Explain to me how this works....

[MitchZ 10+ year member]

Theres a difference between "Loudness" and "Pressure" right?

Explain how each would work....

4 subs @ 2500 RMS (625 each)

1 sub @ 2500 RMS

I'm guessing the 1 sub would be louder, but the 4 subs would have higher Pressure.

So what could be heard from further away, what would shake / vibrate houses more?

Thanks!

Click to read more...

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Loudness is measured by pressure (SPL), so I fail to understand what you are asking.

The four versus 1 sub question would depend on many variables.

 

[MitchZ 10+ year member]

Well earlier today, I was running 4 subs @ 2 Ohms, ~1500RMS.

and I also tried 2 subs @ 4 ohms, ~1500 RMS.

The 2 subs felt "Louder", but the 4 subs gave me a killer headache and I could feel the pressure.

So I'm guessing with 4 subs, it can be heard from further away?

 

[danz24 10+ year member]

free bump i want to know the difference also

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Well earlier today, I was running 4 subs @ 2 Ohms, ~1500RMS.and I also tried 2 subs @ 4 ohms, ~1500 RMS.

The 2 subs felt "Louder", but the 4 subs gave me a killer headache and I could feel the pressure.

So I'm guessing with 4 subs, it can be heard from further away?

So, you have concluded that rather than it being a specific cause of your system, vehicle, environment, etc... you've concluded any difference you perceived was due solely to the number and size of cones present in the stereo?
Apparently we aren't even comparing the same speakers?

 

[Fast1one 10+ year member]

You are leaving out a lot of information...there are simply too many variables to conclude that more subs cause more "pressure" then less...its dependent on cone area, cabin gain, box positioning, design, subwoofers, etc...

 

[danz24 10+ year member]

He also wanted to know if the terms pressure and loudness are different or if they mean the same thing

 

[hoxie08 5,000+ posts]

wtf

 

[94Mazda626 10+ year member]

Well the measurement for loudness is Sound Pressure Level (SPL), not thathard to figure out in my opinion.

 

[Fast1one 10+ year member]

He also wanted to know if the terms pressure and loudness are different or if they mean the same thing

Audioholic took care of that in post #2 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/cool.gif.3bcaf8f141236c00f8044d07150e34f7.gif

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

He also wanted to know if the terms pressure and loudness are different or if they mean the same thing

There is a difference between sound pressure level and perceived loudness due to our hearing inaccuracies.

120db @ 20hz is much different than 120db @ 1khz to the ear (the later would deafen you). Or in a less extreme example, 120db @ 20hz will sound different in loudness to the ear than 120db @ 70hz. This is one of the reasons for the old adage that what's loud to the ear might not be loud to the mic.....and the reason someone may have a considerably higher Termlab score without sounding to the ear noticeably louder (especially when dealing with extremely high SPL levels, where our hearing is even more inaccurate and highly distorted).

So saying SPL = loudness is technically true, but doesn't account for the inaccuracies of our human perceptions which can make the previous statement "not true" from a perceived loudness standpoint.

 

[MitchZ 10+ year member]

So, you have concluded that rather than it being a specific cause of your system, vehicle, environment, etc... you've concluded any difference you perceived was due solely to the number and size of cones present in the stereo?
Apparently we aren't even comparing the same speakers?

Same vehicle, same enviroment - we're comparing two things ffs!

1 10" vs 4 10"s.

There is a difference between sound pressure level and perceived loudness due to our hearing inaccuracies.
120db @ 20hz is much different than 120db @ 1khz to the ear (the later would deafen you). Or in a less extreme example, 120db @ 20hz will sound different in loudness to the ear than 120db @ 70hz. This is one of the reasons for the old adage that what's loud to the ear might not be loud to the mic.....and the reason someone may have a considerably higher Termlab score without sounding to the ear noticeably louder (especially when dealing with extremely high SPL levels, where our hearing is even more inaccurate and highly distorted).

So saying SPL = loudness is technically true, but doesn't account for the inaccuracies of our human perceptions which can make the previous statement "not true" from a perceived loudness standpoint.

That pretty much sums it up. Thanks! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/veryhappy.gif.fec4fed33b4a1279cf10bdd45a039dae.gif

I just perceive 2 subs to be louder.

But when 4 subs come, I get the headache.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

lol

 

[1991Brougham 10+ year member]

Along the lines of "if everyone flushed their toilets at the same time, what would happen". I wonder how many subs bumpin'-n-burpin' it would take to have some sort of global effect, like shaking a city? With resonance kicking in, could enough subs cause a building to tumble?

Reading about how one setup was loud but the other gave the user a headache made me wonder about going up to an even higher level of sub activity. Why give headaches when one can do even (possibly) more...LOL!

If everyone with a sub in SoCal let them rip at an appointed time, it would be fun to find out what would happen, especially with all the mountains around to cause some interesting echo effects.

Two, four? How about half a million or more of those puppies all barking loudly!

Rick

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Same vehicle, same enviroment - we're comparing two things ffs!1 10" vs 4 10"s.

You originally said you guessed the one sub would be 'louder', but the four subs would 'have higher pressure'. Why would you guess this?
Did you read what squeak wrote? He said perceived sound 'loudness' can vary depending on frequency. You are asking about differences in cone area.

Your question was based upon 1 sub, versus 4 subs, both getting equal power. Where are you factoring in this frequency change you now conclude is the discrepancy?

The point Im getting at is your question implies an answer that will generalize that either the single sub setup, or the four sub setup, will outperform the other given a certain criteria (SPL or perceived volume based on freq). This generalization would be only that, a generalization.