what does sub sensitivity mean?

[Silvercoupex 10+ year member]

you're probably thinking of amp sensitivity, or some shit.

10-4...Tired as hellright now....missed the sub sensitivity as I was thinking amp...Well, do you have myanswer.lol

 

[dragnix 5,000+ posts]

no

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

It's the same as the gain setting. Use the method in the owner's manual for that JL amp or the gain setting tutorial on this site.

 

[DBDRAGGUY 10+ year member]

It is a spec the sub is given to compare its efficiency. For example 96db with 1watt of power would be considered on the high end. And some of the drivers with a heavier cone will be rated lower such as 86-89 db with 1 watt of power. It is just a standard way of comparing driver effiency.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

It is a spec the sub is given to compare its efficiency. For example 96db with 1watt of power would be considered on the high end. And some of the drivers with a heavier cone will be rated lower such as 86-89 db with 1 watt of power. It is just a standard way of comparing driver effiency.

And like I said, it's a totally worthless spec for a sub. What freq is the sensitivity rating given at? Usually 1kHz. Don't know about you but that isn't in the range I let my sub play. What about the enclosure? Yep, free air. Once again, in no way telling about how efficient the sub might be in real use.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

There is no such thing as amplifier 'sensitivity'. The closest specs would be efficiency or, I guess, gain settings... neither of which are measured in db's.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

There is no such thing as amplifier 'sensitivity'. The closest specs would be efficiency or, I guess, gain settings... neither of which are measured in db's.

just to clear this up for everyone, we are talking about SUBWOOFER sensitivity //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[Lakota 5,000+ posts]

There is no such thing as amplifier 'sensitivity'. The closest specs would be efficiency or, I guess, gain settings... neither of which are measured in db's.

I'm not sure if it's popular for car audio amps, but for the OP amps in my electronics class we could measure power, current and voltage gains in dB. If I'm not mistaking the power gain was 10 x log(power out/power in) and the voltage and current gains were calculated the same way except multiply by 20.

Maybe I just took the purpose of your post too far.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

The correct name for the gain control on an amp IS input sensitivity. The name is accurate as well because what you are actually setting is the amount of input voltage required to make full power with the amp. You are setting how sensitive the amp is to an input signal.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

i wasn't talking about amps, but ok.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

just to clear this up for everyone, we are talking about SUBWOOFER sensitivity //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

You are but the other guy asked a question about the sensitivity setting on his amp.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

About the only usefulness I get out of sub sensitivity is 1) A quick off-the-cuff reference to enclosure size based on Hoffman's Law, and 2) a quick off-the-cuff reference to how much BS a manufacturer may spewing about their product.

 

[Lakota 5,000+ posts]

Sensitivity ratings do seem like they are a bunch of b.s. How do you know that every manufacturer tested their products in the exact same way to come up with their ratings? It seems like there aren't really any set rules.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

You can can determine driver sensitivity using the T/S parameters though I can't remember the formula off the top of my head.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Sensitivity ratings do seem like they are a bunch of b.s. How do you know that every manufacturer tested their products in the exact same way to come up with their ratings? It seems like there aren't really any set rules.

It's one of the basic T/S parameters, derived from Vas, Fs and Qes. The formula;

SPL (sensitivity) = 112 + 10*log(9.64*10^-10 * Fs^3 * Vas/Qes)

where Vas is in litres. This will give you the true 1w/1m spec.

But a lot of manufacturers attempt to manipulate the Sensitivity of the sub, either by measuring the sensitivity with 2.83V on a non-8ohm driver (2.83V on a 4ohm driver is 2w, increasing "sensitivity" by 3db for example) or other unorthodox measurements such as "in car" measurements like Infinity used to do.

But you can use the above formula to determine a manufacturers accuracy.