stupid car audio question :)

[superbassman2000]

so i remember talking about using car subs in bass rigs, and the general consensus was that the frequency response was more focused in the low low end, and nowhere else, so it'd sound like mud...so i was wondering, what if someone did a biamp setup with the car subs doing the lows?

i am not planning on doing this, it'd be more of a theoretical thing

 

[ESP-LTD]

Been there, done that. It's not really 'mud'- to me that means something indistinct and distorted. Using car audio subs (sub being the operative word) they can be very clean; it just doesn't add a huge amount to the sound. I found that once I started paying attention to room dynamics and offstage sound, that I needed to cut lows more than boost them.

I used a pair of 250w JBL 12" subs in parallel off a QSC RMX 1450 (about 225w per box) and an older Avatar product (no longer available) with a Kappa Pro 12 and a tweeter (it saw about 175w max). I crossed them over at about 150hz and for a fair sized bar I ran the whole rig at about 50% power. I had chronic complaints from band members that I wasn't loud enough onstage (I'm sure they heard the low notes for blocks). It was always clean and distinct, and an honest +/- 3db from 30hz to 10k or so, but it took a LOT of power and it just wasn't that helpful.

Now I use a pair of biamped Omni 12's and the same power level does well for outdoor shows; probably 4x the stage volume.

 

[bgavin]

I did this with Rockford RFR-2215 car subs. In 5.4 cubic feet, they are flat to 30 Hz or so.

The bad news is they are power hungry. My PLX 3002 driving two on a single channel (4 ohms) at clipping, doesn't make a whole lot of noise.

The RFR-2215 are all done by 100 to 125 Hz, so bi-amping is mandatory. They are not muddy by themselves, but will excite a lot of mud in a typical bar venue. Most of which suck, acoustically. That is why a cab with no bottom, such as Eden or Ampeg sounds so good in a bar. They cut through nicely, and don't excite the bottom octave standing waves that translate to mud.

Outdoors is another matter. Cabs with no bottom sound wimpy and thin. Car subs outdoors are not the answer, unless you have a rack of 3,000 watt power amps, and an array of subs. They simply do not have efficiency to make much noise outdoors.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed] and make lots of noise. If you really have a thing for bottom feeding at seismic levels, build a pair of full size Tuba 36 and take them outside.

From one who has been there, skip the car subs in favor of a bass horn.