just wondering about cheap brands

[optimusprime 10+ year member]

why are they cheaper is seems like they are made of the same materials and pretty much the same technology. is it becuase they are falsely advertised to have higher ratings? i mean as i read earlier that my lanzar optsw124 sub that is rated for 500 rms would probably actually only handle 300 i thought to myself well thats not really that bad for 37 bucks and i tried to find other subs that were big name brands that were comparable in specs and checked the prices and every one was at least double. id really like to hear what you guys think about this and what exactly is the difference between them other than the false advertising. please try to remember im still new to all this so this is actually a question and not someone being sarcastic im really trying to learn here.

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[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

hey man, im from poland spring //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

lots of those subs that claim to take x amount of power will hardly take any of it. and even if they do, chances are it will sound like total cap while doing so.

 

[optimusprime 10+ year member]

nice to see another mainer on here but thats what im asking is does my 12" that will take 300 watts but is over rated as 500 rms sound as good as a big brand that doesnt over rate their subs and is actually rated at 300watts?

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

all depends on which one you're talking about. unfortnuately almost every mainstream company overrates their product to an extent. that's why a lot of his like to stick with smaller, more trusted brands like sundown, DC, DD, Fi, SSA, etc. more expensive, but overall worth it IMO. there are a few mainstream products you can buy and be safe with but you just have to know what to look for....

are you looking into buying now?

 

[optimusprime 10+ year member]

not at the right now im on a tight budget for the moment. to tell you the truth im pretty happy with my lanzar sub for the moment its smooth sounding and i cant hear any distortion with the gain on the amp 3/4 of the way up i read some of the opti stuff was good so i gave it a shot and im glad i did so far. i think my next buy would be new amp though.then maybe something for the high notes. im completely clueless about what to look for unless i can actually hear the product in action.

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

do you have access to a dmm? the gain up that high might be clippin the sub.

 

[optimusprime 10+ year member]

at the risk of sounding like an idiot what is clipping and im sure i can get my hands on a multimeter

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

It's mainly about the quality of the parts used.

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

at the risk of sounding like an idiot what is clipping and im sure i can get my hands on a multimeter

an amp can only increase the power output so much. after that, instead of "strengthening" the sine wave, it "stretches" it. clipped signals look like this:

the sub moves to how the sine wave looks, so if it's clipped it's gonna stay in the same position for a longer period. that extra period of time the sub is receiving power generates heat, and ultimately is what kills a lot of subs (things heat up too much and glue starts melting). you can't really hear clipping in a sub unless it's really clipped bad.

 

[optimusprime 10+ year member]

well ill turn the gain down until i can get my hands on a dmm then thank you for saving me the headache of destroying my sub //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eek.gif.771b7a90cf45cabdc554ff1121c21c4a.gif

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

The better made subs include higher quality parts and tighter machining/manufacturing tolerances that will lead to increased reliability as well as better sound quality.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

300W RMS for one second is different than 300W RMS for one hour and different from 300W RMS for 100 hours. Free air is different than a small sealed enclosure. Subs that fail after the rating was taken are different than subs that are fine. That is the difference in what you pay for.

Wattage ratings without time is near meaningless.

If you are on a budget, lower your expectations and just be wise with the volume.

 

[optimusprime 10+ year member]

so your saying im paying for accurately tested ratings stamped on the product? so if low budget companies stamped the woofers that they currently label as 1000 watts as say 250-300 watts rms then they would be better? im a bit confused about this i would understand if the difference was more about more valuable materials and much more sophisticated manufacturing but most subs seem to be made with very very similar processes and materials. kinda seems like there should be a standardized testing procedure for a rating system or its pretty much meaningless to consumers other than to say they have a bigger number stamped on the sub or amp.

 

[skylineTT 10+ year member]

The difference IS about more valuable (stronger) materials and more sophisticated manufacturing. As stated above, the good equipment is built with higher tolerances as well. if you get a lanzar sub that is 250w RMS and 5000w MAX, you can give it a clean 250 watts for half an hour and it will heat up and eventually fail over time.. if you got an Fi X, which is rated at around 250w RMS, you could easily give it 3-400 clean watts for probably over 24hrs without it doing anything. the cheap products are mass produced by crappy machines that arent exact in the way that they work. a lot of good companies use expensive machinery that can build with high precision.