Car Subwoofer Sensitivity

[RadioactiveGuy4]

Thx for the info Swamp Bass I'm going to go and by a bunch of car subs for my next rig!!!

JK

I understand your post. Thx for the info. It make for a good read and that is a great looking cab you bulit there.

 

[AlexanderB]

Lots of parroting on this subject - not necessarily by the people replying here, though!
I used to gig with a Cerwin Vega Stroker 15 (the original, PA derived version from the early nineties) as a dedicateb, bi-amped sub below a three-way 15"/10"/1" PA cabinet. Crossed over at 70Hz, 700W continous available for the sub, 600W for the top. Accurate, deep, clean and barely loud enough in the upper bass/low mids. More clean power would have increased the SPL - I still had more excursion available but the amp ran out of gas.
That 15" Stroker has a passband (below 100Hz) efficiency around 88-90 dB and more output capability, especially below 50Hz, than the Eminience 3015 LF that I have also owned and gigged.

Power from amps is very cheap per Watt nowadays. Our PA "colleagues" adopted the "trade sensitivity for extension and box size" thinking a decade ago but not musicians, oh no. Lets keep those "rolled off bottom", cumbersome cabinets and power them with sub 500W "bass heads" seems a very common view on things.

/Rant over.

 

[Bassmec]

Lots of parroting on this subject - not necessarily by the people replying here, though!
I used to gig with a Cerwin Vega Stroker 15 (the original, PA derived version from the early nineties) as a dedicateb, bi-amped sub below a three-way 15"/10"/1" PA cabinet. Crossed over at 70Hz, 700W continous available for the sub, 600W for the top. Accurate, deep, clean and barely loud enough in the upper bass/low mids. More clean power would have increased the SPL - I still had more excursion available but the amp ran out of gas.
That 15" Stroker has a passband (below 100Hz) efficiency around 88-90 dB and more output capability, especially below 50Hz, than the Eminience 3015 LF that I have also owned and gigged.

Power from amps is very cheap per Watt nowadays. Our PA "colleagues" adopted the "trade sensitivity for extension and box size" thinking a decade ago but not musicians, oh no. Lets keep those "rolled off bottom", cumbersome cabinets and power them with sub 500W "bass heads" seems a very common view on things.

/Rant over.

These are about the most sensitive in a small box, this is very much derived from the dual Voice Coil/gap type of ICE competition sub:
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The only way to beat one of those stock, is to couple lots of drivers in a smallish Bass Horn.

 

[swamp_bass]

Yes, its all about design objectives! If i want mad low bass extension down to 30 Hz and I'm willing to put in tripple the power of a standard bass cab, then a car subwoofer design is not out of the realm of possibilities.

 

[T. Brookins]

Pioneer caught my attention with their new ts-w1200pro and ts-w1500pro.
They look to be fairly efficient. I’m curious about how they sound in a 3 way bass cabinet with my 1000 cheap watts.

 

[Rick James]

They're not 1500 watt drivers, they're 450 watt, and without complete T/S specs what they might do is anyone's guess. The 105dB sensitivity is fake, it says 'In Car'.

 

[T. Brookins]

They're not 1500 watt drivers, they're 450 watt, and without complete T/S specs what they might do is anyone's guess. The 105dB sensitivity is fake, it says 'In Car'.

Yes, the In- Car measurements are quite deceiving... I suppose 105 dB in car probably means 93 dB, but we don’t really have a way of knowing unless anechoic testing is done.

I figured 1200 and 1500 were just monikers for their overall diameter with a couple of zeros added.

Curious woofers- all the while efficiency is not as important these days with the dollar-per-watt being exponentially cheaper than ever.

 

[agedhorse]

They're not 1500 watt drivers, they're 450 watt, and without complete T/S specs what they might do is anyone's guess. The 105dB sensitivity is fake, it says 'In Car'.

Cabin gain is a marketing executive's best friend.

 

[Wasnex]

Cabin gain is a marketing executive's best friend.

Yep...I put a single compact sub in my standard cab pickup driven by a 420W amp and have all the bass I can stand. Same sub in my living room sounds like a pathetic joke.

 

[maskman1980]

Inefficient in general for "sub woofers"? http://www.usspeaker.com/definimax4018lf-1.htm
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Not hard to find well designed efficient sub drivers at all. That was just two random mouse clicks. If you are happy playing to your TV that is great. Kids coming here trying to find cheap ways out with low power amps, your post does no service to? IMO

Your absolutely Spot on. The right driver's for the right jobs. PA woofers are designed with high sensitivity, moderate to high power A greater upper band width. Quite the 180 from car audio woofers. In context live bands & gigs go for hours. Multiple bands coming and going on the same pa systems. Speaks for its self. Professional gear and the longevity of components are key! Criticality dire in real world applications. Not to mention woofer coil types. Big edge wound coils are the norm in the PA world. As they tend to be in the flux gap keeping the driver cooler. Alongside tighter controlled, limited excursion for tight transient responses. Bigger enclosures designs for greater low end output to complement the woofers limited X max. This creates a longer life from woofer fatigue. Unlike car audio that uses over hung coils, Over hung coils are half in half out of the magnetic flux gap. This creates more heat and less efficiency but higher stroke capability's of the woofer. Lowering the sensitivity of modern vehicle woofers to accommodate smaller and smaller enclosures for vehicles to save space. Design wise this makes the woofer preform mechanically harder. Not the best outcome for long play and output, like shows.