Tuning/ Testing with a wal-mart spl meter

[supermaxx123 10+ year member]

So i finally got some tones to do testing. I've been listening to sweeps and tones from 30hz-99hz. I know this meter is not accurate but it does help me put a number on a tone is. For example it helped me figure out that the sub was out of phase with the mids, and one mid was out of phase. I also noted some tones that seemed lower than others, i noticed around where the mid/sub mix in the 70hz-86hz, it isn't because of phaseing because thats fixed. I'm going to mess with my eq a bit and see if i can get a somewhat flat response from bass.

I'm sure an rta would help a lot more but for a cheap $15 meter, i think its worth it.

Just thought i'd share.

The other wierd thing, i had my subsonic set to 35hz because my box is tuned to 37hz, yet my loudest tone was a 31hz tone. I lowered the subsonic and would not have expected it to go that low, gotta love cabin gain

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[302yota 10+ year member]

i wouldnt mind picking up one those meter's just to mess around with, how inaccurate are they? db wise?.....btw i normally set my SSF 6-12hz below box tuning, i havent had a problem yet..

 

[supermaxx123 10+ year member]

i wouldnt mind picking up one those meter's just to mess around with, how inaccurate are they? db wise?.....btw i normally set my SSF 6-12hz below box tuning, i havent had a problem yet..

I dont have an accurate way of measuring so i'm not sure. I never actually messed with a subsonic but now that i have a digital way of setting it i have it at 28hz, and i am seeing it plays well below tuning. then again it could be the massive xmax from the sa8

 

[TaylorFade 10+ year member]

Can you post a pic of the meter? What does it go to? 120? It reads frequency and decibles?

 

[plugitin 5,000+ posts]

yeah, it goes to like 120, so, kinda useless in the spl world

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

All a SSF is designed to do it stop you from bottoming out your woofer. To set it realistically on music just get a -3db 25hz tone and turn your volume up to "full" as far as your daily driving is concerned. Slowly lower the frequency and just watch your cone excursion increase, when it begins to bottom, back it up slightly. Unless you decide to play bass I love you at full bore your not going to find any tones much louder than a -3 that are lower than 25hz.

Another option is to plot your sub in winisd and add a hpf and look at your excursion plot.... That's how I actually do it.

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

All a SSF is designed to do it stop you from bottoming out your woofer. To set it realistically on music just get a -6db 25hz tone and turn your volume up to "full" as far as your daily driving is concerned. Slowly lower the frequency and just watch your cone excursion increase, when it begins to bottom, back it up slightly. Unless you decide to play bass I love you at full bore your not going to find any tones much louder than a -6 that are lower than 25hz.
Another option is to plot your sub in winisd and add a hpf and look at your excursion plot.... That's how I actually do it.

Which reminds me, I need to tune a setup low enough to hit those two low notes well...or just go sealed.

 

[TaylorFade 10+ year member]

yeah, it goes to like 120, so, kinda useless in the spl world

Well, I am just wondering if it'll help with finding the resonant frequency, tuning, and help with the best sub/port placement, etc. You know, like set it the volume at something reasonable (under 120db) with the same song or sweeps and find sweet spots.

 

[supermaxx123 10+ year member]

it goes to like 130db, hard to get it louder than that. I think i've gotten it to 131, it does not read frequency, i was using the input sine wave as a guide. I know what subsonic filters do, i also know that not all boxes can produce low bass and i wasn't expecting it out of this one, i've been running for so long with that thing set-up up high lol.

 

[supermaxx123 10+ year member]

oh yeah and i haven't had test tones for a while. today i got to trying them out with my DD 1512 in the tline, and i loved the window shaking lows, like 20hz it's in my room.

 

[supermaxx123 10+ year member]

OK so i guess it only goes to 130db, i bought this about 4years ago so i forgot. here is a link

Scosche SPL1000 (SPLMETER) Handheld SPL Sound Meter SPL1000F

 

[zierbox 10+ year member]

Radio shack has an inexpensive hand held db meter I think I went to 130 or 40 db

Has an adjustment on side. The meter doesn’t have to be matched to term lab or any thing

You just need to be able to test your level going up or down

 

[eismanx 10+ year member]

Im glad you started this thread supermaxx. I clicked on the link you provided and went ahead and bought that sucker. I know it isnt accurate, but i hear it's precise. I'll be using it to see if i gain dB's with different sub/box placement and im gonna use a reference volume of 20 of 35 on my Alpine head unit since there is no point in trying to max out the meter. $25 is worth it to me to be able to play around with.

 

[SPLaudio 5,000+ posts]

i have 1 of those radioshack meters from back in the day. what a joke they are. there was a site that sold meters, splmeters.com and they were within .2 of a termpro for $150. too bad they arent made anymore..