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<blockquote data-quote="Suicide Bobb" data-source="post: 6868179" data-attributes="member: 617319"><p>Here's a few terms to get you started...</p><p></p><p><strong>RMS watts</strong>: The power rating you look for when considering the power rating you are looking for. <strong>Peak Power</strong> is irrelevant.</p><p></p><p><strong>Efficiency</strong>: How loud, in decibels, a speaker is from a set distance given a set amount of power. Usually expressed in <em>decibels per watt per meter</em>, or <em>db/w/m</em>. The two standards used by the majority of manufacturers today is db/1w/1m and db/2.83w/1m. Obviously then, the decibel level will differ between the two; a measurement of db/2.83w/1m is going to have a higher decibel result than a measurement of db/1m/1m.</p><p></p><p><strong>SQ</strong>: Sound Quality</p><p></p><p><strong>SPL</strong>: Sound Pressure Level</p><p></p><p><strong>SQL</strong>: A mix of SQ and SPL</p><p></p><p>These terms relate to what you can expect the output to be of a given audio component. If someone says its a <em>SQ</em> woofer, then you can expect it to have superior sound quality compared to an <em>SPL</em> woofer.</p><p></p><p><strong>Motor</strong>: The magnet of a speaker.</p><p></p><p><strong>Basket</strong>: The frame of a speaker.</p><p></p><p><strong>Soft Parts</strong>: The other components of the speaker, that include...</p><p></p><p><strong>Tinsel Leads</strong>: The internal positive and negative wires of a speaker.</p><p></p><p><strong>Spider</strong>: A part of the suspension of the speaker. It looks like a wave, or ripples.</p><p></p><p><strong>Voice Coil</strong>: The coil of wires that react with the motor according to the signal sent to them. Usually, you will have to disassemble the speaker in order to see the <em>voice coil</em>. The average size <em>voice coil</em> for an average subwoofer is 3" in diameter. I have seen subwoofers with <em>voice coils</em> ranging in sizes from 2" to 5".</p><p></p><p><strong>Surround</strong>: Another part of the suspension of the speaker. Usually a composite of foam or rubber, the <em>surround</em> lines the edge of the speaker and is attached to the "lip" of the basket.</p><p></p><p><strong>Cone</strong>: The <em>surround</em> and <em>voice coil</em> are attached to the <em>cone</em>. They come in a large variety of materials, such as paper, plastic, aluminum, tin, and carbon fiber.</p><p></p><p><strong>Dust Cap</strong>: An almost useless part of the speaker. Not all speakers have <em>dust caps</em>, as some just have one solid <em>cone</em> (see: Apline Type-R subwoofers). On speakers that do have them, they protect dust from infiltrating the gap between the coil and magnet, and help dissipate heat in some cases.</p><p></p><p><strong>Clipping</strong>: I will let a better educated individual discuss this. Sometimes, discussions of it can get pretty heated //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif</p><p></p><p><strong>Gain/Input Sensitivity</strong>: Allows you to match the signal from an amplifier to the signal sent to it from a head unit. You should never turn this all the way up, or you will likely <em>clip</em> the speakers. A trained ear car roughly match the <em>gain</em> properly, but an Oscilloscope and Digital Multimeter are the best ways to set it (in that order).</p><p></p><p><strong>Low-Pass Crossover</strong>: Eliminates most of the frequencies above the frequency selected from reaching the speaker</p><p></p><p><strong>High-Pass Crossover</strong>: Opposite of a <em>Low-Pass Crossover</em>.</p><p></p><p><strong>Subsonic Filter</strong>: Similar to a <em>High-Pass Crossover</em>. It lessens the impact of notes below the selected frequencies. Given the fact that most of the power from an amp is apportioned to the low notes, it saves a lot of power. Either through a set or manually adjustable frequency, and with the use of a set or manually adjustable boost, it gives the power that would have normally been wasted on the low notes to the specified frequency. It is practical in use with subwoofers in ported boxes, for reasons that you would be better of exploring than me explaining.</p><p></p><p><strong>Driver</strong>: Speaker</p><p></p><p><strong>Component Speakers</strong>: Packages that consist of a midrange and tweeter drivers, and occasionally mid-bass drivers. The usually come with external crossovers.</p><p></p><p><strong>Coaxial Speakers</strong>: Speakers that contain all the necessary drivers to cover the required frequency ranges.</p><p></p><p><strong>The "Big 3" Mod</strong>: Increases the operating voltage of your electrical system. What you do is increase the size of the wire sections that are most vital to the flow of energy. You will want to use 1/0ga wire for this, in as short of lengths as possible. I HIGHLY suggest that anyone who is going to get at least mildly serious with car audio does this, as it will stiffen up the electrical system, and prevent things from blowing because of too low of voltage. Here are the 3 sections to run wire to...</p><p></p><p>1. Battery (+) to Alternator (+)...You can fuse this wire if you want, but it isn't necessary.</p><p></p><p>2. Battery (-) to Chassis Ground</p><p></p><p>3. Chassis Ground to Engine Block Ground</p><p></p><p>Those are all the terms I can come up with at the moment...</p><p></p><p>As far as brand names go, it is mostly up to experience for you to decide what is best and what is worst. In order to truly deliberate how well a speaker performs, you must eliminate a couple variables...The forumula goes as follows - <strong>90% installation, 5% speaker, 5% beer</strong>. A top of the line speaker can sound like shit if it is put in an improper enclosure, and an amp can perform poorly if the wires going to it are shit or are not installed well. There are so many variables out there, most of which you should probably learn yourself.</p><p></p><p>As a generalization, I will give you a list of a few brand names and what category they are in. NOTE TO MEMBERS: THIS IS A VERY VERY ROUGH GENERALIZATION, NO FLAMING PLEASE!</p><p></p><p>"Forum Boner" brands/lines: DC Audio, MB Quart Discus. These change quickly, so be informed.</p><p></p><p>High Quality: Digital Designs (DD), Incriminator Audio (IA), Atomic Audio, Stetsom, MMats, TC Sounds, Focal, JL Audio, Critical Mass, and many more. The most controversial of these would be JL. JL Audio makes some pretty dern good stuff, but their prices are waaaay too expensive.</p><p></p><p>Average Quality: Kenwood, Rockford Fosgate (besides power series amps), Pioneer, Alpine, and the rest of your mainstream products. In other words, most of the brands you see at Best Buy and Car Toys.</p><p></p><p>Low Quality: Pyle, Rockwood, DHD, Diesel, Volfenhag, MD Sound, Nitro, NT Power...after a while, it gets pretty obvious what brands are shit and which ones aren't.</p><p></p><p>As far as tools go...I use a tackle-box to carry all the tools and accessories I need to get whatever electrical job done. The best tackle-boxes would be ones with one latch to keep it sealed, compartments on the exterior for quick access, various size compartment on the interior (and multiple "levels" of compartments), and a large open space on the bottom. The sorting is all up to you.</p><p></p><p>Here are some pictures of what my tackle-box looks like (note - some of my tools were not in the toobox while the picture was taken):</p><p></p><p><a href="http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0096k.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/1407/cimg0096k.th.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p><p></p><p><a href="http://img59.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0097k.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/9528/cimg0097k.th.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p><p></p><p><a href="http://img263.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0098t.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5359/cimg0098t.th.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p><p></p><p><a href="http://img163.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0099z.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/136/cimg0099z.th.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p><p></p><p><a href="http://img202.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0100t.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/2452/cimg0100t.th.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p><p></p><p><a href="http://img41.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0101j.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/3657/cimg0101j.th.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p><p></p><p><a href="http://img682.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0102.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/141/cimg0102.th.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p><p></p><p><a href="http://img40.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0103l.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/9040/cimg0103l.th.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p><p></p><p><a href="http://img198.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0104s.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/7954/cimg0104s.th.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p><p></p><p>Tools that are helpful include:</p><p></p><p>*Various sizes of Phillips and Flat-Head Screwdrivers</p><p></p><p>*Various kinds of pliers and clippers</p><p></p><p>*Flashlight</p><p></p><p>*Exact-o-Knife</p><p></p><p>*Digital Multimeter</p><p></p><p>*Allen Wrenches</p><p></p><p>*Pinch-grip Wire Strippers (Pictured in the second post, stupid 10 picture limit!)</p><p></p><p>This set of wire strippers was the absolute best $10 I have ever spent. It has made my work immeasurably quicker, easier, and better. By just squeezing it, it automatically strips wires as if it already knew what size it was. It allows you to manually adjust the tension, so you can even splice those wires with really tough rubber surrounds. My pair works on wire as big as 6ga! The crimping section is also much better than the average wire strippers. I wouldn't trade this tool for anything in the world.</p><p></p><p>I highly suggest you stock up like crazy on every kind of splice connector you can imagine. Those red tube connectors are the ones I use the most, followed by spade and "O" connectors for attaching the Power and Ground wires to things, and then the slide-on and slide-in connectors (pictured in the exterior compartment, right under the screws). It would be in your best interest to save every bolt, screw, nut, washer, etc. that you find, because when it comes to car audio, you never know when and where it may come in handy. You should buy a high quality roll of electrical tape; yes, the one that costs more. Trust me, the higher quality electrical tape is worth every single penny spent. Multicolored tape may come in handy when identifying what things go to what. Ties and rubberbands can be helpful in difficult situations, or with hiding wiring. For clean installations, I suggest you get bolt-in wire guides/tunnels. Buy the biggest pack of various zipties you can find, because you will go through them very quickly. Always have every amperage of the "normal" ATC fuses as you can get, and multiples of them. You can find them at U-Pull-Its' for the price of admission (usually $1). Heatshrink may come in handy in some cases, as well as that black wire tube loom stuff.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Suicide Bobb, post: 6868179, member: 617319"] Here's a few terms to get you started... [B]RMS watts[/B]: The power rating you look for when considering the power rating you are looking for. [B]Peak Power[/B] is irrelevant. [B]Efficiency[/B]: How loud, in decibels, a speaker is from a set distance given a set amount of power. Usually expressed in [I]decibels per watt per meter[/I], or [I]db/w/m[/I]. The two standards used by the majority of manufacturers today is db/1w/1m and db/2.83w/1m. Obviously then, the decibel level will differ between the two; a measurement of db/2.83w/1m is going to have a higher decibel result than a measurement of db/1m/1m. [B]SQ[/B]: Sound Quality [B]SPL[/B]: Sound Pressure Level [B]SQL[/B]: A mix of SQ and SPL These terms relate to what you can expect the output to be of a given audio component. If someone says its a [I]SQ[/I] woofer, then you can expect it to have superior sound quality compared to an [I]SPL[/I] woofer. [B]Motor[/B]: The magnet of a speaker. [B]Basket[/B]: The frame of a speaker. [B]Soft Parts[/B]: The other components of the speaker, that include... [B]Tinsel Leads[/B]: The internal positive and negative wires of a speaker. [B]Spider[/B]: A part of the suspension of the speaker. It looks like a wave, or ripples. [B]Voice Coil[/B]: The coil of wires that react with the motor according to the signal sent to them. Usually, you will have to disassemble the speaker in order to see the [I]voice coil[/I]. The average size [I]voice coil[/I] for an average subwoofer is 3" in diameter. I have seen subwoofers with [I]voice coils[/I] ranging in sizes from 2" to 5". [B]Surround[/B]: Another part of the suspension of the speaker. Usually a composite of foam or rubber, the [I]surround[/I] lines the edge of the speaker and is attached to the "lip" of the basket. [B]Cone[/B]: The [I]surround[/I] and [I]voice coil[/I] are attached to the [I]cone[/I]. They come in a large variety of materials, such as paper, plastic, aluminum, tin, and carbon fiber. [B]Dust Cap[/B]: An almost useless part of the speaker. Not all speakers have [I]dust caps[/I], as some just have one solid [I]cone[/I] (see: Apline Type-R subwoofers). On speakers that do have them, they protect dust from infiltrating the gap between the coil and magnet, and help dissipate heat in some cases. [B]Clipping[/B]: I will let a better educated individual discuss this. Sometimes, discussions of it can get pretty heated [IMG]//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif[/IMG] [B]Gain/Input Sensitivity[/B]: Allows you to match the signal from an amplifier to the signal sent to it from a head unit. You should never turn this all the way up, or you will likely [I]clip[/I] the speakers. A trained ear car roughly match the [I]gain[/I] properly, but an Oscilloscope and Digital Multimeter are the best ways to set it (in that order). [B]Low-Pass Crossover[/B]: Eliminates most of the frequencies above the frequency selected from reaching the speaker [B]High-Pass Crossover[/B]: Opposite of a [I]Low-Pass Crossover[/I]. [B]Subsonic Filter[/B]: Similar to a [I]High-Pass Crossover[/I]. It lessens the impact of notes below the selected frequencies. Given the fact that most of the power from an amp is apportioned to the low notes, it saves a lot of power. Either through a set or manually adjustable frequency, and with the use of a set or manually adjustable boost, it gives the power that would have normally been wasted on the low notes to the specified frequency. It is practical in use with subwoofers in ported boxes, for reasons that you would be better of exploring than me explaining. [B]Driver[/B]: Speaker [B]Component Speakers[/B]: Packages that consist of a midrange and tweeter drivers, and occasionally mid-bass drivers. The usually come with external crossovers. [B]Coaxial Speakers[/B]: Speakers that contain all the necessary drivers to cover the required frequency ranges. [B]The "Big 3" Mod[/B]: Increases the operating voltage of your electrical system. What you do is increase the size of the wire sections that are most vital to the flow of energy. You will want to use 1/0ga wire for this, in as short of lengths as possible. I HIGHLY suggest that anyone who is going to get at least mildly serious with car audio does this, as it will stiffen up the electrical system, and prevent things from blowing because of too low of voltage. Here are the 3 sections to run wire to... 1. Battery (+) to Alternator (+)...You can fuse this wire if you want, but it isn't necessary. 2. Battery (-) to Chassis Ground 3. Chassis Ground to Engine Block Ground Those are all the terms I can come up with at the moment... As far as brand names go, it is mostly up to experience for you to decide what is best and what is worst. In order to truly deliberate how well a speaker performs, you must eliminate a couple variables...The forumula goes as follows - [B]90% installation, 5% speaker, 5% beer[/B]. A top of the line speaker can sound like shit if it is put in an improper enclosure, and an amp can perform poorly if the wires going to it are shit or are not installed well. There are so many variables out there, most of which you should probably learn yourself. As a generalization, I will give you a list of a few brand names and what category they are in. NOTE TO MEMBERS: THIS IS A VERY VERY ROUGH GENERALIZATION, NO FLAMING PLEASE! "Forum Boner" brands/lines: DC Audio, MB Quart Discus. These change quickly, so be informed. High Quality: Digital Designs (DD), Incriminator Audio (IA), Atomic Audio, Stetsom, MMats, TC Sounds, Focal, JL Audio, Critical Mass, and many more. The most controversial of these would be JL. JL Audio makes some pretty dern good stuff, but their prices are waaaay too expensive. Average Quality: Kenwood, Rockford Fosgate (besides power series amps), Pioneer, Alpine, and the rest of your mainstream products. In other words, most of the brands you see at Best Buy and Car Toys. Low Quality: Pyle, Rockwood, DHD, Diesel, Volfenhag, MD Sound, Nitro, NT Power...after a while, it gets pretty obvious what brands are shit and which ones aren't. As far as tools go...I use a tackle-box to carry all the tools and accessories I need to get whatever electrical job done. The best tackle-boxes would be ones with one latch to keep it sealed, compartments on the exterior for quick access, various size compartment on the interior (and multiple "levels" of compartments), and a large open space on the bottom. The sorting is all up to you. Here are some pictures of what my tackle-box looks like (note - some of my tools were not in the toobox while the picture was taken): [URL="http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0096k.jpg"][IMG]http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/1407/cimg0096k.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL="http://img59.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0097k.jpg"][IMG]http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/9528/cimg0097k.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL="http://img263.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0098t.jpg"][IMG]http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5359/cimg0098t.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL="http://img163.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0099z.jpg"][IMG]http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/136/cimg0099z.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL="http://img202.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0100t.jpg"][IMG]http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/2452/cimg0100t.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL="http://img41.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0101j.jpg"][IMG]http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/3657/cimg0101j.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL="http://img682.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0102.jpg"][IMG]http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/141/cimg0102.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL="http://img40.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0103l.jpg"][IMG]http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/9040/cimg0103l.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL="http://img198.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg0104s.jpg"][IMG]http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/7954/cimg0104s.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Tools that are helpful include: *Various sizes of Phillips and Flat-Head Screwdrivers *Various kinds of pliers and clippers *Flashlight *Exact-o-Knife *Digital Multimeter *Allen Wrenches *Pinch-grip Wire Strippers (Pictured in the second post, stupid 10 picture limit!) This set of wire strippers was the absolute best $10 I have ever spent. It has made my work immeasurably quicker, easier, and better. By just squeezing it, it automatically strips wires as if it already knew what size it was. It allows you to manually adjust the tension, so you can even splice those wires with really tough rubber surrounds. My pair works on wire as big as 6ga! The crimping section is also much better than the average wire strippers. I wouldn't trade this tool for anything in the world. I highly suggest you stock up like crazy on every kind of splice connector you can imagine. Those red tube connectors are the ones I use the most, followed by spade and "O" connectors for attaching the Power and Ground wires to things, and then the slide-on and slide-in connectors (pictured in the exterior compartment, right under the screws). It would be in your best interest to save every bolt, screw, nut, washer, etc. that you find, because when it comes to car audio, you never know when and where it may come in handy. You should buy a high quality roll of electrical tape; yes, the one that costs more. Trust me, the higher quality electrical tape is worth every single penny spent. Multicolored tape may come in handy when identifying what things go to what. Ties and rubberbands can be helpful in difficult situations, or with hiding wiring. For clean installations, I suggest you get bolt-in wire guides/tunnels. Buy the biggest pack of various zipties you can find, because you will go through them very quickly. Always have every amperage of the "normal" ATC fuses as you can get, and multiples of them. You can find them at U-Pull-Its' for the price of admission (usually $1). Heatshrink may come in handy in some cases, as well as that black wire tube loom stuff. [/QUOTE]
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