94 replies to this topic

[Mr_Bob]

Bobby_Digital said:

it's not like the JL amps is it, they actuly lose power the more you load it down, they still make more than the rated power, the 1000/1 i think is around 1400wrms at 4ohm and 1200wrms at 2ohm

not htat i'm aware of, mine's rated at 1200WRMS between 4 and 1ohm.
(the JL is rated at 1000 at 4-1.5ohm)
my birthsheet says 1215WRMS @ 4ohm

[Andres]

Just some (hopefully contructive) ideas:

1) Get a BIG bum amp so u can go to the limit with each woofer, BUT also surely u can have a preset gain "marking" on the amp where it only puts out say a max of 400wrms... If i'm spending 500ish on a sub i can't afford to feed it much more power than that... Make sense?

2) A blind test would be easy as pie. Just have the people screwing the subs into the boxes do it in a diff room, and make sure the judges are in the car and looking forward when it comes to putting hte sub+box in the car. That was judges aren't stuck in the car, but they still odn't know what subby is coming next.

3) Do it in a car without massive bass loading (e.g. hatches) Stick with a sedan or soemthing where its testing the woofer a little more.

4) Just stick with one mounting pos. e.g. facing into opposite back corner. Or in the back corner facing foward. Maybe first test the car with a "proven" quality sub, see where it sound best, and jsut decide that will be the set spot from then on...

5) If the manufactueres aren't happy to supply an enclosure jsut say u will be using a "X"L enclosure with blocks of mdf used to bring it down to the volume they recommend u. If they're too stingy to send a box, bugger em, its their product possible not performing to its best. And maybe jsut stick with sealed, sure some will work better in ported, but you sometimes have to comprimise to make it practical.

6) Get the freq response... At least thats fairly factual/objective

7) Just do it!!!! PLEASE. No test is gonna be 100% perfect. Some subs lacking low end will sound better in a hatch, others will lose some boominess in a sedan maybe. But we all know a test like this is sooo much better than lsitening to a sub on the wall at your local shop.


I really hope this goes forward. So much better than the average "e-pinions" / "hot/fast4s" mag etc...

GO FOR IT

PS I like the idea of having a few "average joe's " listening. Its jsut brings a different view point too...

PPS I realise i repeated heaps of what other people said, but jsut thought i'd right it again anyway! hahaha

[Damon]

Hi Marc, hi lads,

Sorry, found this thread kinda late and want to post but not necassarilly read every post so I skimmed through as best I could.

First up I want to wish you the best of luck with the comparison. Having done one or two comparisons before I know how time consuming they can be, so I hope the rewards are worth the effort you guys put in. Since I have done the odd comparison here and there I thought a couple of suggestions for your considerations may help.

First up - 20 woofers is a lot of woofers!

While getting excited and reviewing as many woofers as you can get your hands on sound good in theory the reality is that you will find it extremely difficult and time consuming to review so many woofers properly - especially for an audience like CAA who want comprehensive info. Sure, my reviews in ASM are short and to the point, but the average reader of ASM hasn't the attention span for the subject matter like CAA members do. CAA members will want 500+ words on each woofer including TS specs, box design used, SPL & SQ evaluation - equating to a 12,000 word review once intros and conclusions are done. What a read!

Also, I've found that reading reviews with so many products causes confusion with both the results and the ability for the reader to cope with this much info. This is also the reason why most established publications that conduct reviews only test a handful at a time, as it is better to be concise with a select group than have a 20 word blurb about every model on earth. This is why my reviews have kept the head count to under eight models.

Also, from a time management standpoint it will take an huge effort to build boxes for all the woofers, as a singular box for all woofers will result in an unfair comparison when it will have a dramatic effect on the way each one sounds. The suppliers will also then have a convenient excuse to whine about not having their woofer reviewed in their recommended box. For my reviews I ask the supplier to either provide the box with the woofer, a design for the box, or I use the optimum ported or sealed box provided with the spec sheet. Then there's no argument once the results are published.

Also on the time issue, 20 woofers will take a long time to break in, and I have found that while 'on the day' listening tests can reveal differences between woofers, there's nothing better than living with each model in your car for a week - which for all reviewers will be nigh on impossible.

Considering I noted a bit of the 'bias' word being thrown around. An easy way to overcome the issue is to have the test done blind so that written results from the listening tests can be considered completely fair - though I don't really see the need for anyone to be biased. If the reader doesn't trust the results - his loss, right?

Anyway, I do wish you guys all the best of luck with it. What ever happens you'll have plenty of fun and are sure to learn a thing or two about the good old 12-inch woofer in the process!

[fuddbutter]

one little thing Damon touched on is the run in time.

could we get the Distributors to "Run in" there subs b4 they send them?

[umop-3p|sdn]

Has there been any progress on this comparison?