SPL vs. impact level??

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

Is there a theoretical or technical difference between SPL and "impact level"?

The reason I ask is, I've been involved in CA for a long time, and my primary interest has been in woofs/enclosures. I've built and owned systems that would cause complete inability to breathe or swallow at higher volume levels inside the car, but even those didn't cause quite the level of extreme impact that I'm experiencing now. I've never seen or felt anything like this.

Just recently, I've been running a pair of subs, at 1600+ Watts each, that literally cause nausia, even when playing punk/alternative music. They shake the structure of my SUV madly, and can cause mortar to crumble from a solid brick wall if I play a bass-track near a building. But, at the same time, they are not hitting the same dB levels that much less "impactful" subs have been hitting on the same material. Is there something to this?

I can't be losing my mind because 144.1 dB is friggin' loud, but playing at that level on some subs, and it's just rattling my garage door, when 138.5 dB's on these current woofers, on the exact same song makes tools fall off of their hooks, the wheels of the garage door track almost hop off of their axles, the next door neighbor comes by frantically trying to figure out why his chandelier is going crazy, and the master bath shower doors (on the other side of the house) slap against each other like a crazed bansche trying to get out.

I'm hoping someone has done, or knows of a study between the difference on SPL and SP-force. It would be incredibly interesting to know more about it... although I think I'm gonna' need to sell off my new subs for something that doesn't take 3 hours to get over the extreme punches to the gut and kidneys, after a 1/2 hour lunch-break drive.

Click to read more...

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

That's the crazy thing here... I doesn't sound like 150dB+ level stuff going on, even in the back seat, where it's most physically brutal (someone will truly feel like puking after just 60 seconds in the back seat on a rap track), and it's not loud "bass" outside of the vehicle. But, a building 1 block away will be shaking so bad that people run across 4 lanes of street and half a super-center parking lot to see what's causing all their stuff to rattle on their counters.

 

[TrlcKed_OuT 10+ year member]

im no expert but it sounds like low tuning..which wont always put up the best possible numbers but will just shake the hell out of anything in its path......whats ur ground breaking door shakin box tuned to??

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

im no expert but it sounds like low tuning..which wont always put up the best possible numbers but will just shake the hell out of anything in its path......whats ur ground breaking door shakin box tuned to??

Sealed, man (no tuned fb)... that's also part of the craziness. 1.35 cu ft / side gross(~1.15 net/side). The goal wasn't to make puke-generating bass, but good+strong+linear bass.

 

[TrlcKed_OuT 10+ year member]

well a seal box will still play lower than a box tuned high so that could be...mind me askin what sub/amp combo ur runnin??

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

well a seal box will still play lower than a box tuned high so that could be...mind me askin what sub/amp combo ur runnin??

Pair of Phoenix Gold Ti Elite 12"s on a Mmats d3000.1 amp.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

I'll come sit in your vehicle for a few hours full tilt. Should be no problem.

NG

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

I'll come sit in your vehicle for a few hours full tilt. Should be no problem.

NG

dood... I dunno...

Well, that would sure be a good reliability test of the woofs and amp (and you *hehe*), so c'mon down. We'll have a beer.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Albuquerque, NM eh? (that took me AT LEAST 3 times to type correctly).

If I'm ever around, I will. I've sat in 170+ dB's (@51hz) before...and if that ain't a combination of pressure, loudness, and impact...don't know what is.

NG

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

Albuquerque, NM eh? (that took me AT LEAST 3 times to type correctly).
If I'm ever around, I will. I've sat in 170+ dB's (@51hz) before...and if that ain't a combination of pressure, loudness, and impact...don't know what is.

NG

I've also sat in demo vehicles from several huge co's at the Winter CES in Las Vegas back when I was an installer (don't know that they were hitting quite 170+) but a wall of 15"s gets the blood moving for sure. Never felt like I just got done with a gut fight though, just very short of breath.

Ya mon, if you're in the neighborhood, beer's on me.

 

[btnhfan 5,000+ posts]

I hate being reall close to things above 165.

Sitting in the car=not fun //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[Speakerman 10+ year member]

It's actually quite simple...A mic peaks out around 60hz. Ported boxes usually peak out an octave or so above tuning frequency...making them much louder on the mic...BUT, ported boxes also lose A LOT of response below tuning.

A sealed box (larger almost allways better) will have CRAZY output on the deep notes. The low notes are closer to the natural resonant frequency of larger objects, like metal buildings, houses, sky scrapers...ect...Thus, it shakes the HELL out of them. BUT, because the mic peaks out aronud 60hz...low notes will not turn up as high a score.

With my current setup i can break 143 on the new TL mic at 29hz....even though that sounds like a crazy score for being such a low tuning frequency....its not low enough to reach the natural res. freq. of large objects around me...I had a pair of IDMAX 12" with 600 Wrms per sub in a HUGE sealed box...and if I remember correctly, they actually seemed to shake houses more violently at around 24hz (with less amplitude of course) that my current 15"s with 5000Wrms...This is because my box is tuned around 28 hz...and drops output anthing below that. Even in a box thats tuned around 20 hz, you will still not get the deep bass output like large sealed, you need to tune around 16hz in order to peak around 25hz...

I'm putting my protos in a sealed box soon enough because I'd like to tear my truck to shreds.......its got 220K on it...I need a new one...lol...why not pop the windows out of this one? lol...I seriously think I can do it sealed. (no noob talk here...) My back wall moved about 2 inches....with just the IDMAXs sealed....With these ported, I can only get it to move about an inch. Soooo...I cant wait to see what these babies do!!

Click the sig...I update it very often..so check back for some new vid of the sealed box. GONNA BE CRAZY.

 

[singlesubsetup 10+ year member]

wow, well for one thats alot of power to each sub, (yea I know there rated max rms 2k) idk. Your basically saying your car is unbareable?

I wonder what my car will sound like when I get my 3 atomic apx 15 on 7500 watts.... maybe i'll drive down and compare notes???? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[Speakerman 10+ year member]

wow, well for one thats alot of power to each sub, (yea I know there rated max rms 2k) idk. Your basically saying your car is unbareable?
I wonder what my car will sound like when I get my 3 atomic apx 15 on 7500 watts.... maybe i'll drive down and compare notes???? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif I'll split that gas!!!!

 

[theCybe 5,000+ posts]

I enjoyed the SoundDomain page - that box looks fantastic, and surely is loud as fvck.