3KW without a worry.

 

[TeamElite-Mike 10+ year member]

Also no single woofer will really handle 2500W continuous power. They can be made to handle much more mechanically, but thermal limit on a 3" coil is 1200W and 1600W on 4" coil with possibly a 10% variance depending on "cooling" options, number of layers, etc.... OF course coils made with inferior materials will fail sooner, this is assuming Precision Econowind coils.
Before someone claims whatever sub they have a stiffy for will hold double that. I challange you to take any woofer you like, and run a true 2500W (clamped power, not just a 2500w amp) to it at 60hz for 8 hours and let me know how well your woofer took whatever preposterous power level you think it'll handle.

These thermal ratings have been proven in laboratory settings and it has been observed that at power levels even slightly above this they begin generating excess heat very quickly.

Long story short, depending on your listening habits you may be better served with a pair of 15's. That or learn to use your volume knob appropriately and/or learn to do your own recones and buy something for which you can get reasonably priced softparts.

Maybe if you stopped posting ridiculous crap like this and worked on your truck you'd be loud and have some credibility, our XXX with a 4" coil WILL hold 3k for music for a long time before heating up and it will hold 4500w for about 4-5 minutes of music before we smell it, and that's clamped power. Then again, I have actually tested it instead of talking about it. Maybe that's why I'm not stuck below a 150 still.

 

[TeamElite-Mike 10+ year member]

for my setup i have a astro van so space for the box is NOT an issue..

*my electrical is moderate - i have one yellow top batterie with an upgraded alternator 200+ amps the big three upgrade an 4 gauge wiring,

*Powering the one SUB WOOFER would be my SUNDOWN SAZ 2500D.

*as far as box i will be getting a custom built huge cubic feet ported box

& this is the list Ive composed so far of the best 18 inch sub woofers anyone have suggestions or preferences as fare as price everyday use an HIGH spl an ok SQ

this is not in a specific order but yea..

1)FI SP4 18 -

2)SSA ZCON - 510.10 shipped

4)PSI Platform $526.18 shipped

5)NITESHADE $574.99 shipped

6)sundown Z3 499.99 without shipping

7)AUDIO QUE HDC4 $589 shipped

all ur hellp would be appreciated thanks alot!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/suicide.gif.a649d21efc0d1fd4890a6428166586c1.gif

I would vote the nightshade. The hdc4 would be my second choice.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Maybe if you stopped posting ridiculous crap like this and worked on your truck you'd be loud and have some credibility, our XXX with a 4" coil WILL hold 3k for music for a long time before heating up and it will hold 4500w for about 4-5 minutes of music before we smell it, and that's clamped power. Then again, I have actually tested it instead of talking about it. Maybe that's why I'm not stuck below a 150 still.

Got those figures from one of the guys who did extensive testing in the early prototype days of the TRF and have been verified in a laboratory by the largest speaker buildhouse in North America. I didn't just pull that out of my arse.

I've built 4 boxes and 8 subs already this year, so I'd say I spend plenty of time working on things and testing. I've broken dozens of subs over the years so I feel I have a fair bit of hands on testing with breaking woofers.

Out of curiosity what would I need to do to be worthy of credibility?

I'm quite confident you know what you're doing enough to run those power levels to woofers, my entire point is to not lead people to believe that their stuff will be indestructible at 3KW. I would say if you spent more time on here reading posts of people blowing up subs not understanding why you would see why I use the extreme definition of power handling.