What is the performance differance between a high watt and low watt woofer?

[Nikuk 5,000+ posts]

If you had 2 subs nearly identical, the one w/ higher power handling would most likely have a longer coil which means more coil outside the gap which means less efficiency. In other words, 500w going to a 500w rated sub > 500w going to a 1500w rated sub. but 1500w to the 1500w sub > 500w to the 500w sub.

The higher handling coil may not be the 'longer one'. Could be flat wire vs. round, could be coil diameter, could be inductance, could be the venting abilities of the motor design, etc... there is no one rule of thumb. Cruise around and read some of the advanced topics and pay to attention, there are some highly talented folks on this here internet.

To generalize the bejesus out of it, anyway.

Thats for sure... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[stangme01 10+ year member]

Now, let's say for example you had two "identical" subs in sealed boxes that resulted in identical response, identical Qtc, identical excursion levels, etc, and one sub only needed 500w and the other sub needed 1800w. Which would be louder? Neither, they'd have the exact same output.

Well not exactly because subs rms ratings are based on thermal handling not excursion. Its possible that in this hypothetical box, the 500w sub is not able to reach full excursion with only 500w and the 1800w one could //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/imdaman.gif.bc6c552e19aa4ad8c47461144f40eb1a.gif

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Well not exactly because subs rms ratings are based on thermal handling not excursion. Its possible that in this hypothetical box, the 500w sub is not able to reach full excursion with only 500w and the 1800w one could //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/imdaman.gif.bc6c552e19aa4ad8c47461144f40eb1a.gif

Did you miss the part where I said EVERYTHING IS EQUAL except for the power input to the drivers?? Reread what I wrote......I didn't say that was their RMS power handling....I said that was what they NEEDED to achieve equal, totally equal, performance (in every concept of the word).

Don't try to make it harder or more complicated than it was. The moral of the story was simply that power input doesn't matter if the outcome (i.e. output) is the same.

Now, it is my turn to bow //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/imdaman.gif.bc6c552e19aa4ad8c47461144f40eb1a.gif

 

[psycho72 10+ year member]

Once again you are the man squeak //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/bowdown.gif.b85b23b82970bd22fb6b549c3392f016.gif . You answered exactly what I was wondering.

It's funny though because I spent the last 20 minutes reading other threads and I keep seeing "I'm gonna run 1000watts to each woofer", "I,m looking for a 2000w amp", "yeah I am running 3000w to mine" blah blah blah. I mean WTF kind of electrical system most of these guys must have to be running this kind of power. And what is next, "Yeah, I got 10,000 watts under the hood and my alternater is nukular" //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/banghead.gif.8606515f668c74f6de0281deb475b6fd.gif .

 

[stangme01 10+ year member]

haha dude the whole reason i was bowing was because i was messin with you man i wasn't serious, i know it was making it way more complicated lol

Chill man! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[Nikuk 5,000+ posts]

Once again you are the man squeak //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/bowdown.gif.b85b23b82970bd22fb6b549c3392f016.gif . You answered exactly what I was wondering.
It's funny though because I spent the last 20 minutes reading other threads and I keep seeing "I'm gonna run 1000watts to each woofer", "I,m looking for a 2000w amp", "yeah I am running 3000w to mine" blah blah blah. I mean WTF kind of electrical system most of these guys must have to be running this kind of power. And what is next, "Yeah, I got 10,000 watts under the hood and my alternater is nukular" //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/banghead.gif.8606515f668c74f6de0281deb475b6fd.gif .

I run 2.6kw rms right now with a 150amp alternator, 1/Ott wire, 300amp fuses, an a Stinger batt...

Is that okay with you?

Now: //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/imdaman.gif.bc6c552e19aa4ad8c47461144f40eb1a.gif

-Nick

 

[psycho72 10+ year member]

Is that okay with you?

Well I don't know why you wnat my permission but okay......yeah sure it is okay with me //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[Nikuk 5,000+ posts]

..... I mean WTF kind of electrical system most of these guys must have to be running this kind of power. And what is next, "Yeah, I got 10,000 watts under the hood and my alternater is nukular" //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/banghead.gif.8606515f668c74f6de0281deb475b6fd.gif .

Referring to this.

You'd be amazed what you could do with 800+cca, 150amp alt, and a 60-74% efficient amplifier on the woofers (with a mean install) & a 50-55% efficient amplifier on the components.

That is all.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[psycho72 10+ year member]

Referring to this.
You'd be amazed what you could do with 800+cca, 150amp alt, and a 60-74% efficient amplifier on the woofers (with a mean install) & a 50-55% efficient amplifier on the components.

That is all.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Now there is a whole can of worms you just got me thinking about. Amplifier efficency!!! LOL! Off to do some googlin.

 

[Nikuk 5,000+ posts]

Now there is a whole can of worms you just got me thinking about. Amplifier efficency!!! LOL! Off to do some googlin.

Eh, yup. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

US Amps.

 

[B_Master_Flash 10+ year member]

With exact same woofer, double the wattage = 3db gain (with out power compression or excursion problems). 1db is defined as the smallest ammount of sound that is audible, so 3db is audible but not nearly twice as loud. 10db gain = twice as loud (audibly)

 

[Shane21]

Well, my question is what would bump harder, 2 12" 500 watt rms Rockford hx2 or 1 12" Rockford POWER hx2? Sorry if its kind of a newbish question

 

[Raven 10+ year member]

It's also off topic.

Squeak: Theoretically, that's all correct. But, if I remember rightly, YOU are the one who had "Don't buy a über-woofer if you have nothing to power it with" in your sig a long time ago, and here you are saying you could match up an 1.8 kilowatt sub with a 500 watt amp. Wow. It's like real life and theory are two completely different things! =p

 

[stangme01 10+ year member]

its hard to beat dual 12's with a single 12" you have to remember because there are 2 12's the single 12" has to have more than twice the excursion of 1 of the dual 12's to keep up with the dual 12's. More than likely the dual 12's also have more cone area (i'm assuming this) most manufacturers put fatter surrounds on higher power subs (even though most of the time its not necessary) And normally subs have progressive spiders which make them harder and harder to get more excursion out of the sub because the spider gets stiffer and stiffer. Not only that but i would assume the power HX2 would be alot less efficient which means you are going to need like 2-3 times the power to use the power HX2 than you would need for the dual HX2's.

also 2 12's would have to work less to get as loud. I know nothing about these 2 subs but i would think the 2 12's would have less distortion at any given SPL compared to the single sub.

Its almost always easier to get alot more SPL with more subs than it is with more power to less subs.

IMO dual HX2's is clearly the winner in SPL and SQ. And your amp will be ALOT cheaper considering you will only need 1/3-1/2 the power that you'd need for the Power HX2

 

[Nikuk 5,000+ posts]

It's also off topic.
Squeak: Theoretically, that's all correct. But, if I remember rightly, YOU are the one who had "Don't buy a über-woofer if you have nothing to power it with" in your sig a long time ago, and here you are saying you could match up an 1.8 kilowatt sub with a 500 watt amp. Wow. It's like real life and theory are two completely different things! =p

No, that was regarding Steve who had bought an "Uberwoofer" and didn't have an amp to use.

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