Results and Comments from Todays' Testing

bigbassman
Premium Member

Master of all things loud
First off I wanna thank Chad Harvey for allowing use of his garage, and meter, and bathroom for today's fun.

Also wanna thank the guys who came over to play //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

First Testing was in my car, with the Mach 5's and the Mags.. this was not designed to be a comparison of the 2.. because there isn't one.. lol that's the difference between a 450 dollar driver.. and a 40 dollar one..

the vehicle is an 05 Chevy Aveo, 5 door hatch. the box is 4.5 cuft, with 3 - 4" aero's.. with a 33hz tuning

amplifer used was an Incriminator Audio 20.1

power was normalized @ 60hz by use of true RMS reading Clamp, and DMM... 60hz was chosen because it was out of the impedence spike area for this box.. normalizing power between drivers assures all drivers get the same juice.. Of course the power levels shown are with 2 drivers, so each getting half the power..

frequency response was measured via Termlab USB, with the sensor mounted ear level, on the headrest. All windows and doors were kept shut for testing.

LOOK!

Yes.. the numbers appear low.. for reference, when the car is running @ 2k rpm, and the amplifier is adjusted differently.. and the mic is on the dash sealed up, or in the car with the door open.. the 2 mag's do a 145 on the dash, and a 150 in the kick... I've had some feedback from users saying "Man thats not loud at all".. try it in your vehicle.. and see what you do with the mic on the headrest, sealed up.. car off.. @ 35hz, with nobody in the vehicle //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif The reason testing was done how it was, is to lessen the amount of varibles, to ensure fair testing.. with the car off, its much easier to regulate voltage level, with the windows up, you remove outside interference from skewing results... its just much easier to obtain legitimate data.. ok.. stepping down from the soapbox

First off... 2 SI mag 12's

mag12s.jpg


Not a whole lot to say about em.. they wang.. hard..

after frequency testing... I picked the loudest frequency and went full power on the amp... rolling volume up until spl maxxed out, and recording current and voltage to establish wattage.

at 40hz, the mags did a 141.1 db, with exactly 2000 watts

at 35hz, the mags did a 141.8 db, with 2116 watts

at 30hz, the mags did a 138.7 db, with 2280 watts

no issues with the drivers to report.. fully capable of handling the power levels provided...

next up, we loaded the Mach 5 Audio 12's into the box..

mach512s.jpg


Testing was stopped at 800 watts, due to beginning driver stress (I was being very cautious today for some reason)

we then found loudest frequency, and let the 20.1 loose on them.

@ 35hz, the Mach 5's did a 138.2 with 1843 watts

@ 40hz, the Mach 5's did a 137.3 with 1050 watts

as you can see from frequency response testing, to this testing... the Mach 5's have a good flat response.. but ran into some compression

Next.. we switched it up... A friend came over with his 94 Ford Ranger, ext cab.. and he has a single 12" box, thats 2.0 cuft, tuned to 32hz via slot port, with a 400 watt orion amp for power..

we did this to show you the difference between vehicle boosting acoustics.. the ranger has a much smaller cabin, therefore.. its easier to pressurize the space.. you'll see from the testing numbers.. they are significantly higher in the ranger..

all the same test methods used in the aveo, apply here..

first up... a Sidewinder 12 from Mass Destruction Audio

Sidewinder12.jpg


testing was stopped at 200 watts due to coil fatigue..

after a rest, we then turned the orion loose on it... lol

at 45hz, the sidewinder did a 131.3 with 515 watts

at 50hz, the sidewinder did a 130.6 with 528 watts

As you can see from the graph.. the woofer ran into severe compression with 200 watts... it's not exactly a power happy driver..

Issues... the big one is suspension sag.. the coil rested 10mm behind center..

Next up, a single Mach 5 Audio 12"

1Mach512.jpg


we did not get to progress testing past 50 watts, due to the speaker developing a coil rub clanging with 100 watts.. after investigating, this was due to spider deflection.. in which I'm working on fixing..

at the least you'll be able to see the difference in cabins from 1 12, and 2 in my car, with 50 watts..

Issues.. suspension geometry... I'm working on a solution for that I think..

Finally... the almighty Q-Power 12

1Qpower12.jpg


as you can see... no low end extension... but she got **** loud in the upper frequencies.. and handled the 100 watt test without failure..

issues... its a 6 dollar speaker... do I need to go into it? lol

to finish the day... the q power had to die..

to its credit.. it took over 400 watts for nearly 2 minutes @ 65, and then 20 hz before it died.. vids will be posted //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Jim and vlad have plenty of pics and videos to share... and I think Jim will comment some on how the mach 5's and mag's sounded.. as he spent some time in my car with both sets of drivers..

due to the second vehicle testing.. we ran out of time to do any ground plane testing... but I'll do my best to include it in the real test session

OH... almost forgot... after all testing was done in my car.. I benched the 20.1 again..

after spending 2 hours playing .4 nominal, and .7 nominal..

car was turned off.

11.72 volts, 317 amps 3715 watts in

45.7 volts, 55.5 amps 2536 watts outs

.82 actual load, 68% efficient..

Thanks for looking!

Loyd L.

 
More Fun Graphs! Mag's and Mach 5's in the aveo, power v/s power

50 watt

MagsandMach5saveo.jpg


100 watt

MagsandMach5saveo100watt.jpg


200 watt

MagsandMach5saveo200watt.jpg


400 watt

MagsandMach5saveo400watt.jpg


800 watt

MagsandMach5saveo800watt.jpg


This last one.. is from the Ranger.. single sub box... 50 watts

Rangersinglesub50watts.jpg


Loyd L.

 
Snoop's converting those vids to WMV, so they'll work streaming...so don't worry if those links don't work...

Pictures -



Got glue? The Mach5 12" with the boot off:



Mach5's in Loyd's enclosure:



Fear:



The install we tested the Power Q 12" in...Moe Lester-designed enclosure.



"Two 12's for sale, one in flawless condition, one slight has cosmetic issues, works 100%!" //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif



 
SQ testing -

We started by testing the SI Mag in Loyd's Aveo, and as always, the drivers delivered the goods //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif I've heard 12" Mags in a whole range of situations from high-tuned fart machines to smallish sealed boxes, and they've never failed to disappoint me with their output and musicality. Test material included stand-up bass off the MECA CD, Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms, Allison Krauss' live album, and John Williams' theme from 'Superman' with a sustained 16Hz note from the IASCA demo disc. Even though Loyd's front stage height wasn't where I would have liked :p, the sub stage was there. Just like my previous times listening to the Mags, I wasn't disappointed.

After doing the initial power runs with the Mach5Audio 12's, it was time to turn down the Xover and really listen to them. I played the same material as before, and really payed attention to how the driver was performing. On "Brothers in Arms", the bass line that comes in at the beginning of the second verse is deceiving - strong, but it can't be overpowering or lagging at all. It demands a lot of control from the speaker to reproduce it accurately, and I wasn't getting that from the Mach5. Instead of a precise, controlled note, the result was a muddied jumble. Going to other tracks had much the same effects...where the SI driver handled dynamic passages fluidly, the Mach5 strained to keep up and sounded overwhelmed. This was particularly noticeable on Diana Krall's "Look of Love", where the upright bass needs to be restrained to contrast with her sultry lead vocals. I wasn't getting that.

I didn't get a chance to really sit down and listen to the MD Sidewinder, only hearing it on rap for a short period of time, which isn't the best way to judge the SQ of a woofer //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Overall? I think the Mach5Audio driver is better suited to an SPL application, where it does a pretty commendable job considering its price. I don't think musically it would be high on my list, and would probably consider other slightly more expensive woofers in this price range such as the Dayton References and Tang Band drivers. I'd like to get a chance to play with one again in a sealed enclosure where maybe it would react differently, but I'd certainly avoid this box alignment again //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 
Aw, man! that was funny! You guys sounded like you were in total desperation...

I wish I had told you to push 'em beyond their limits! Now that would have looked cool!

Great first round. Thanks guys!

Best,

Mark

 
Aw, man! that was funny! You guys sounded like you were in total desperation...
I wish I had told you to push 'em beyond their limits! Now that would have looked cool!

Great first round. Thanks guys!

Best,

Mark
Mark.. I want to thank you for the opportunity to review your drivers..

It says alot of a person to trust a total stranger with his products..

Your drivers have great output potential... I was kinda surprised actually...

I can't wait till the real test session.. see if we can find a design that'll help their sound quality out some..

thanks again!

Loyd L.

 
I have the vids, but i won't be able to upload them till tomorrow, no internet at my house.

Rest assured they will be here though.
they better.. you got the good uns.. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Loyd L.

 
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bigbassman

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