sub amp

Airplay355

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=267-806

is that a good amp for an 8" dayton quatro driver? does anyone know any better amps for about the same price? budget is important.

exalted512

id go with one of these over lanzar any day
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13985
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13986
-Cody

Jstas

ACK! Lanzar?!


RUN AND HIDE!!!!! RUN AND HIDE!!!!!!

Don't let it know we're here!




Ugh, Lanzar, that's like WAL*MART's "premium" line now isn't it?

Leave the Lanzar stuff to the kids you can do a hell of alot better for your money. Cody gave a couple of excellent amps for that price point. You might also want to check out the Profile California series. Solid performers for the money and some big power from some of them too.

Also:

Pioneer just released some cheap amps. Far from the best but again, Pioneer usually puts out solid performers. Worth a look.

Kenwood's regular line will also perform well for the money and it also has a good warranty with it. They are clean, solid amps that may not make as much power as other amps but the power you do get is good and clean.

Also a couple of other companies that I have limited experience with are Phoenix Gold and Rockford Fosgate. I know that both company names hold places of honor in the car audio ranks because of past performance levels but current stuff I have no opinion on because I haven't used it. They still seem to compete well thohugh and they still have an avid following so they can't be doing anything all THAT bad.

Toxis

eh, there's no difference in electronics. Just distortion and headroom. You'd be fine either way.








Sorry, had to.

MacLeod

Originally posted by Toxis
eh, there's no difference in electronics. Just distortion and headroom. You'd be fine either way.








Sorry, had to.

*sigh* My genius is so misunderstood.

Either way, I agree not to go with Lanzar. There is much better out there.

By that amp Im assuming youre wanting something in the neighborhood of 300x1. Actually that amp is 300x MAX so its more like 250 RMS. This http://www.cardomain.com/item/MTX282 is a much better amp. One of the most durable, best built amps on the market. Makes tons of clean power and, best of all, is on clearance right now. This will put out an easy 300x1 cleanly. And for $110, I cant find anything better.

Toxis

Originally posted by MacLeod
*sigh* My genius is so misunderstood.

not misunderstood, just in disbelief in how people perceive different aspects of electronics. :cool:

MacLeod

Read this.

This is what first got me thinking about it.

Toxis

but what kind of switching will be done? He's saying there's a way to not hear turn on/off noises and what-not. How exactly will it be switched? He also said it takes hours to do this. Mentally, it's not possible. To physically sit there for hours and try to guess the difference between amps will cause all kinds of listening fetigue. That's why he's so sure to take your money, he knows you can't do it. If he's so damn sure that only switching between 2 amps is so hard to do, why can't he do it in 30 minutes, or 45? Why does it take all day? I see what he's saying about people guessing and that is a concern but there's a lot of variables left unanswered IMO. How long will it take to switch between amps? If it's more than a couple seconds, than that's to long to switch to tell the differences. If he does use a switching system, what kind of limitations does this system have? How will that alone effect the sound? Will it limit the sound to narrow the chances? Not convinced personally... but that's just me.

MacLeod

It takes hours because the tester has as long as he wants to sit and listen to the 2 amps he's chosen. This way he can become familiar with each amps sound and should have no problem choosing between the 2. So if you only want to audition the 2 amps for 30 minutes then youll go straight to the test which wouldnt take long at all. Just 12 A/B comparisons and you pick which amp was which. Plus I doubt he means you have to sit there and listen to music for 5 hours. More like from the time you get there, pick your amps, set up the amps, listen to them for as long as you like, go over the rules and procedures and then go thru the tests, several hours will have ellapsed.

The switching is instataneous I belive. You sit there and listen and he'll play thru one amp and then click over to the other amp. I dont know what kind of switching device hes using but I wouldnt think that would matter. It would only be something that cuts power to one amp then turns on the other.

If you think you can beat it, get in touch with him. His challenge is open to anybody. All you need is an appointment.

Well, a lot of people dont believe it. Either way I think we all agree that you need to buy as high a quality and amp as you can.

Toxis

Where's he located?

Jstas

Originally posted by Toxis
eh, there's no difference in electronics. Just distortion and headroom. You'd be fine either way.








Sorry, had to.

How so?

Will you statement hold up whe he is buying a new amp and sub because that Lanzar pile of crap shorted out and fired his Dayton voicecoil across the car?

Ditch the Lanzar, it's crap. Bottom line. There are plenty of other good amps already mentioned to choose from and they will be right in the same pricepoint that you are looking for.


Also, MacLeod, if it's putting out 300 watts x 1 peak then RMS values are more like to be 150 watts or lower not 250.

Airplay355

cool, i decided to go with the hifonics warrior hawk. thanks for the suggestion, i didnt know you could get a hifonics amp for that cheap.

now that i have your attention, do you guys think a ported or sealed box would be better in the car? i don't need to worry about calculating the port length or anything, dayton gives you suggested boxes for ported and sealed so i would probably just use those. i was thinking of going with a ported box because they are more effecient with power what do you guys think?

MacLeod

Originally posted by Toxis
Where's he located?

He moderates this forum at Carsound Magazine's website. You can email him there.

Jstas

Originally posted by Airplay355
cool, i decided to go with the hifonics warrior hawk. thanks for the suggestion, i didnt know you could get a hifonics amp for that cheap.

now that i have your attention, do you guys think a ported or sealed box would be better in the car? i don't need to worry about calculating the port length or anything, dayton gives you suggested boxes for ported and sealed so i would probably just use those. i was thinking of going with a ported box because they are more effecient with power what do you guys think?

What kind of vehicle is it going in?

If it is a truck and it will be mounted somewhere in the passenger cabin, ported or sealed, its a toss up. If it is going in a trunk then go with a sealed unless you want to cut holes to vent the ports into the cabin. Othewise they are useless.

Personally, I'd go with sealed. It doesn't get the SPL that ported will at the same power levels but it is tighter, cleaner and a smaller package. It will also dig deeper in the frequency range than a ported box.

exalted512

some subs sound better ported, some sound better sealed. my next box will be ported. im not sure how im going to tune it yet, probably around 32Hz and about 1.75 ft^3. With port area included itll be about the same size as my current box, but with a lot more precision measuring and cutting!
im not looking forward to it...
-Cody

Airplay355

its going in a pontiac sunfire and it's going in the trunk. why is a port useless unless its in the cabin?

Jstas

Because at least 50% of the bass information coming from a ported sub comes from the port itself. If its going in the trunk, you won't get that extra volume that the port provides.

Besides, a ported box is usually quite large compared to a sealed box and a Sunfire is a small car with a small trunk so a smaller, sealed sub would provide a more ideal installtion.

A sealed sub also tends to make better use of a trunk as an enclosure. I find that it is easier to corner load a sealed sub to get that cabin gain and utilize the trunk space to get that extra volume boost at little cost to sound quality.

neomagus00

i have a question about the porting bit... the function of a port is to allow the backwave of a sub to constructively interfere with the main wave, which is where the oft-quoted +3dB comes from (wave summation). once the wave has been reinforced, how does the port know where it goes? it's all the same to the box/port/sub system... i can see how having the port go directly to the cabin would make the tuning frequency be louder, cause at tuning almost all the sound comes from the port, but other than that...?

can you enlighten me?

Jstas

We don't hear sound.

Got that?

Good.

What we "hear" is the shockwaves of the air being moved by sound waves through the air. Just like a tsunami in the water. When that shockwave hits our ear drums, it vibrates the membrane known as our eardrums. That vibration sends a signal to the brain which then interprets it as sound and tells you that you are listening to sound.

So how does a port reinforce that +3dB gain? It moves air. If that air is blocked by a big cusy seat cushion and hard metal bulk heads in the trunk, how can it get to your ear to vibrate your eardrum at that +3 dB gain?

Ports don't work if they are blocked. Vent the enclosure into the cabin and you get you +3 dB gain plus your realize the effect of your efforts at tuning the enclosure. Don't vent it into the cabin and you're gym bag will surely be rocking but you won't get the volume benefits of the port inside the cabin. What you'll also get in the decreased frequency range and rapid falloff but no extra oomph to offset your trade-offs with a ported box.

With the sealed box, you have a pseudo-bandpass box. You get full frequency range extension from the sub. As much as your crossover and enclosure will allow. What you also get is the corner loaded gain from sticking the sub in a corner using the interior surfaces of the trunk to get a similar +3 dB gain on the sub. A sealed sub will tend to work better in a trunk than a ported sub.


Personally, I like sealed boxes better than ported because they have fewer trade-offs that are easier to overcome. The biggest ones are decreased sensitivity which requires more power. It's easy to get more power for a sub. Sealed boxes tend to be less boomy with a more accurate sound. Better for music in my opinion. Ported subs work great for things like home theater where ground shaking volume is what creates the experience.

Airplay355

gotcha...sealed it is

MacLeod

For what its worth, I vote sealed as well. Ive always like the sound of a sealed versus a ported box.

Airplay355

thats good then because its easier to build and according to you guys it will sound better. so all is well lol.