Tons of sq based questions....

[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

Plan on doing my first sq build. Not gonna go as far as making the speakers components or anything, just looking to try something other than pure loudness from 20-40 hertz....

-if anyone has a link to lead me to a complete read up on sq then feel free to post it. Not looking for you guys to baby me through the answers. With that said, let's move on to the questions:

-what is the basic definition of sound quality? Don't need to get all scientific here.

-what would a good pair of sq subs be for a sealed enclosure? (gonna use tires wells to make a fiberglass box)

-how do I go about finding how many cubic feet my fiberglass box is?

-is there a such thing as an sq amp? Or doesn't it matter? ( I have a rf t1500-1bdCP at the moment so looking to run 600-750 per sub)

That's about it for now. Thanks for anyone that can help out. I've been trying pure spl so I don't know anything about sq.

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[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

I know It's a lot of questions but any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[WheresTheButta 10+ year member]

It's a common misconception that subwoofers are the place to start a SQ system. SQ starts with good front speakers, properly placed and installed in a way that maximizes their potential. The subwoofer only plays a tiny passband, and the most "SQ" thing you can do with a subwoofer is get it to blend with your front stage until you can't even notice it.

For "sound quality" I'd say the definition is reproducing the original material as accurately as possible.

That means low distortion, low noise floor, no vibrations or resonances, tonal balance, having the phase/time delay set properly and resulting in good stage with a proper center and nice height/width/depth and imaging within that stage, and minimizing diffraction.

There are definitely "sq" amps - they have low distortion, a very high signal to noise ratio, and completely neutral output with no coloration. They often have crossover and phase adjustments that cheaper amps won't have. These allow you to further tweak your system.

For your subwoofer, there are a million threads around here that recommend various "SQ" woofers so I won't get into that. In order to figure out what specs the box should be, ask someone to model up a design for you based on the T/S parameters of the woofer.

 

[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

Thanks for the help man. I'm just trying somethin different and I figured I would start with what I know (subs). The sub I got now doesn't go to far as frequency range goes. And that's what I'm looking for. I'm willing to give up some loudness for a wider band of frequencies

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Thanks for the help man. I'm just trying somethin different and I figured I would start with what I know (subs). The sub I got now doesn't go to far as frequency range goes. And that's what I'm looking for. I'm willing to give up some loudness for a wider band of frequencies

For a true SQ setup, your sub shouldn't extend above about 60hz anyway. Like Butta said, concentrate on your front stage, it should receive like 80% of your attention if your goal is SQ. Its probably going to take some time to get it to extend down to 60hz anyway...

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

i will be the third to say that if you want SQ - i.e. an accurate reproduction of music, you start with your front speakers. you start with front components and work from here. your front speakers need to be properly installed so they play down to 60Hz with authority. when you achieve that, you will smile.

from there, you can work on your sub install.

building an SQ system is a great experience. full of learning and testing. my build log (link in sig) is an example of that.

 

[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

yeah im working on my front stage as we speak. lookin for some midbass drivers that can get down to 60 hertz and get up to 1000 hertz. then some tweets that can crossover with em //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

i just picked up a set of the Silver Flute 4ohm 6.5" drivers from Madisound, like $30 each. great reviews for car audio applications. very well built speakers - nice cast baskets. i need to modify my doors/kicks because they are larger than 6.5" speakers i've used there (both diameter and depth).

as for your other questions -

the spare tire well is a poor location acoustically because it is in the middle of the trunk. you get cancellation from reflections off the top/rear/sides. rear corners usually perform the best.

to figure out the volume of a fiberglass box you can either fill it with water (it is fiberglass after all), or you can fill with packing peanuts. when using packing peanuts, you'll get close - and you can use a standard square box as your relative measurement.

SQ amps and subs usually mean they were designed and built for low distortion while operating in their power band. it's easy to build an amp/sub that has low distortion at low output. it's difficult and expensive to build an amp that can have low distortion at rated output. the latter costs more to design and build. but almost anything properly installed can sound good. you just need to know the limitations of the equipment and operate within those boundaries.

 

[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

well after doing some thinking tonight im really happy with my substage. now i want to hit the 50's and up with authority.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

Image Dynamics has some 6.5" midbass drivers in both 2 and 4 ohm versions that are under $200 for the pair.

note that great midbass requires airtight seals for the speaker cavity and plenty of mass/deadener.

 

[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

so i essentially need to build a sealed box around them? thats not to hard to do at all. and i do plan on gettin some deadener for sure. i may just try glassin my doors. they dont need to be show car perfect but just something i can fit more than just one midbass woofer into. i dont even have a spot for tweeters in my car. (99 ford escort zx2)

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

you do have a spot for tweeters - apillars.

one midbass is all you need when they are properly installed. multiple midbass systems have tons of drawbacks. i guarantee i could design a single midbass setup that outperforms almost any dual midbass setup for the same price/effort. spend twice as much on one driver and you get a huge gain in performance without phase issues. most dual midbass setups are cosmetic. few actually perform as good as they could. the door panel is not supposed to be the speaker baffle. it's a cover. the speaker enclosure needs to be fabricated and the door metal treated.

i'm about to undertake custom door pods - but they will be sealed fiberglass door pods of adequate airspace for my desired f3 point and they'll house a single Silver Flute midbass driver. inexpensive but full of performance. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

So what your sayin is if I spend the extra money on two great Midnass driver and two tweets my system will be complete as far as sound goes? I'm looking to hit 60 to 10k with my Mids and highs. What do you think I'll need?

 

[brodeisel 10+ year member]

i like were this thread is going im gonna suscribe so i can learn some stuff for the future in my bros truck.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

correct. get two great midbass drivers. they should play from 60Hz - 5kHz. get two good tweeters. they should play from 2kHz - 25kHz. your final crossover point will be between 3-5kHz.

you don't need to buy a complete component set if you can run active. you can buy individual drivers. some of us rely on Madisound and Parts Express for raw drivers.