is xmax everything

[king ranch 5,000+ posts]

i have been reading some threads talking bout xmax and what sub would win in spl and just loud street beating subs

so would a sub that has twice the xmax be louder than the other sub but say both in ideal box specs and getting exact power

so a 12" l7 in a ideal box on 750rms compared to another sub that has more xmax and same power rating and in the ideal box

just curious

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[king ranch 5,000+ posts]

say a 12" l7 in a ideal box on 800rms

and a 12" fi ssd in a ideal box on 800rms

and both tested in same vehicle which one would be louder for street beating and just everyday listening

 

[delvryboy 5,000+ posts]

actual spl or music?

for a spl only box, xmax isn't going to make a difference

 

[king ranch 5,000+ posts]

music wise just for everyday listening for loudness no meter or nothing

also you would have to consider cone area is a lil more for the l7 as well would that make up for the xmax loss because i know the xmax isnt that great for the 08 l7's anyone know what it is

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

i have been reading some threads talking bout xmax and what sub would win in spl and just loud street beating subs
so would a sub that has twice the xmax be louder than the other sub but say both in ideal box specs and getting exact power

so a 12" l7 in a ideal box on 750rms compared to another sub that has more xmax and same power rating and in the ideal box

just curious

Xmax is linear cone excursion limit. In sealed boxes, pretty much yes its directly proportional to output potential. Assuming the enclosure its placed in allows it to reach full xmax.
In ported boxes its much more complex, cone excursion is greatly limited by the enclosure itself. The closure the music note is to tuning, the more restriction the enclosure offers on cone motion, the less cone motion you have.

Some people wonder why vented systems display the least cone motion at or near tuning, but also show the most output at these freqs. This is because even though cone motion is minimalized, giving less direct radiated sound, the enclosure is at its most efficient, so the port is exhibiting more output. The increase in port efficiency is greater than the loss in direct radiated sound from the cone motion decreasing, giving you an over all greatest output level. This is all ignoring outside influences like cabin gain.

 

[king ranch 5,000+ posts]

ok so back to my question a l7 in a ported box ideal tuned to 35hz and on 800rms

compared to a ssd on 800rms in ideal box ported to 35hz which one would be louder for everyday listening on music

ssd has more xmax than l7 but l7 has more cone area

is that why the l7 doesnt have much xmax because it makes up for it on the cone area

its just a thought that popped up in my head when i seen the orion xmax ratings

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Lets try it this way. One *stomp* means yes. Two *stomps* means no. And three *stomps* means it depends.

*stomp* *stomp* *stomp*

 

[TeoTorriatte 10+ year member]

In a sealed enclosure, piston area * Xmax will determine total potential linear displacement. So in this case, yes... if you have the power to move the driver to that point, a 12" sub with 27mm Xmax is going to be louder than a 12" with 12mm Xmax. Now, the driver with lower Xmax could very well be quite a bit louder with low power, but once it reaches excursion limits, the driver with the longer stroke will take over.

A ported enclosure is a totally different animal, especially when referring to SPL comp setups. Motor strength comes into play a lot more, but suspension travel does still need to be great enough to move a lot of air. With a ported enclosure, the port will move the most air when the driver itself is moving the least.

In the case of ported SPL setups, you send the sub a ton of power at tuning (preferably close to the car's resonant frequency) and the port moves a lot of air. If you can come up with enough power to get a driver with a ton of suspension travel (different than Xmax) to reach limits at tuning, you will likely put up some pretty good numbers (providing all your other ducks are in a row).

Oh snap, audioholic beat me to this... oh well, I'm posting it anyways... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[king ranch 5,000+ posts]

ok thanks for the exellent responses i was just curious about this

 

[97gp 5,000+ posts]

Lets try it this way. One *stomp* means yes. Two *stomps* means no. And three *stomps* means it depends.
*stomp* *stomp* *stomp*

You might need to break it down a little more, he's a little slow.

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

I had a 15" XXX and a 15" L7. On 2kw, the L7 was louder on most notes, even though it has 1/2 the xmax. It's not everything.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Yes in a ported setup motor strength and power handling/heat dissipation capabilities become a much greater factor in peak output potential than does simple xmax. But that is looking at the situation as a single frequency burp, for absolute peak potential. In a musical setting, the reproduction varies in frequency, cone excursion is all over the place.

 

[king ranch 5,000+ posts]

ok thanks i was just wondering bc if xmax is everything then i have the wrong subs haha

what is xmax of a 12" 08 l7

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

I had a 15" XXX and a 15" L7. On 2kw, the L7 was louder on most notes, even though it has 1/2 the xmax. It's not everything.

You are comparing two subs with largely different surface areas, contrary to the 15 vs 15 implication. That is hardly a good comparison of excursion as it relates to output.
Just sayin.

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

You are comparing two subs with largely different surface areas, contrary to the 15 vs 15 implication. That is hardly a good comparison of excursion as it relates to output.
Just sayin.

Ok, well let me change subs here. I just brought up the L7 because we were talking about L7s here.

I had an HD3 after the XXX and the HD3 made the XXX sound wimpy. (Although the XXX sounded much, much better //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif)