CA-F forum export

DaberAudio.com

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:40:48 +0000

Just did this website for Daber Audio. They wanted a better web presence. I think they got it.
Check them out!

what is up with the site??

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:10:01 +0000

what is happening to the site, it wont let me get the most of the threads on here .

Finally ordered comps

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:38:05 +0000

I just ordered some phoenix gold rsd6cs comps.I found them on ebay for $50.49 shipped and the auction stated that it was the last set they had.I'll give a review after their installed and broke in.I also picked up a used h/u:blaupunkt pasadena cd71.Anybody have experience with older blaupunkt h/u's?Built in 2003. http://www.audioonli...01/pasadena.jpg

No sound coming from dvd player

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 21:58:10 +0000

I bought a dvd player off of craigslist with a brain box. I have hooked up many cd players but never a dvd player and I have never even heard of the brain thing. I hooked it up and No sound comes from my jeep speakers. Things I have tried so far is. - took a speaker from my house surround sound and hooked it up to the the brain and the speaker played. -Hooked my factory cd player back up and it worked fine. - Bought another 8 dollar connector from walmart and still no sound. I'm not even sure what else to try. I am certain that the speakers are connected to the right wire because I had a aftermarket cd player hooked up in there before and everything worked fine with that. also I have amplifier that i hooked the rca up to the brain and it works fine. I'm not even sure what to try to do anymore. someone please help.

Mineral Cooled Amplifiers?! What?

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 04:44:42 +0000

Exclusive New SSA Video

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:40:26 +0000

Well, we spent some money today . What we spent it on was a professionally produced video for SSA Sub's. John, who is producing the video currently has 3 Video's on MTV!

Just looking at the footage we took, this video should be like nothing you've seen before as far as excursion videos go.

Also, we plan to stream this on the home page and our youtube home page.

Editing should take a few days. Hopefully he doesn't get side tracked in the process. Here's a little pic I took while he was working.

Link to his other video's: john colombo on Vimeo

UPDATE:

Missing super sports car

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:55:24 +0000

Odd story: The Uwe Gemballa Disappearance: Update

Hennessey Venom GT

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:52:02 +0000

This thing looks sick:

Source link.

Ken Block in slo-mo

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:24:40 +0000

http://www.topgear.com/uk/videos/ken-block-slo-mo-directors-cut

Top Gear USA Alive, Heading To History Channel

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:12:44 +0000

Not sure if they will be able to match the visual impact, beautiful scenery, comedy and chemistry of Top Gear, but I look forward to it.

http://jalopnik.com/5472105/top-gear-usa-alive-heading-to-history-channel?skyline=true&s=i

still need comps

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 03:52:04 +0000

Don't get mad,you guys gave me great sugg. for comps,but things have changed a bit and now it's time to make a decision.Do I get the rsd's or go all out for polk db's,id ctx's....you get the idea.I just want to make sure I get good midbass.I have a different amp now(eclipse ea3422)it's a 4 channel heres the link:
http://www.epinions....Audio_Amplifier
I'm pretty sure it's does 100 wrms at 4ohm x2 bridged.My budget is still low,maybe $150.00 but I can wait if you guys think it will be to my benefit.This time I'm leaning toward the polk db's.Thanks in advance.

glad to be back

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 02:04:17 +0000

I was unable to patricipate in the forum due to my browser,but Mark helped me out.Thanks Mark.Anyways,I've changed my setup and wanted to share and get opinions on whats next.I tried to post pics and it keeps telling me the file is too big.What do I need to do to post pics?

Ultimate Garages

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:53:53 +0000

This is worth a look, or three for that matter >>> http://www.fordgtforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17919 These are a few examples:

SSA Home Page Major Upgrade :)

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:23:26 +0000

SSA Home Page just got a major face lift again. As many of you know, I love to keep on the edge of things, and wanted to put some of my web skills to work here. See what you think.

Home Page

New Menu system at work. loaded with icon's

New Menu system at work. loaded with icon's

New Product pages. Cleaner, more to the point. Rebuilt all of them.

also added social bookmarking ability, new gallery system, and our recent tweets now load on the homepage (header)

Old School Eclipse equipment

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:28:21 +0000

A trusted ebay seller is selling off a number of Eclipse units for awesome prices. I am considering snagging another 55430, it was one of the flat out best H/U's I have ever used. Would love to match that up with a DSP and the BLA.

Link: http://shop.ebay.com/hung330/m.html?_nkw=Eclipse&_sacat=0&_trksid=p3911.m270.l1313&_odkw=&_osacat=0

Sub box project at School

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:39:27 +0000

Hello everyone, I study in England and I'm doing Design and Technology A-level course.
I choosen to do a car subwoofer box for my final project. My idea is to make a compact
double subwoofer box for two JBL 8'' 800watts. I am trying to make a powerful subwoofer but
which wouldn't take all the free space in a boot. Maybe I will make it as a two blocks which
will fold up.

If you could answer some questions for me, that would be great..

1) Do you think subwoofers take to much free space in your car?
2) Would you buy this kind of subwoofer?
3) What materials do you think I should use for my sub box?

Maybe you could make some suggestions for me. Any help will be appreciated.

blow skirt with speaker

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:44:43 +0000

Hi,

Is it possible to blow a skirt up with a speaker? My boyfriend has said it's possible and would love for me to do it and of course get him the speaker set up that can do it too. Is it even possible?

Sarah

Jay Leno and the SLS

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 01:25:22 +0000

I hope you have quality speakers, just listen to this engine:

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/at-the-garage/super-cars/the-fast-and-the-famous-in-search-of-hollywoods-hidden-street-circuit/

This car has just supplanted a few epic cars as possibly my all-time favorite.

Epic Auto “Fails” of 2009

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 22:16:51 +0000

http://www.iheartauto.com/blog/?p=448

Hello from Ukraine

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:05:19 +0000

Hi guys,
I'm happy to find this resource.
I'll be happy to find caraurio friends here.

Best wishes from Ukraine, Artem

NEW ONE!!

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:39:22 +0000

hello all iam new to forums and car sounds so i just had a few questions about what is required to hook up what i have to my car i have went to a few places here on the island (oahu) and kinda got ripped off so i was wondering if anyone could help me out.

i have 2 6x9 s
and 2 3" front speakers
and 12" sub (not sure what model ill have pictures soon)
and a keenwood deck (same deal with the model and such)
everything is jl but the deck
omes?
wiring harenst ?
and amp wattage are all things i need help understanding thanks all

Home Audio Forum's Launch Membership Contest

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:21:12 +0000

~~ Home Audio Forum Membership Contest ~~

Hello all. To celebrate the official launch of Home Audio Forum , we are hosting a membership contest. The idea of the contest is to get the word out about an all new home audio / home theater forum for every do-it-yourself'er out there, a site for beginners to the elite. Everyone is welcome as long as the attitude is checked at the front door. A site to learn and share about past, present, and future goings on in the home audio industry and every ones home audio projects. We have spared no expense in building and preparing this forum in terms of design, lay out and optimization, this is because we know it is going to be the home audio place to be. And unlike most other contests or give aways on other forums, the winners will actually receive their prizes.

Contest Steps:

Step 1>
In the upper right hand corner of the forum page, you will see a link that says "Invite Friends" as seen in this image:

Step 2>
When you click the 'Invite Friends" link, all you have to do is put in their name and email address as seen here:

Step 3>

Repeat as many times as you like.

Step 4>

At end of contest, tabulate converted invites with 10 or more posts.

Contest goals / info:

To have the most Converted invites with 10 or more posts per invitee by end of the contest, on Jan 31st.

Contest Rules:

To invite people you know are interested in or enjoy home audio that will become a member of the forum.
Converted invites that are just spam posts, do not count!
Converted invites that are just multiple accounts of the same user, does not count!

Contest Prizes:

Gift Certificates to either Parts-Express.com or Madisound or Sound Solutions Audio Store.

1st place: $125 gift certificate to your choice of the above stores.
2nd place: $100 gift certificate to your choice of the above stores.
3rd place: $75 gift certificate to your choice of the above stores.

Contest Eligibility:

Any Home Audio Forum registered member
Any Home Audio Forum moderator

Contest Result info:

To clarify, a converted invite, is an invited member that has registered. After the contest is over, everyone who is participating will check to see how many converted invites with 10 or more posts (as specified above), have been completed. So it is quite simple, the top 3 people at the end of the contest win.

Welcome to the new home of home audio on line.

man you guy will not believe this.

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:45:24 +0000

i was sitting messing around online when all of a sudden i hear my alarm going off on the car. the Taurus i locked then unlocked it then locked it again i thought i was sitting on my keys.lol's well any ways i get up to look just to make sure i was just sitting on my keys. nope i was not sitting on the key i had two young kids shoveling the dive way. when one must have bumped my car. all i could do is look out the window and then start laughing that i caught the kids best part is i think it scared them more then i was pissed meaning i was not pissed at all. it was a nice gesture by them but was very funny. .

Share Topics with your favorite Social Media Site!

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:27:10 +0000

just click the icon in the page head to post to your favorite social media site.

Enjoy

what do you think of this one for a sq car

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:52:01 +0000

this is one of the auto's i am looking at for a sq base vehicle tell me what you think. is it worthy?

http://lansing.craigslist.org/cto/1527515860.html

sub woofer thoughts

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:33:35 +0000

here i have been looking around and was wondering if a 12 or 15 inch xcon could be pushed hard enough by a sae 1200d v2. i am think running one 12 in a t line. i was thinking of going with a higher spl sub like the jbl powers but they just take up to much space. the line would be 1.5 time sd for the area of the line and about7-8 foot long. if i can yes that is the t/s speck for sd and i would not stuff it to dampen it. i am wondering if you think a 12 could out beat 2 10's or even a 15 out beat the tens with that amp.

Bass cuts our after certain volume...help plz

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 22:26:37 +0000

my limit on my head unit is 50 as soon as i turn it above like 40 onwards the bass cuts out and stops workin

i was wondering why this happens

Mercedes proves why 8 air bags are better!

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:35:26 +0000

Alpine 9851 won't eject CD / no more Tilt face?

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:23:29 +0000

Hi friends, I'm new in here... hope that someone can help me!

OK I've had my Alpine 9851 since 2005/2006. I just burned a new CD of MP3s and I can't eject the disc. I push the button and the LCD shows OPEN, but the face does not drop and CD does not eject. I also notice that the Tilt feature does not work. So it looks like the motorized face drop down things is kaput.

So I stop by car toys (original installer) to see if they know any tricks, nope they tell me the mortoized bit is toast. We tried a reset with no luck. Since I am past the 1 yr mark (no ext warr), no factory warranty. They want money to pull the unit and then I'd have to contact Alpine, blah, blah, blah....

OK, so I wander into the booth with Alpine HUs and see an Alpine 9851 - you guessed it. eject/tilt no workie. Stopped by Best buy and found another 9851, same thing. This seems to be a pretty common malfunction. Any chance this is a known problem and Alpine will cover customers for this flaw.

Any other tips to get the disc out, or am I screwed?

Possible Dream garage

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 01:28:13 +0000

check this out!!!

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:53:17 +0000

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
here is what $1 TRILLION in $100's looks like:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=12754

surpising to say the least....................

A CHALLENGE FOR YOU GUYS

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:19:04 +0000

Alright here is my predicament and I'm sure you guys could help.

I'm looking for a speaker that a guy at that beach was carrying in his backpack. It was self amplified it also had the tuning controls on the back of it. The speaker I would say was an 8 inch tube but the crazy part was it ran on batteries. The thing pushed about 200 watts but was truly loud as hell. I've looked everywhere for this thing but to no avail I cannot find it anywhere. It also had an auxillary port on it because the thing was hooked up to an ipod. So if any of you guys could help it would be appreciated.

what do you guy think of a 2003 cavalier

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:27:12 +0000

i looking at it because it has the ecotec motor in it the one i am looking at is a 2.2L with low mileage see the reason for a new car is it's time to pick another one up the. my Taurus is toast in the suspension so i am looking at new cars my head is not into racing if it was i would pic up a bbc chevelle if you catch the drift lol's. any ways there is a lot of appearance options for it and it is the same detuned motor they put in the lotus a few years later. have not read head gasket problems etc with them unless there is other any ways thanks tell me what you think.

sub woofer questions

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:45:39 +0000

do you guys think the x con 18 inch will have more bass then a triplet of type r's 10's or should i go with two fi ssd 12's dual one ohm or one btl 18inch in the spl version this is all for a t-line i like the x con the best but i want the loudest for comp's this is just for the future once i get that amp i ordered the sae1200d presale.

Noob AMAZED

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 05:25:05 +0000

my names ty, im new to this site and technically new to car audio. Although i have worked on cars for a living for 10 years or so, and have been doing my own audio setups for about a year and a half, I'm technically still new at car audio. I'm amazed at how under rated installers are and how much planning and science is involved to getting a system done RIGHT.

Anyway, I'm full of curiosity and ?s and love learning about this stuff.

thanx.

jeep amp rack tell me what you think

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:17:51 +0000

as the title say tell me what you think ? it's for the instructors jeep got bored and decided to build it for him.

here is what we did in class tonight

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:00:06 +0000

first i sold a radio. then i gave some one those 8 inch cvr i was hanging on to. then i build a amp rack or at least started one now i got to finish it i will be building a secound hope the instructor likes. any ways we in the industry say to many cooks spoil the broth and the saying was so to night me trying to go by what the instructor wanted and it just did not come out right so now i will be redoing it for him hope he likes lol's this is my little secerect way of why you do not order custom workers around lol's

pic of a cars neon i did a wile back well at least helped on he did most of the work.

thanks for viewing

window shopping found some thing i like

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:53:00 +0000

here i was window shopping and found a router i like for 80 bucks plus tax was wondering your guys thoughts of it then all i got to do is check out what bits i can get5 and see if it fit my circle templates but any ways tell me what you think of it.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00917540000P?vName=Tools&cName=Portable+Power+Tools&sName=Routers+%26+Laminate+Trimmers

2x8inch cvr's in 3 cubes

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:35:01 +0000

ya decided to put my cvr 8's in 3 cubic feet and see how they sounded they sounded damn good if you ask me for being a 8 inch subs in 2.99 cubic feet see the reason i am testing them is i am giving to a guy at school on friday and selling my other head unit to another guy on friday too.the two work so i am a happy hippy camper right now lol's pun's intented lol's any ways the box is stuffed with about a pound of fiber fill from wall marts. before this they did not sound that good but now do. what i am thinking is incrediable is the 3 cubes for two 8's any ways never seen a 8 take 1.5 cubic feet before???this is the box used for sq acording to kicker and the cvr manuals.

Winding Road Magazine & Next Auto's

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:35:21 +0000

If you don't get it by now, sign up for it. It is free. Also Next Auto's is an online news site I check. To get the free magazine head on over to: http://www.nextautos.com/Winding-Road-Magazine

The most recent edition has some sweet articles.

no signal to sub amp?

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:06:01 +0000

Greetings to everyone!
My name is Chris and I'm new to the forum.
About a month ago I had a 4 ch amp,a mono block amp,(Pheonix Gold) and a cap(Tsunami 40 farad) installed and I am now having problems with the sub not working.......The 4 ch works but a serious engine noise issue has developed especially when the headlights are on.
Both amps have power and turn on like they are supposed to, but it seems like the sub amp is not receiving a signal.
This system sounded awesome at first,but started breaking down over a period of time.
At first, I could turn sub off/on (via the head unit controller)a few times and the sub would come back.
But as the engine noise grew worse over time,that little trick was no longer possible.
Is it possible that the head unit sub output just gave up, or is it a ground issue affiliated with head unit?
The person that did the work has done since moved away and I don't know where to begin looking for the problem.
Any advice is greatly appreciated
Thanks,
Zakster

tried to install windows seven

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:32:11 +0000

i have the problem of installing windows seven i got a list of stuff i use that i have to remove then install again one of which is i tunes talk aboput one pissed off person i am right now besideds this my kypersky anti virus has to be up gradeed so more $$$$ involved there talk about some b.s. from windows. so now i got to go threw and find out if i can up date every thing so i can install windows seven talk about a pita

SSA Secret Friday

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:36:22 +0000

SSA Secret Weekend

Extended for the weekend and Sundown amplifier combo's added.

Automotive Family Tree

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:06:12 +0000

Knukonceptz deals

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:22:09 +0000

From an email I received.

The holiday season is upon us once again and that means KnuKonceptz will be offering up another $250 Grand Prize shopping spree to one lucky winner! There will also be two $50 prizes given away. Registration is simple and it does require a Facebook account. Simply "Become a Fan" of KnuKonceptz.com by following one of the links on our website and that it is!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/KnuKonceptzcom/172361142047?ref=search&sid=1399336574.2280930636..1

More good news, we'll be offering the KLM-K4 amp installation kit for $29.99 SHIPPED through the end of the holiday season! Offer valid for anywhere in the USA including AK/HI/PR.
http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KLM-K4

KnuKonceptz KLMX0R for $1.50/ft in our close out section....

Item listed is cosmetically flawed, the PVC jacket has a wavy/ribbed feel. This was from a heating issue of the PVC during manufacturing and in no way effects performance or safety, but does not meet KnuKonceptz standards for fit/finish of a cable.

Cable is sold ONLY in 20' increments - however if you buy 2 or more, we will ship in continuous increments 40'/60'/80' etc..Supply is limited, offer good while supply lasts.
http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KO-KLMX0R-20

KnuKonceptz is slashing prices on all component video cables and HDMI Cables for the holidays. We've never offered such discounts on our Flagship eKs Cables, do not miss out on this one time offer!

got the lat 250's

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:06:20 +0000

to sum it up damn i am impressed with these little ones. they got rubber shrouds and were very heavy at first notice the plastic housing is durable enough for every day use. now all i got to do is build a box for them and test them today and build the box later. but i will test them one about 30-40 % of what they can take the power needed to push them kinda free air i got a small amp i can do this with. but any ways these are tiny lats and they are freaking sweet so far. any ways speed you would be able to fit these but these remind me of a mid bass type set up. you mite need to go with a lat 400 or even a lat 700 to get the bass needed. but will see i have not even listen to it yet and i am thinking there to small lol's for bass which they may not be

Porsche Theme for Google Chrome

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:56:58 +0000

In case anyone else uses Chrome, thought this would be a fun add on:

https://tools.google.com/chrome/intl/en/themes/index.html

fav booze drinks

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:38:37 +0000

so what are you guys favorite drinks

mine for each
beer molson ice

as for hard liquor it had to be rum bacardi 151 proof or absolute vodka 100 proof mixed in to orange juice don't get me wrong captain Morgan is good to to mix with it most of all coconut rum with either of those or even the spiced rum. no wild turkey here or some thing that taste like s*it. for me any ways looking for your boozes concoctions. lol's

What is this??

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:59:26 +0000

Lets play a little game.

Rules are simple someone posts a picture and others try to guess what it is. The person that guesses it right first wins and gets to post the next object to guess. Hints should be given if the object isn't guessed in timely manner.

I'll start.

PG RSD 600.1 $102 at Amazon

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:30:52 +0000

I checked with PG corporate and this price is correct. I am trying my damnedest not to buy one, but for such a well built, quality amplifier, the price per watt is crazy good.

600.1 link

The pricing is so good because PG was sold, and they are working on all new amplifiers.

lat 250 linear array transducer $25

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:24:22 +0000

deal on lat250 buy tamphany for 25 bucks each i know speed is intrested in it. and so am i. i am thinking of picking up two of them but thought i would give speed a last shot at them before i do lol's

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=299-850

good deal on a audison amp

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:52:28 +0000

the lrx 1.400 for $350 i do not think is that bad of a deal tell me what you think of it. if you buy it

http://www.woofersetc.com/p4224/LRX-1400---Audison-1-Ch-900-Watt-Amplifier.htm

buy one get one b.a. g3 subs

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:16:16 +0000

see link good deal on a quality sub woofer.

http://www.crutchfield.com/M-UJ875/App/Product/Specials/Default.aspx?c=3&nvpair=FFCategory%7c[rank500]Car+Subwoofers&nvpair=FFBrand%7cBoston+Acoustics&omnews=7797670

sorry the fist link did not work to all the g3 subs but this link show it and all the g3 subs are buy one get one free right now

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_065G3124/Boston-Acoustics-G312-4.html?tp=111

college top ten's

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:06:13 +0000

i am a hoping for msu to do some good and by the way started a new thread for fun!!!! let see were it ends out so who do you think is going were what are your predictions for this year and the next. any ways it college foot ball have fun with it.

polk amp price break

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:58:53 +0000

i know these are good amp not as good as zed audio but good amps for the price. also have noticed companys tighened there belts this year and there are not as many deals out there or they released them slowly so no one will notice it. any ways polk audio is on sale at crutchfield just follow the link prieced from $169.99 for small two and four channels to $429 for the big five channel any ways here is a quick link to crutchfield...

http://www.crutchfield.com/g_120/Amplifiers.html?tp=115&nvpair=FFBrand%7cPolk+Audio

...

Man distracted by bird drives Bugatti into marsh

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:22:39 +0000

Thu Nov 12, 9:34 pm ET

LA MARQUE, Texas – A man blamed a low-flying pelican and a dropped cell phone for his veering his million-dollar sports car off a road and into a salt marsh near Galveston. The accident happened about 3 p.m. Wednesday on the frontage road of Interstate 45 northbound in La Marque, about 35 miles southeast of Houston.

The Lufkin, Texas, man told of driving his luxury, French-built Bugatti Veyron when the bird distracted him, said La Marque police Lt. Greg Gilchrist. The motorist dropped his cell phone, reached to pick it up and veered off the road and into the salt marsh. The car was half-submerged in the brine about 20 feet from the road when police arrived.

Gilchrist said he doesn't know if the car was salvageable, but in his words, "Salt water isn't good for anything." He says the man, whose identity hasn't been released, was not injured.

A 2006 Bugatti Veyron was recently offered for sale in Jonesboro, Ark., for $1.25 million.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091113/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_lagoon_bugatti

Need new comps.

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:59:44 +0000

My RF Fanatic comps have died.I now have no sound from the tweeters and since they lacked mid bass anyways,I'm looking for opinions on what to get.I will be powering with a RF 125.2 so 2ohm comps would be a plus.My budget is pretty tight though,I can't spend more than 125 shipped.I'm thinking Cadence or CDT.My old set was 5 1/4,but I think I can make 6 to 6 3/4 fit in my '99 gtp.I don't want screaming highs but I do want good mid bass.What do you guys think?What are some of the comps that you guys are running?
Thanks in advance.

Brrr...state inspection

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:20:50 +0000

It's an inspection time of the year. I brought all the cars to our friendly, neighborhood, speed-friendly inspection point, with the Evo being last in line. All the cars passed with flying colors, except (of course) for the important one. The tech told me in utter amazement that 3 of the readiness monitors just weren't showing on his OBDII scan. It's as if they're not there. Since NYS requires the inspection point to upload the data before issuing a sticker, this had to be fixed.

I knew exactly what happened. When tuning the car, I eliminated a few CELs brought about by emissions warnings and never forced OBD compliance. I had my laptop with me and offered to take care of the issue, but noooooooo. The car has to run for ~100 miles before all the data begins to register on an OBDII scanner. This morning a went back and got my inspection sticker. We all had a chuckle over this. At least now I'll know what to do next year.

jbl gti mk2 componets 172,99 see link

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:45:18 +0000

cheap jbl componets speakers on sale for $172.99 see link

http://cgi.ebay.com/JBL-C508GTI-MKII-CAR-5-25-2-WAY-COMPONENT-SPEAKERS-GTI_W0QQitemZ390110719849QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCar_Speakers?hash=item5ad4692f69

Wag the dog

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:38:46 +0000

The shooting in Texas - a little too convenient. Hearing ABC news report the shooter saying, "Allah Akbar," as he took out the guns smacks of Hollywood. Same goes for the meaningless, inflammatory drivel reported by CNN last night. I don't know, guys. Something smells funny to me.

ABC box help

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:18:52 +0000

alright everyone i wanna try building a abc box since im curious oh how they sound. so i need your guys help on desging it. the max demisions i can have are 31.5"W x 23"D x 11.75"H. if there are any other questions that need to be answered just post them up.

Top 10 Lightest 300hp cars

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:18:28 +0000

Fun article: >> the-top-10-lightest-300-horsepower-cars

The Porsche 911 GT3 RS– 435hp, 3031 lb would be my choice.

2010 Honda Accord Crosstour

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:11:45 +0000

Interesting looking rig. >>Link to article.<<

Pioneer Premier no more?

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:57:33 +0000

Saw this on another site: http://www.12voltnews.com/?p=8236

inexpensive jbl subs 39 bucks till nov 7 2009

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:49:03 +0000

ya you read it right only till nov 7 of this week are they 39 bucks in 2009 but do check the link often because they will rerun them on sale often this is the third time i seen them up there.

http://www.abcwarehouse.com/product_catalog/pc_proddetails.asp~assort_id~1347~prod_ID~20814

New tires

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:40:35 +0000

This was the month for new tires. First, our Mazda got 4 all-seasons. I chose Bridgestone Potenza G019 Grid for their (reviewed) snow performance. Can't comment on that yet - hopefully not for a while - but these suckers aren't bad on the wet/dry roads. They're predictable, relatively grippy without a lot of added noise. It's not an autocross tire by any means, but a fine performer for someone like my wife.

Now for the important tires. A set of Advan 046s lasted ~7K miles as expected. They're very expensive. Too much so, relative to the competition. Dunlop Star Spec is the current track/street favorite exceeding the performance of the Advans on some areas at less than half the cost. It should be the natural choice, right? Well, they tip the scales at ~27lbs in my size, compared to ~25lbs for the Advans. 8lbs (total) of rotational mass at the tire is no joke.

In a recent C&D Tire Test, the Dunlops finished first as expected, but second place was occupied by an interesting entry - Hankook V12 Evo. While the Evos - gotta love the name - didn't excel in any particular area outside of the skidpad and wet performance, they weighed a whopping 3.5lbs less than the Dunlops and 1.5lbs less than the Advans per corner. That's a ridiculous reduction in rotational mass in its most vital point. The tire.

As you may have guessed, I ordered the Hankooks. They shipped this morning. I'll update the thread once I have a chance to drive them.

favorite type of box and why

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:50:32 +0000

i guess my favorite type of box and why is sealed because it does not sound like one note that a lot of sub sound like in ported boxes i think it is amplifying the port to much and you get a louder box but it sounds to flat. if you can fit a t-line that is about the same as a ported just louder yet. band pass i never really care for do not know why maybe it was because every would pull out the bandpass with neon light in it to look cool. to get back on subject the reason the sealed is so good to me is sound quality it is not best to sound flat and loud but better to have different in note so your ear can distinguish between the notes more pleasing to the ear. got to remember we shoot for flat in sq but not always is flat the best for sq. but any ways what box do you like and why ????

hockey any one ???

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:38:06 +0000

don't know if it's because i am so close to Canada but do love hockey so what are this year predictions??? for the play offs i hope the redwing will be in it.

USACI Second Skin Show

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:10:31 +0000

The video is up, there was a big turn out and a good amount of money raised for a great cause.

Favorite Holiday

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:28:58 +0000

What is your favorite holiday.

Adding bromo to the mod staff

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:54:20 +0000

I just added bromo to the moderation staff, as he has been a very helpful member, I have known him for a while, he knows the audio world well, I know he is not going to get trigger happy nor be asleep at the wheel either, and we want to be prepared as the site grows. Guys like Adrian and bromo make up a great staff that can be a big help to us in terms of keeping the site flowing smoothly.

Thanks bromo!

Discovery HD

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:24:19 +0000

Since we purchased a new plasma, I've spent a lot of time watching Time-Warner's HD channel lineup. Much to my surprise, the Discovery Channel in HD offers almost as much automotive programming as networks dedicated to the topic. DSCHG shows WRC and FIM racing, and the Isle of Man TT, as weekly features and updates. British car shows like Wheeler Dealers, Auto Trader, and Classic Car Club are a first for an American audience, updated weekly, as well. Then, there are the specials and the racing film - all in HD. Amazing fun!

Platinum Image Painting.com

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:30:16 +0000

started this page for a very close friend of mine, got alot of it done so far. Check it out if you would like. Even has a matching CL ad & business card design with it

http://www.PlatinumImagePainting.com

http://www.Phoenix-Painter.com

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/wvl/bfs/1440878442.html

Small box with figerglass top

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:13:30 +0000

My supervisor asked me to build a box for his pioneer shallow mount 10". The only place it can fit is in the passenger corner right next to his tail light so he wanted the sub slightly angled and turned toward the center of the back seat. Simple sealed box, nothing special. Not going to spend a lot of time on it because he's only paying me $30 after cost of parts.

That's all I have for now, I need some super glue before any further progress can be made.

is it dc or ac output from amplifiers

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:34:03 +0000

Here were will start t-s parameter are correct. It is a misunderstanding that dc is not out putted from a amplifier. Here is how I know it is take a good automotive test light and hook it to the positive wire coming off the amplifier. And wire it in series with the speaker if your amp is big enough it should make the light blink on and off with the music. because this is a dc probe it's dc.

Next step would be to get your digital multi meter out and test a wall out let my way then your way set the meter for volts ac. Then hook it to the wall out let either lead to the big blade and the small blade you will have 120volts. Now put it from the big blade to the round slot at the bottom it should be 120. Then the little blade to the round slot should be 120. Why is this because the current is alternating from the big blade to the little blade and vice versa every 60 cycles? It switches direction inside the wire Because of being alternating current it travel two paths.

Unlike ac, dc flows from plus to minus and now will do the next step. Buy the next step I mean this is your choice to do or not hook that test light to the car bat to see if it light the car bat should not blow the bulb even though you got a ton of potential power the light should light and stay lit. now if it’s ac coming out of the amp it will not blow the bulb in the test light if you hook the dc test light to the ac wall outlet mine blew the bulb as soon as I hooked to the ac if this give a hint if you can hook it to a car battery how come not ac from a wall out let Same with the amp output? Here is another tip if you have a dmm set to dc it should show negative on the screen when the red and black probes are backwards for the amp output. Why is this because it is dc not a.c.!

Thiele-Small Parameters Explained

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:04:04 +0000

Thiele-Small Parameters

In the early seventies, several technical papers were presented to the AES (Audio Engineering Society) that resulted in the development of what we know today as 'Thiele-Small Parameters'. These papers were authored by A.N.Thiele and Richard H. Small. Thiele was the senior engineer of design and development for the Australian Broadcasting Commission and was responsible at the time for the Federal Engineering Laboratory, as well as for analyzing the design of equipment and systems for sound and vision broadcasting. Small was, at the time, a Commonwealth Post-graduate Research Student in the School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Sydney.

Thiele and Small devoted considerable effort to show how the following parameters define the relationship between a speaker and a particular enclosure. However, they can be invaluable in making choices because they tell you far more about the transducer's real performance than the basic benchmarks of size, maximum power rating or average sensitivity.

Fs This parameter is the free-air resonant frequency of a speaker. Simply stated, it is the point at which the weight of the moving parts of the speaker becomes balanced with the force of the speaker suspension when in motion. If you've ever seen a piece of string start humming uncontrollably in the wind, you have seen the effect of reaching a resonant frequency. It is important to know this information so that you can prevent your enclosure from 'ringing'. With a loudspeaker, the mass of the moving parts, and the stiffness of the suspension (surround and spider) are the key elements that affect the resonant frequency. As a general rule of thumb, a lower Fs indicates a woofer that would be better for low-frequency reproduction than a woofer with a higher Fs. This is not always the case though, because other parameters affect the ultimate performance as well.

Re This is the DC resistance of the driver measured with an ohm meter and it is often referred to as the 'DCR'. This measurement will almost always be less than the driver's nominal impedance. Consumers sometimes get concerned the Re is less than the published impedance and fear that amplifiers will be overloaded. Due to the fact that the inductance of a speaker rises with a rise in frequency, it is unlikely that the amplifier will often see the DC resistance as its load.

Le This is the voice coil inductance measured in millihenries (mH). The industry standard is to measure inductance at 1,000 Hz. As frequencies get higher there will be a rise in impedance above Re. This is because the voice coil is acting as an inductor. Consequently, the impedance of a speaker is not a fixed resistance, but can be represented as a curve that changes as the input frequency changes. Maximum impedance (Zmax) occurs at Fs.

Q Parameters Qms, Qes, and Qts are measurements related to the control of a transducer's suspension when it reaches the resonant frequency (Fs). The suspension must prevent any lateral motion that might allow the voice coil and pole to touch (this would destroy the loudspeaker). The suspension must also act like a shock absorber. Qms is a measurement of the control coming from the speaker's mechanical suspension system (the surround and spider). View these components like springs. Qes is a measurement of the control coming from the speaker's electrical suspension system (the voice coil and magnet). Opposing forces from the mechanical and electrical suspensions act to absorb shock. Qts is called the 'Total Q' of the driver and is derived from an equation where Qes is multiplied by Qms and the result is divided by the sum of the same.

As a general guideline, Qts of 0.4 or below indicates a transducer well suited to a vented enclosure. Qts between 0.4 and 0.7 indicates suitability for a sealed enclosure. Qts of 0.7 or above indicates suitability for free-air or infinite baffle applications. However, there are exceptions! The Eminence Kilomax 18 has a Qts of 0.56. This suggests a sealed enclosure, but in reality it works extremely well in a ported enclosure. Please consider all the parameters when selecting loudspeakers. If you are in any doubt, contact your Eminence representative for technical assistance.

Vas/Cms Vas represents the volume of air that when compressed to one cubic meter exerts the same force as the compliance (Cms) of the suspension in a particular speaker. Vas is one of the trickiest parameters to measure because air pressure changes relative to humidity and temperature — a precisely controlled lab environment is essential. Cms is measured in meters per Newton. Cms is the force exerted by the mechanical suspension of the speaker. It is simply a measurement of its stiffness. Considering stiffness (Cms), in conjunction with the Q parameters gives rise to the kind of subjective decisions made by car manufacturers when tuning cars between comfort to carry the president and precision to go racing. Think of the peaks and valleys of audio signals like a road surface then consider that the ideal speaker suspension is like car suspension that can traverse the rockiest terrain with race-car precision and sensitivity at the speed of a fighter plane. It’s quite a challenge because focusing on any one discipline tends to have a detrimental effect on the others.

Vd This parameter is the Peak Diaphragm Displacement Volume — in other words the volume of air the cone will move. It is calculated by multipying Xmax (Voice Coil Overhang of the driver) by Sd (Surface area of the cone). Vd is noted in cc. The highest Vd figure is desirable for a sub-bass transducer.

BL Expressed in Tesla meters, this is a measurement of the motor strength of a speaker. Think of this as how good a weightlifter the transducer is. A measured mass is applied to the cone forcing it back while the current required for the motor to force the mass back is measured. The formula is mass in grams divided by the current in amperes. A high BL figure indicates a very strong transducer that moves the cone with authority!

Mms This parameter is the combination of the weight of the cone assembly plus the ‘driver radiation mass load’. The weight of the cone assembly is easy: it’s just the sum of the weight of the cone assembly components. The driver radiation mass load is the confusing part. In simple terminology, it is the weight of the air (the amount calculated in Vd) that the cone will have to push.

EBP This measurement is calculated by dividing Fs by Qes. The EBP figure is used in many enclosure design formulas to determine if a speaker is more suitable for a closed or vented design. An EBP close to 100 usually indicates a speaker that is best suited for a vented enclosure. On the contrary, an EBP closer to 50 usually indicates a speaker best suited for a closed box design. This is merely a starting point. Many well-designed systems have violated this rule of thumb! Qts should also be considered.

Xmax/Xlim Short for Maximum Linear Excursion. Speaker output becomes non-linear when the voice coil begins to leave the magnetic gap. Although suspensions can create non-linearity in output, the point at which the number of turns in the gap (see BL) begins to decrease is when distortion starts to increase. Eminence has historically been very conservative with this measurement and indicated only the voice coil overhang (Xmax: Voice coil height minus top plate thickness, divided by 2). The Xmax figures on this website are expressed as the greater of the result of the formula above or the excursion point of the woofer where THD reahes 10%. This method results in a more real world expression of the usable excursion limit for the transducer. Xlim is expressed by Eminence as the lowest of four potential failure condition measurements: spider crashing on top plate;vVoice coil bottoming on back plate;vVoice coil coming out of gap above core; or the physical limitation of cone. A transducer exceeding the Xlim is certain to fail from one of these conditions. High pass filters, limiters, and enclosure modeling software programs are valuable tools in protecting your woofers from mechanical failure.

Sd This is the actual surface area of the cone, normally given in square cm.

Usable frequency range This is the frequency range for which Eminence feels the transducer will prove useful. Manufacturers use different techniques for determining ‘Usable Frequency Range’. Most methods are recognized as acceptable in the industry, but can arrive at different results. Technically, many loudspeakers are used to produce frequencies in ranges where they would theoretically be of little use. As frequencies increase, the off-axis coverage of a transducer decreases relative to its diameter. At a certain point, the coverage becomes ‘beamy’ or narrow like the beam of a flashlight. Following is a chart that demonstrates at what frequency this phenomenon occurs relative to the size of the transducer. If you’ve ever stood in front of a guitar amplifier or speaker cabinet, then moved slightly to one side or the other and noticed a different sound, you have experienced this phenomenon and are now aware of why it occurs. Clearly, most two-way enclosures ignore the theory and still perform quite well. The same is true for many guitar amplifiers, but it is useful to know at what point you can expect a compromise in coverage.

Power handling This specification is very important to transducer selection. Obviously, you need to choose a loudspeaker that is capable of handling the input power you are going to provide. By the same token, you can destroy a loudspeaker by using too little power. The ideal situation is to choose a loudspeaker that has the capability of handling more power than you can provide lending some headroom and insurance against thermal failure. To use an automobile as an analogy; you would not buy a car that could only go 55mph if that were the speed you always intended to drive. Generally speaking, the number one contributor to a transducer’s power rating is its ability to release thermal energy. This is affected by several design choices, but most notably voice coil size, magnet size, venting, and the adhesives used in voice coil construction. Larger coil and magnet sizes provide more area for heat to dissipate, while venting allows thermal energy to escape and cooler air to enter the motor structure. Equally important is the ability of the voice coil to handle thermal energy. Eminence is renowned for its use of proprietary adhesives and components that maximize the voice coil’s ability to handle extreme temperatures. Mechanical factors must also be considered when determining power handling. A transducer might be able to handle 1,000W from a thermal perspective, but would fail long before that level was reached from a mechanical issue such as the coil hitting the back plate, the coil coming out of the gap, the cone buckling from too much outward movement, or the spider bottoming on the top plate. The most common cause of such a failure would be asking the speaker to produce more low frequencies than it could mechanically produce at the rated power. Be sure to consider the suggested usable frequency range and the Xlim parameter in conjunction with the power rating to avoid such failures. The Eminence power rating is derived using an EIA 426A noise source and test standard. All tests are conducted for eight hours in a free-air, non-temperature controlled environment. Eminence tests samples from each of three different production runs and each sample must pass a test exceeding the rated power by 50 to 100W. The Eminence music program is double that of our standard Watts rating.

Sensitivity This data represents one of the most useful specifications published for any transducer. It is a representation of the efficiency and volume you can expect from a device relative to the input power. Loudspeaker manufacturers follow different rules when obtaining this information — there is not an exact standard accepted by the industry. As a result, it is often the case that loudspeaker buyers are unable to compare 'apples to apples' when looking at the sensitivities of different manufacturers’ products. Eminence sensitivities are expressed as the average output across the usable frequency when applying 1W/1M into the nominal impedance. ie: 2.83V/8 ohms, 4V/16 ohms.

if you were to get a use car what would it be?

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 01:27:07 +0000

here is some of the cars i am looking at a 2000 and newer fire birds camaros and mustangs and here is one i have found and am thinmking about but don't know what to think of it even if it the v-6 i do not care i will take it only the mustang i will not take in a v-6 but mite was wondering what you though of it for a sq car i was thinking like 3 -8's sealed or two 10's sealed.any ways here is a link to it

http://toledo.craigslist.org/cto/1403080938.html

this one is for aaron

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:27:07 +0000

when they say to put that kid on a leash they meant it lol's not meaning your's see link

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091015/ap_on_re_us/us_boy_in_balloon

2012 VW Beatle

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:42:36 +0000

Article: 2012 VW

The president and CEO of Volkswagen America, Stefan Jacoby, has reveled new details about the 2012 Beetle.

During a German press event, Jacoby said the Beetle will be "more of a halo car" with improved packaging and additional interior room. He commented that number one complaint about the current model, besides the dated styling/platform, was the miniscule rear seat.

Jacoby also believes the redesigned Beetle has a "great opportunity" to surpass the limited sales-success of the current model (only 26,477 units were sold in the US last year). To this end, Walter de' Silva has promised the Beetle's styling "will be a big step" forward.
Source: autoweek

All new Mclaren MP4-12C

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:04:43 +0000

Ferrari fighter for sure.

Article link

McLaren has officially unveiled the highly anticipated 2011 MP4-12C.

Set to become the first "modern" McLaren, the car features dynamic styling that was purposely designed to be timeless and relevant for years to come. While the end result looks kind of generic from certain angles, McLaren points out that virtually every aspect was designed to be fully functional. Obviously the car features a little McLaren magic, but that's mostly limited to the F1-inspired dihedral doors and air scoops that resemble the McLaren logo. Out back, the car features LED taillights and unique center-mounted dual exhaust tips.

Inside, the MP4-12C boasts a luxurious cabin with a slim center console (with an "Active Dynamics" control panel), a 7-inch touch screen, and attractive sport seats. Other design features include a low cowl for improved visibility, a button-less sports steering wheel, and door-mounted climate control knobs.

Power comes from a mid-mounted 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 engine, which produces around 600 bhp and 600 Nm of torque. Thanks to a dry sump and a flat plane crankshaft, the engine can be placed extremely low in the chassis for a low center of gravity and improved handling. Backed up by a seven-speed "Seamless Shift" dual clutch gearbox (with normal, sport and high performance modes), the MP4-12C promises to deliver "new standards for power and performance in its sector."

While the company failed to provide performance data, they stated that they focused on "useable measures such as in-gear acceleration times, braking performance, the efficiency of power delivery, and achieving the lowest possible fuel consumption and CO2 emissions."

As you would expect, McLaren drew heavily on their racing knowledge when developing the MP4-12C. For example, the car rides on an 80 kg (176 lbs) one-piece carbon fiber chassis - dubbed the Carbon MonoCell - which was specially designed to be lightweight, strong, and durable. The supercar also features an advanced Brake Steer system, which helps to cancel out understeer when entering corners as well as providing improved traction on the way out. Other performance features include forged aluminum brake hubs, an Airbrake system and a Pre-Cog transmission function that "primes" the gearbox for the next shift.

Look for more information to be released when the MP4-12C approaches its 2011 launch date.

Check out the press release for full details

Source: McLaren

Pro-Racer on FB

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:11:13 +0000

It is a game on facebook, just wondering if anyone else plays it. It is pretty simple, but fun from time to time.

looking for sq cars in phoenix az.

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:24:57 +0000

just got this a few ago in a e maill i know some one on here is from there so i thought i would post it

DIYMA owner Second Skin is holding a USACi show in Phoenix AZ next Saturday, October 17th

We are looking for 8 SQ cars to park right out in front of our shop.
While there will not be any formal SQ judging, we do want to bring some SQ awareness to the SPL crowd.

If you have an SQ vehicle that you would like to demo, please reply to this thread in the DIYMA forum:
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/12-volt-events/67216-second-skin-usaci-looking-8-sq-cars-phoenix-az-october-17th.html#post852131

You can also email us at service@secondskinaudio.com

Thank you for your time!

ANT

sweet i think i fianly done it

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 03:42:25 +0000

here is my delema i am big on mids and high in my daily driver and i would like to add a sub but evey sub i have added is just over powering the mid bass. even the 15 Aaron sold me any ways there just to strong for the comon set up like i got in it i end out drowning outthe mid bass with lowz.so i took and hooked up a old cvr 8 i had lying arond and use it on my 702x mtx amp i had laying around it's running off 112rms at 2 ohms senitivity is 83 for the cvr i think i achieved what i am looking for it the fact the other are 92 spl at 1w/1m and 75 rms and feeding them about 44 watts if that per set. but any ways i got my bass and i got my mids/ highs and it sounds fricking awesome here is a pic of the freshly built box. see below any ways i was looking at new componets and every thing be low $500 is under 150 watts rms some that are 500 are in the 35 watts rms range and i am left woner how the heck you can have a well balanced and well rounded system when most subs on the market are over powering the componets by well ballance rounded i mean i got 2 pair of candence all set the same -3 db slope on the x over there all the same wired right to the head unit the same and the bass has to match this set up so not to over power and i fainaly did it. got iot all set up and liked it.

Sub woofer myths

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:28:39 +0000

Relaying thanks to Mike (95Honda) and bromo, care of Audiopulse.

# 1 Subwoofers have an RMS rating
Speakers actually have a very complex thermal compression relationship and certainly can not be quantified by just one or two numbers typically called RMS and Program or Peak. Because voice coils in traditional drivers are inherently resistors, any amount of voltage generates some amount of heat which then adversely changes the resistance and properties of the speaker. This is the principle of thermal compression: As the voice coil heats up, the resistance changes and the efficiency and performance of the driver decrease until the point of maximum thermal compression. There are some unique types of materials that have a close to zero temperature coefficient and of course there is also superconducting metals that operate at subzero temperatures with no indications of any sort of resistance. In theory, only these types of materials would have no thermal compression, but they are not employed or very practical yet. Copper and Aluminum are still the two most widely used materials for voice coils. Both copper and aluminum heat up considerably and the resistance changes as a function temperature, and there lies the problem, therefore a discrete RMS scalar value is entirely inappropriate.

Under heavy use, the TSP parameters can shift as much as 35% and in a generally un-favored direction. (higher Qts, lower sensitivity). The common ultra high RMS ratings we see of large and expensive subwoofers are at best marketing ploys to make the driver seem far more worthy than it is, or in fact they are really intended to give the customer an idea of what type of amplifier to buy. The fact is, even the highest “RMS” rated subwoofers in the world in excess of 5 digit figures will begin to compress with far less power than you would ever image, try only a few hundred watts! (no joke!). Now this doesn’t mean you still don’t need lots of power to reach the maximum potential of the driver. As a rule of thumb, the amplifier should be much more capable than what the driver needs on average. For example, quick short bursts will produce huge SPL’s and the voice coil will not have time to heat up as much, but longer term high power use will result in considerable performance regression if not failure from glues giving way due to heat or differences in the thermal expansion of materials around the glues. Under heavy use thermal compression limits begin to play a large part in SPL but most people are oblivious to this concept. It is true that woofers can be used well into their thermal compression state, and typically that is what occurs. As the power increases linearity, the SPL does not increase linearly. This is some form of compression, usually thermally related unless the woofer is beyond or close to xmax. In an ideal non-compression circumstance of either power, BL or otherwise, you can expect a 3dB increase every time the power is doubled. Rarely does this ever occur, in extremely compressed and dangerous states it can be less than 1dB!

As a woofers reaches its very limits, unless failure occurs there will become a point where the resistance of the voice coil is rising faster than the power going into the subwoofer. When the resistance doubles as the power doubles then absolute thermal compression has set in. In practice you can’t actually increase the power from the amplifier because most amplifiers start to produce less power as the resistance increases because almost every car, home and pro audio amplifier is a constant voltage source rather than a constant current source. So in a way this phenomenon is a self limited occurrence that accidentally works to protect the driver. However, running the driver at or near the maximum thermal compression limit will likely result in rapid failure. Ultimately, thermal compression is a very large but unavoidable shortcoming of mass controlled transducers. Likely, compliance controlled transducers, or rather subsonic transducers are not limited by their thermal properties as much, but rather their compliance or linear limits (xmax). It is believed by a few experts in the field that thermal compression plays a much greater role in linearity and distortion than we know of, but it’s rarely discussed.

# 2 More xmax means more SPL
Subwoofer drivers really can be broken down in two categories: “Mass” controlled drivers and “compliance” controlled drivers. Mass controlled drivers tend to have low xmax and high sensitivity. These tend to be punchy and very loud and mostly used in live concerts for sound reinforcement or even car SPL competitions. Compliance controlled subwoofers which tend to be the majority of car audio subwoofers have high xmax, more weight, lower sensitivity, but more SPL in the lower frequency spectrum. Then there are of course hybrid drivers which are basically mixes of the two. Any driver in these categories can sound good or bad, but more important is being able to use the woofer where it performs the best. Using a low xmax woofer for subsonic content is probably not wise, likewise using a high xmax low sensitivity driver for sound reinforcement is not going to be very effective. In truth, there is no best driver and most drivers can overlap these zones with good results. We are not really used to the idea of a two way subwoofer, but as we demand more and more SPL and deeper bass, we may some day find that two different types of subwoofers used together are required to get the full reference SPL effect we all hunger for!

So yes, more specified xmax does mean more SPL but only for lower frequencies. Generally speaking, during lower frequencies, the driver tends to run out of usable throw (beyond xmax) before high thermal compression states occur and mechanical failure is a greater risk. 0-40Hz is primarily mechanical, 40-60 is in between) 60 and up is going to be more thermally limited. 0-20Hz is the subsonic content and in fact there are more efficient methods of producing bass in this spectrum rather than a regular piston based transducer. Surprisingly, even the largest drivers with high xmax and big voice coils can be bottomed out or run past a safe mechanical state with only a few hundred watts if the frequencies are low enough. Without a high pass (subsonic) filter, or in a low tuned system, bottoming out or breaking a driver could be a very real possibility without careful modeling and testing. The difference in displacement from 40Hz to 20Hz or rather half the frequency, or one octave, is quadruple! In the simple large sealed box example, that means if your woofer displacement is 1” peak to peak at 40Hz, you’ll bottom out just about anything in existence by the time you dip below 20Hz without protection.

Often times when people want more SPL, they really need higher sensitivity in the form of higher BL product or less moving mass, rather than more xmax because 50-60Hz is really what they are after. This is a very sensual frequency range for humans and much of the bass in music content exists in that frequency domain.

# 3 Subwoofers are fast / slow
More appropriately labeled Damping or Ringing, these concepts are really reciprocals of one another have nothing to do with speed, tightness, “boomieness” or any other misused and inappropriate term for subwoofers. Subwoofers, or rather bass drivers, all move at the same frequency when instructed to via an input single. The difference is really about the Q alignment of the system. There are many famous Q alignments which produce various frequency responses, but beyond the complex mathematics is a fundamental principal of force and acceleration and the driver will respond to a sinusoidal wave at various accelerations depending on the moving mass and force that the voice coil and motor generate on the cone. Therefore any driver can be faster or slower depending simply on the voltage! It makes little sense to call any driver faster or slower.

Damping or Ringing is really what we’re after and the amount of either is really a function of system volume along with the electro-mechanical damping factor of the driver. For example, in a sealed box system, as the volume of the cabinet becomes small, the internal pressures increase when the driver pushes in and out. This pressure is a force which, not nearly as strong as the electromotive damping force, works in the opposite direction. Contrary to intuition, higher internal pressure (which we tend to associate with tightness or stiffness) decreases damping and promotes ringing at one particular frequency (Fc in the case of a sealed box). The pressure from the air inside the box works against the driver’s natural damping factor of 1/(Qts). When the pressure becomes large relative to the motor’s damping factor, the driver will ring more and cause a peak in SPL at the given resonate frequency (Fc). This tends to be somewhere around 40-60Hz in a given sealed box, but could be outside that range under abnormal circumstances. This peak is ill desired and is accountable to the proclaimed “boomy” sounding subwoofers which tend to lack clarity, good transit response and dynamics. However some people prefer some ringing because it provides a natural boost in a very audible frequency band. Likewise, in a larger box, the Q will decrease and the ringing and SPL around that frequency will too, but the low end will open up and you’ll have more deep bass. This tends to sound better and more controlled.

On the flip side, over dampened drivers tend to have poor low frequency response and require equalization to boost the low frequencies. They tend to work better in vented boxes where their larger motor force factor (BL^2/Re) is put to good use with a resonator which then makes the low end much more efficient with its increased displacement. Likewise, drivers with high Qts will work better in sealed boxes and should be exempt from being used in a ported system without careful consideration. When high Q drivers are used in a vented system they will ring at the tuning frequency of the box (Fb in this case) and the “boomy” problem is considerably worse.

# 4 Ported boxes don’t sound as good as sealed
In most cases this is strictly a result of linear response vs non-linear response and it could go both ways. 4th order systems or “vented” boxes tend to be far more particular to volume, port size and length and the driver TPS’s rather than sealed systems. Misalignments are therefore amplified and greatly affect the frequency response. Often times in car audio, ported boxes are not tuned low enough, or the volume is too large and there is a large peak in the frequency response from literately too much sensitivity or SPL at a very narrow frequency band. The other issue is if the driver does not have enough BL or has too high of a Qts and becomes under damped at resonance. This again leads to drastic peaks at the resonating frequency; however in this case, the driver will be peaky there regardless of content and it will sound ultimately less dynamic and very bottom heavy. However, a well designed vented box may have considerably lower distortion and higher dynamics than a sealed box because of the added SPL gained from the port without increasing the active driver displacement requirements. Sealed systems evoke the most non-linear driver behavior to reach any given SPL, so in fact, they could be the worst sounding system if your SPL demands are considerable. It is important to model a ported design or ask the manufacture for a recommendation. It is also critical to include a high pass filter on the active driver in a ported box for protection.

# 5 Subwoofers care what they play
Your subwoofer driver does not have a conscience, and it does not perform better with one type of music over another. It’s just a driver. Good subwoofer systems will play all types of music or movie material very well. A bad subwoofer system may have a null or peak in the frequency response that may benefit some material over others but essentially this non-linear behavior is not ideal. It is true that movies have lower frequency content and perhaps more dynamic bass than music, especially with the recent compressed CD’s of the last 10 or so years, but a good system can be used for movies and music alike if it is indeed a “good” system.

It is also true that it tends to be more important to emphasize subsonic frequencies in the home theater environment versus the music environment where there is simply less emphasis on subsonic inaudible material. As a tradeoff, you can align a system to be more efficient above 30Hz or so. This trade off reduces the bandwidth but increases the SPL. Careful consideration should be taken to insure linear response is still maintained. It is very easy to have peaky bass with low Q drivers in high tuned ported systems. This is approaching the concept of basic SPL vehicles which use low Q, highly sensitive drivers tuned very high for very narrow but ferociously peaky response. Such systems are not very ideal for listing to music material of any kind. If you want your system louder, then it is better to add a second driver, more volume and more amplification, rather than tuning higher. It is important to understand that getting more SPL without compromise is never very cheap!

# 6 Sealed box can take more power than ported
There is some truth to this, and some myth, but as far as the thermal limits of the driver are concerned, it can’t take more power one way or another. However, in a sealed box the driver will require more power to reach the same SPL as the frequency range lowers. A ported system is simply more efficient so it wont need as much power to reach the same SPL. Based on the mechanical limits of a driver, different frequencies can take different power loads. At higher frequencies, driver can be pushed hard and won’t necessarily be in a mechanical-risk state. However the driver tends to be in a higher thermal compression state and could be thermally at risk. This is true for both ported and sealed boxes. However, for lower frequencies, the sealed box also acts as a filter in a way because the internal air pressure prevents the driver from over excursion. In a sealed box, the compliance of the suspension system almost always forgoes that of the air spring system unless the box is very large. In a vented box, there is no pressure to protect the driver and furthermore, when the system unloads below resonance, the active driver’s excursion increases exponentially and a high pass (subsonic) filter is critical to prevent mechanical failure.

# 7 Sensitivity does not matter for subwoofers
Sensitivity is indeed very important for subwoofers. Not all frequencies are limited by xmax. In fact, most of the bass frequencies for music are really limited by sensitivity or more accurately BL product and moving mass, but not by maximum driver displacement. Higher sensitivity means more SPL and ultimately better performance especially for upper bass punch or kick such as a “kick drum” which resonates at 63Hz. In fact, all good SPL competition drivers need to have high sensitivity not xmax!

There are several standards for sensitivity. SPL at 2.83 volts or SPL at one watt. The SPL at one watt is the more accurate number as 2.83 volts could correlate to more than 1 watt which would not be relatively appropriate to go by. Also sensitivity is a function of, in part, the driver’s cone area which is never quite explicit and could be exaggerated slightly. Ultimately as engineers, we do strive for high sensitivity because not all bass resides in subsonic domain and many good sounding subwoofers are in fact good because they have great sensitivity and not necessarily high xmax.

# 8 Smaller drivers sound better than bigger drivers
One of the biggest myths about woofers is that 8’s and 10’s are “tighter” and “cleaner” than 15’s or 18’s. Nothing is further from the truth. What tends to happen is that the smaller drivers have lower Q’s because manufactures tend to put large cones on smaller motors to increase SPL and sensitivity but not BL product. Well unless the motor can compensate for the extra mass it has to push, then the Qts will not be the same as the smaller drivers and ultimately the driver may not be suited for the same kinds of alignments and could ring too much and compromise the perceived sound quality. Having said that, high Qts drivers are not any less “tight” or “musical” than well dampened drivers, it’s just they require larger boxes and less internal pressure to prevent ringing. Ultimately there becomes a point where a driver really should be used in an infinite baffle where its actual Qts and Fs becomes the system Qtc and Fc. As enclosure volume decreases, Qtc increases and it will take a driver with a low Qts to make for an average Q system. So in conclusion, the only reason to use a smaller bass driver is for space, weight and potentially power considerations, but likewise, it is inappropriate to try and fit a larger driver into a space smaller than it is ideal for.

# 9 I can compare two drivers using the same box
What you will find is primarily how different TSP’s work in different boxes. And the differences usually observed are of course differences in TPS’s with a given system, rather than performance. The best way to compare two drivers is to make two different systems based on the driver itself and ensure that the frequency responses are linear to the range you desire, and then compare those two systems in terms of dynamic headroom, SPL and distortion. Simply saying one system is “louder” or “deeper” in the same box is inappropriate. In one case it could be a something as simple as an under dampened driver ringing a lot more than an over dampened one at resonance causing a larger peak in low frequencies throughout. It does not mean it’s louder or deeper or better outright, it is simply non-linear, and all bets are off. Proper enclosure deigns and/or EQ should be used for any system.

#10 cone material affects the sound
For low frequencies, the cone on a driver makes no difference in the sound whatsoever. The only possible affect it could have is in the case of a metal cone or very stiff composite cone that resonates at a high frequencies and buzzes. However this frequency would be up around 1000 to 2000Hz: Well beyond a bass driver’s usable limits.

Various cone materials are used for various purposes. Some cones, such as composite core with fiberglass or carbon fiber skins are extremely light and very stiff, especially when pressed with epoxy. Other cones such as aluminum provide excellent thermal cooling to decrease voice coil operating temperatures when the heat is conducted though the (if possible) conductive former. The cones job is to push air, not break, and ideally not be too heavy (easier said that done). But they don’t change the tone, pitch or timbre of a subwoofer system whatsoever. Anyone who tells you otherwise is probably hearing differences in the motor distortion, likely related to BL, compliance or other non-linear distortions not relating to the cone.

#11 bigger magnet means more magnetic force
The motor is essentially the steel and magnets on the bottom of the driver. Its job to create a magnetic circuit that has an air gap where flux lines cross in one direction so that a coil can rest in this field and carry current which then produces a force up and down and moves the piston to create SPL. The force that this motor creates is dependent on the amount of power or rather current inside the conductor F = B*L*I. So we need a more intuitive understanding of how a motor affects a driver’s performance without considering how much current it receives. This is the simple concept of “force factor”. Larger motors will ideally have higher force factors, but this number not only affected by the motor, its affected by the voice coil size, length, distance to the motor (gap) and conductive martial used too. The end result is in fact the BL squared divided by Re (resistance of the vc). This is literally Newtons squared per watt and is called the force factor. The higher the number, the more efficient the motor voice coil combination is and the more performance you get out of the motor.

BL, one of the many TS parameters you are probably somewhat familiar with. It is literally the magnetic field “B” crossed with the conductor length “L.” L does not in fact depend on the number of turns on the voice coil, but rather the actual cross section area of the coil itself which is inside the gap. While force factor is entirely important for any high performance driver, one should also consider the moving mass. A 600 horse power engine in a semi truck is pretty typical, but in a sports car it’s certainly something to gloat about. Together, the force factor, moving mass and the piston area account for sensitivity. This number is very important even for subwoofers, especially for frequencies above ~60Hz.

#12 Double bass kick, only good sounding drivers can do it
We have all heard that only good “SQ” drivers can do double bass kick because they have good transient response or something to that extent. This is really nothing more than linear frequency response and lack of ring. If high Q subwoofers are in small boxes or if low Q subwoofers are in large ported boxes, the frequency response of the system will likely be greatly non-linear. This non-linear response compromises relative SPL and can drown out certain sounds and frequencies. Room acoustics can also do the same thing. The same subwoofer may sound completely different in another room simply because there could be poor coupling and non-linear frequency response as a result of standing waves and peaks in the response curve. A peak at 80Hz may make for a rather anemic 60Hz response, and while 60Hz appears to be the problem, it’s actually from the nonlinear response else where! The bottom line is “double bass kicks” are usually not a function of the driver or driver’s performance but rather the system design, linear frequency and room equalization.

Often times people associate double bass as something to do with speed and only good drivers are fast. Believe it or not, even the largest and heaviest drivers, have no problem producing low frequencies, even 300Hz is a relatively slow long wavelength with a slow impulse time. Subwoofers are in fact MUCH faster than you would expect. Bottom line is, the lack of double bass, within the working limits of a driver, is not a problem with the driver so much as it is probably a problem with the system design, room and/or EQ settings.

#13 Transient response is better with sealed boxes
The fact is “transient response” is truly misleading and probably entirely unimportant at least for low frequency response. What people hear is really a function of the linear frequency response and distortion. It is often accepted that transient is a function of timing, but our ability to hear differences of a few milliseconds of low frequencies is quite negligible which is why the low frequency group delay of a 4th order system is quite unimportant next to the sensitivity advantages provided. Transient does not exclusively depend on sealed or ported designs, high Q, low Q, in fact, even drivers with high inductance don’t outright suffer from “transient response” insofar as we can physically distinguish certain sporadic behaviors because within their working range, they may be very efficient and dynamic. The fact is, what makes bass indeed bass, are long wavelengths that take considerable time to pass our ears. The perception of transient is really a function of perceived sound quality and there is really not appropriate example for good “transient response”. We as humans hear two things, distortion and SPL, and in the end that’s really want matters. What does improve “transient” response or perceived quality is usually more headroom, more drivers (usually larger boxes depending on the Qts of the driver), better efficiency and ultra low distortion within the prescribed limits of the system or drivers within the system. Sealed systems in fact don’t offer better transient response no more than ported even with their lower group delay tendencies, at least to human ears!

#14 It’s a bigger driver, then I need a bigger amp
Often times larger drivers require less amplification, that’s sort of the idea. The concept of bigger woofers need more power is not always true and plays right into the ever progressing misconception of car audio. What you should consider is the efficiency of the subwoofer. Efficiency will literally tell you how much acoustic output you will get given an amount of power (assuming linear limits of course). If the driver is bigger, has a larger motor and has a higher sensitivity, there is no mystery about it, you are going to get more SPL with the same amplifier provided the impedance is similar and the amplifier can produce high voltage at impedance peaks when the driver naturally draws very little current for a narrow range. If a driver is more efficient and has a larger voice coil, well you just got your cake and you can now eat it. Not only will it be louder, but it will have less thermal compression and ultimately more sound provided all else is equal (but such is not usually not the case). It’s often difficult to make voice coils larger and increase sensitivity too. This usually requires very large motors and expense. Sensitivity is most easily achieved by weight reduction usually from the cone surround and voice coil. Sensitivity is often a trade off of xmax and thermal compression limits.

However there are many larger drivers that don’t have ultra high sensitivity. A good pro audio subwoofer may have 6 to 10dB higher sensitivity over an average high excursion car audio subwoofer. That advantage makes them very capable with quite a bit less power at least for their frequency range which is usually above 40Hz. Likewise, SPL drivers ironically enough don’t need much power either! Let me repeat. True SPL drivers ironically enough don’t need much power! That’s because they are used in the higher frequency domain not limited by displacement and generally have great sensitivity numbers. They need this in order to get the excursion and ultimately SPL they need to win contests. High sensitivity and lots of power means lots of SPL provided the driver is still reasonably linear and does not physically break of course. Note: Strictly for SPL contest, drivers are normally burped at Fc (system resonance) which is the point of maximum current draw and minimum active driver displacement which is why excessive power must be used. Do not confuse that requirement with the much lower power requirements for sound reproduction outside that single SPL frequency. It’s important you know the TSP’s of the driver you buy, otherwise it could be the wrong driver for you! Who buys a car without knowing the horsepower? Just because a driver big and the manufacture claims pie in the sky RMS numbers doesn’t mean a thing!

#15 Neodymium will lose its strength with heat
Of course it will, and so will ceramic motors too, but the fact is, under even extreme operating conditions, it’s not likely the motor will ever reach these temperatures. There is just too much steel to absorb the heat from the voice coil in almost any practical case. In practice, gradual demagnetization due to use simply does not occur. We have been making high power neodymium based drivers for many years now and we have never once measured a discernible number from heat.

While Neodymium is nearly 10 times as strong as a similar sized ceramic magnets, it can cost up to 50 times too which is almost exclusively why it is not used often. Also, traditional overhung motors, which account for more than 95% of all car audio designs, can get everything they need out of a ceramic magnet assembly and stronger neodymium would be perhaps unnecessary. If we could use neo more, we would, but because it’s a patented martial, it’s just not economically practical for most designs. Furthermore, in order the magnetize neodymium, A magnetizer with over twice as much power and energy needs to be used. Many manufactures lack the capabilities of even magnetizing neodymium, so it becomes impractical to not only use it, but to manufacture.

#16 Its all about maximum displacement
A DIY’er favorite statistic, displacement / dollars. If you’re considering any bass above 40Hz then throw it out the door right now. Often times people assume that simply because one or more drivers have more maximum displacement over another type of woofer, than they will ultimately be the better performer(s). In many cases this is true, but it’s not true in general. Displacement alone does not guarantee SPL. In fact, SPL depends on not only displacement, but frequency range, sensitivity, box size, and BL product too. This is simply a matter of converting energy into acoustic sound pressure level and different devices work more efficiently than others for different frequency ranges. For subwoofers, it is generally accepted that BL product is the dominate factor that accounts for much of the performance or rather system efficiency, especially in a bass reflex or more complex system where there is a lot of air mass to displace. But keep in mind, depending on the type of system, size, frequency range, power and thermal limits, there may be even more critical and dependent variables that determine the overall performance of a system. None the less, high displacement is usually a good indicator that the subwoofer can excel in deep bass SPL. Of course there are other factors to consider depending on the system of system.

Honda CR-Z

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:39:27 +0000

All new CR-Z

2010 Ford Raptor

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:38:11 +0000

Pretty sweet looking truck, has had some very positive feedback from the magazines so far.

2009 Banks Power "Sidewinder" Volkswagen Jetta TDI

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:09:24 +0000

Next Autos article

knuconcepts wire kits great deals

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:16:17 +0000

it seam there is a great deal on these wire kits thought i would let you guys know i just ordered the 4 gague closses flex set for 40 bucks but the 1/0 is a way better deal but more then what i needed at the moment

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USACI Finals Pictures

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:00:45 +0000

Reposting them from another site

MB E63 AMG Wagon

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:28:44 +0000

E63 Wagon Link

Golf R

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:50:36 +0000

New Golf

New Mazada Speed3

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Speed3

wow more bass then a crack house

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:55:05 +0000

check the rest out at the link for my ride more bass then a crack house
lol's

Basic Audio Terminology

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:14:32 +0000

Something I found and is worth having here:

A:

A: Attenuation, loss of dB.
AC (Alternating Current): An electrical current that periodically changes in magnitude and direction.
Acoustic Fiberglass: Thin fiberglass material used as damping material inside speaker enclosures.
Acoustics: The science or study of sound.
Air Gap: The space between the top plate and the pole piece. This is where the voice coil sits.
Alignment: A class of enclosure parameters that provides optimum performance for a woofer with a given value of Q.
Alpha: In sealed enclosure designs, the ratio of Vas to Vb, where Vb is the volume of the box you will build.
Alternator: A device that is turned by a motor to produce AC voltage, which is then rectified (turned into DC) and used to supply voltage to the vehicle's electrical system.
Ampere (A): The unit of measurement for electrical current in coulombs per second. There is one ampere in a circuit that has a one ohm resistance when one volt is applied to the circuit.
Amplifier: An electrical circuit designed to increase the current, voltage, or power of an applied signal.
Amplitude: The relative strength (usually voltage of a signal). Amplitude can be expressed as either a negative or positive number, depending on the signals being compared.
Attenuation: The reduction, typically by some controlled amount, of an electrical signal.
Audio Frequency: The acoustic spectrum of human hearing, generally regarded to be between 20 Hz and 20 kHz.

B:

B: Magnet flux density in gap.
Baffle: A board or other plane surface used to mount a loudspeaker.
Balance: Equal strength provided to both left and right stereo channels.
Bandwidth: The range of frequencies covered by a driver or a network (crossover).
Band-Pass Enclosure: Type of enclosure used for sub woofers where the driver is completely inside the enclosure and all of the output emerges through a port(s) on one of the sides. They are difficult to calculate for optimum performance.
Band-Pass Filter: An electric circuit designed to pass only a certain range of frequencies.
Basket: The metal frame of a speaker.
Bass Blockers: First order high-pass crossover (non-polarized capacitors), generally used on mid-bass or dash speakers to keep them from trying to reproduce deep bass which could damage them at high playing levels.
Bass Frequencies (Low Frequencies): The low end of the audio frequency spectrum. There are no real frequencies where bass is categorized, but it ranges from approximately below 20 Hz to 400 Hz.
Bi-amping: Means that instead of driving a speaker full-range with a single channel of amplification, through a single set of speaker cables, you actually connect two sets of cables, with each set driven by a separate amplifier, or separate channels of a multi-channel amplifier. This way, low frequencies and high frequencies each receive dedicated amplification.
Bi-wiring: Involves connecting two sets of cables to your speakers, like bi-amping, but both sets of cables connect to the same set of output connectors on your receiver or amplifier. Bi-wiring doesn't deliver more watts to your speakers, so it doesn't offer the dramatic sonic improvement and higher loudness capability of bi-amping.
BI: Electro-magnetic force factor.
BL: Driver motor strength.
Boomy: The smearing of transients that makes bass reproduction sound muddled, usually because of improperly designed sealed (too small), ported (to small or tuned improperly), and band-pass enclosures, although the latter are sometimes designed this way on purpose by car audio manufacturers or install shops to be loud.
Bridged: In a multi-channel amplifier, the connection of two channels to drive a single load. The input signal is split, and then the phase of one of the signals is inverted. The non inverted signal is sent to the left amplifier and the inverted signal is sent to the right amplifier (L+R-). The load is connected between the two outputs so it receives twice the voltage at a given input level. The resultant power is much greater than the two 4-ohm channels combined.

C:

C: Propagation velocity of sound at STP, approx. 342 m/s (meters per second).
Cab: Acoustic compliance of air in an enclosure.
Cabin Gain: The low frequency boost normally obtained inside a vehicle interior when subs are properly mounted.
Capacitor: An electronic device, which stores energy and releases it when needed. Also used to direct high frequency energy to tweeters. (Rated in Farads)
Cas: Acoustical equivalent of Cms.
Center Channel: In home theater, sound decoded from the stereo signal sent to a speaker mounted in front of the listener. Specially designed to enhance voices and sound effects from a movie soundtrack or other audio recording with enhanced features. Used in car audio to help offset skewed stereo imaging due to seating positions in the automotive environment.
Channel: The path an audio signal travels through in a circuit during playback. At least 2 channels are required for stereo sound.
Circuit: A complete path that allows electrical current from one terminal of voltage source to the other terminal.
Circuit Breaker: An electromechanical device designed to quickly break its electrical connection should a short circuit or overload occur. A circuit breaker is similar to a fuse, except it will rest itself or can be manually rested, and will again conduct electricity.
Class A: The amplifier conducts current throughout the entire cycle (360). The Class A design is the most inefficient and is used in low-power applications as well as in very high-end stereo. Such devices may be as little as 15% efficient, with 85% of the energy wasted as heat.
Class B: The current flows only 180¼ for half the cycle, or two transistors can be used in a push-pull fashion, each one operating for 180¼. More efficient than Class A, it is typically used in low-end products.
Class AB: Combines Class A and B and current flows for 180¼ to 200¼. Class AB designs are the most widely used for audio applications. Class AB amplifiers are typically about 50% efficient.
Class C: Operating for less than half of one wave cycle (100¼ to 150¼), Class C amplifiers are the most efficient, but not used for audio applications because of their excessive distortion.
Class G: A variation of the Class AB design that improves efficiency by switching to different fixed voltages as the signal approaches them.
Class H: An enhancement of the Class G amplifier in which the power supply voltage is modulated and always slightly higher than the input signal.
Class D: Class D is a digital-like amplifier that works by turning a transistor fully on or off, but the "D" technically does not stand for digital.
Definition of: Class D amplifier
An audio amplifier that works in the digital domain. It generates the equivalent analog output for the speakers by using pulse width modulation (PWM) or pulse density modulation (PDM) rather than the traditional digital-to-analog conversion. See PWM and PDM.
Less Heat than Analog: Because pulse modulation output signals are either on or off, Class D amplifiers produce far less heat than analog amplifiers. Reaching efficiencies greater than 90% compared to only 50% for analog, they are widely used for every amplification requirement from cellphone speakers to high-end stereos.
Digital and Analog: Class D was not coined for "digital;" it was the next letter after Class C. However, it does produce a "digital-like" output because the signals are generated by turning a switch fully on or off. But it is not technically digital because the output is not digital data. It is a modulated audio signal that is feeding analog speakers and is equivalent to the output of a traditional analog amplifier. Some call this a "synthesized analog" output. See amplifier classes.
Class T: A variation of the Class D technique from Tri-path. Class T modulates the pulses based on the individual characteristics of the output transistor
Clipping: The distortion that occurs when a power amplifier is overdriven. This can be seen visually on an oscilloscope, when the peaks of a waveform are flattened, or "clipped" at the signal's ceiling.
Cmes: The electrical capacitive equivalent of Mms.
Cms: Mechanical suspension compliance of a driver consisting of the spider and surround.
Coaxial Driver: A speaker composed of two individual voice coils and cones; used for reproduction of sounds in two segments of the sound spectrum. Usually used in automotive speakers.
Compliance: The relative stiffness of a speaker suspension, specified as Vas.
Cone: The cone-shaped diaphragm of a speaker attached to the voice coil, which produces pulses of air that the ear detects as sound. Some subs are now made with flat pistons instead of a cone shape.
Coulomb: An amount of electrical charge, which contains 6.24 x 10^18 of electrons.
Crossover Frequency: The frequency at which a driver is crossed over at, usually when response is down -3dB.
Current (I): The flow of electrical charge measured in amperes.

D:

D: Effective diameter of driver.
Daisy Chain: The wiring of multiple amplifiers together using the line out wiring options on the amps.
Damping: The reduction of movement of a speaker cone, due to either the electromechanical characteristics of the speaker driver and suspension, the effects of frictional losses inside a speaker enclosure, and/or by electrical means.
Damping Material: Any material added to the interior of a speaker enclosure to absorb sound and reduce out-of-phase reflection to the driver diaphragm (cone). Usually acoustic fiberglass, Polyester batting, or poly-fill is used in speaker enclosures.
DC (Direct Current): A flow of electrons, which travels in one direction only.
Delay: The amount of time, usually in milliseconds (ms), that a signal processing unit adds to a channel of music. This is usually used to delay the rear channels with respect to the front channels to give a sense of greater space.Decibel (dB): (1) A logarithmic scale used to denote a change in the relative strength of an electric signal or acoustic wave. It is a standard unit for expressing the ratio between power and power level. An increase of +3 dB is a doubling of electrical (or signal) power; an increase of +10 dB is a doubling of perceived loudness. The decibel is not an absolute measurement, but indicates the relationship or ratio between two signal levels. (2) SPL (sound pressure level) can be measured in dB. 0 dB represents the threshold of normal human hearing, 130 dB represents the threshold for pain.
Diaphragm: The part of a dynamic loudspeaker attached to the voice coil that moves and produces the sound. It usually has the shape of cone or dome.
Diffusion: The scattering of sound. Diffusion reduces the sense of direction of sound source, a useful quality in surround speakers.
Dispersion: The spreading of sound waves as it leaves a speaker.
Displacement: The measurement of cubic volume that an item (such as a speaker or port) takes away from the internal volume of an enclosure, when designing an enclosure this figure must be added to the enclosure volume.
Distortion: Any undesirable change or error in the reproduction of sound that alters the original audio signal or recording.
Dome Tweeter: A high frequency speaker with a dome-shaped diaphragm, usually small in size.
Dual Voice Coil (DVC): A voice coil with two windings, generally sub woofers. Each voice coil can be connected to a stereo channel, or both voice coils can be wired in parallel or series to a single mono channel. If connecting to stereo channels it is important that each channel have the same audio signal input so that 2 channels have the same output and both voice coils work in unison.
Driver: A loudspeaker unit, consisting of the electromagnetic components of a speaker, typically a magnet and voice coil.
Driver Parameters: The physical properties of a driver that determine it's electrical and acoustical behavior. Also called thiele small parameters. The minimum parameters used in determining speaker enclosures are Fs, Qts, and Vas.
DSP: Standing for digital signal processing it is most commonly found in processing units to recreate or simulate a specific acoustic environment. Many older units used this technology to recreate venues like a concert hall or a disco club.
Dust Cap: Part of the speaker that keeps foreign material from falling into the voice coil, which could hinder the speaker's movement and cut short its life.
Dynamic Range: Expressed in decibels, the range of signals amplitude (from the loudest to the quietest) that can be reproduced effectively by a piece of equipment. With respect tp amplifiers, this range is defined by inherent noise at low levels and by overload distortion at high levels. The higher the number, the better the performance.

E:

EBP: Efficiency Bandwidth Product. A rating that helps a builder determine whether a driver is suitable for a sealed or ported enclosure. EBP of less than 45 indicates the driver should be used in a sealed, 45 - 65 indicates flexible design options, over 65 indicates best for a ported enclosure. This only gives us a general idea what type of box to use. With actual testing the subs, sometimes EBP does not prove 100% accurate. EBP = Fs/Qes.
Efficiency Rating: The loudspeaker parameter that shows the level of sound output when measured at a prescribed distance with a standard level of electrical energy fed into the speaker.
Electronic Crossover: Uses active circuitry to send signals appropriate drivers. This is more efficient than passive crossovers.
Enclosure: The box that contains the driver(s).
Equalizer: Electronic device used to boost or attenuate certain frequencies.

F:

F3: The roll-off frequency at which the driver's response is down 3dB's from the level of it's mid-band response, sometimes called the cutoff frequency.
Fb: The tuned frequency of a ported box.
Fc or Fcb: The system resonance frequency of a driver in a sealed box.
Fs: The frequency of resonance for a driver in free air.
Farad: The basic unit of capacitance. A capacitor has a value of one farad when it can store one coulomb of charge with one volt across it.
Filter: Any electrical circuit or mechanical device that removes or attenuates energy at certain frequencies.
Flat Response: The faithful reproduction of an audio signal; specifically, the variations in output level of less than 1 dB above or below a median level over the audio spectrum.
Free Air Resonance: The natural resonant frequency of a driver when operating outside an enclosure.
Frequency: The number of waves (or cycles) arriving at or passing a point in one second, expressed in hertz (Hz).
Frequency Response: The frequency range to which a system, or any part of it, can respond. Unless a limit of variation in intensity is stated, this specification is meaningless.
Full-range: A speaker designed to reproduce all or most of the sound spectrum.

G:

Golden Ratio: The ratio of the depth, width, and height of a speaker enclosure, based on the Greek Golden Rectangle. Usually recommended for home speakers, difficult to use in car audio applications. The ratio: W = 1.0, Depth = 0.618W, Height = 1.618W.
Ground: Refers to a point of (usually) zero voltage, and can pertain to a power circuit or a signal circuit. In car audio, the single most important factor to avoid unwanted noise is finding and setting a good ground.

H:

Harmonic: The multiple frequencies of a given sound, created by the interaction of signal waveforms.
Harmonic Distortion: Harmonics artificially added by an electrical circuit or speaker, and are generally undesirable. It is expressed as a percentage of the original signal.
Heat Dissipation: The ability to transfer heat away from a component into the air to prevent damage to the speaker.
Hertz (Hz): A measurement of the frequency of sound vibration. One hertz is equal to one cycle per second.
High-pass Filter: An electric circuit that passes high frequencies but blocks low ones.
Hiss: Audio noise that sounds like air escaping from a tire (high frequency).
Horn: A speaker design using its own funnel shaped conduit to amplify, disperse, or modify the sounds generated by the internal diaphragm of the speaker.
Hum: Audio noise that has a steady low frequency pitch

I:

Imaging: Listening term - it is the speakers ability to locate where each instrument or voice is located.
Impedance: The opposition of a circuit or speaker to ac current. the combined effect of a speaker's resistance, inductance, and capacitance that opposes the current fed to it. It is measured in ohms and varies with the frequency of the signal.
Inductance (L): the capability of a coil to store energy in a magnetic field surrounding it. It produces impedance to an AC current. Inductors are commonly used in audio as low pass crossovers.

M:

Midbass: Mid-level bass usually frequencies just above the sub-bass range from around 100Hz - 400Hz or so.
Midrange (mids): The frequency range above bass but below treble carries most of the identifying tones of music or speech. It is usually from 300Hz - 400Hz to 3KHz or so.
Millihenries (mH): A measurement of inductance.
Mms: The moving mass of a driver assembly normally measured in grams (g).
Mono: Monophonic sound. A method for reproducing sound where the signals from all directions or sources are blended into a single channel.
MOSFET: (Metal Oxide Semiconductor-Field Effect Transistor) a form of field-effect transistor controlled by voltage rather than current, like a bipolar transistors. They generate almost no loss (little heat generation), which lends the power supply fast response, excellent linearity, and high frequency.

N:

n0: The reference efficiency of the system.
Neodymium Magnet: A magnet material offering 7.5 times the magnetic strength of standard magnetic materials.
Noise: Any undesirable sound reproduced in an audio system.
Nominal Impedance: The minimum impedance a loudspeaker presents to an amplifier, directly related to the power the speaker can extract from the amplifier.

O:

Octave: A range of tones where the highest tone occurs at twice the frequency of the lowest tone.
Ohm: A unit of electrical resistance or impedance.
Ohm's Law: A basic law of electric circuits. It states that the current [1] (measured in amperes) in a circuit is equal to the voltage [E] in volts divided by the resistance [R] in ohms: I=E/R
One Ohm Stability: Refers to an amplifier's ability to operate when wired to a speaker load that offers a 1 ohm impedance.
Oscilloscope: An electronic instrument that produces an instantaneous trace on the screen of a cathode-ray tube corresponding to oscillations of voltage and current.
Out of Phase: When your speakers are wired in reverse polarity (One speaker is wired one way, and another speaker is wired opposite of the first speaker). Bass response will be very thin due to cancellation.
Output: The high level (speaker) or line level (RCA) signals sent from one system component to another, or the high level signal from an amplifier to the system speakers.

P:

P: Density of air at STP 1.18 kg/m^3 (rho).
Pa: Acoustical power.
Parallel: A method of wiring that lowers the total impedance of multiple voice coils when wired together.
Pass Through: To pass a signal through without processing or changing the signal.
Passive Crossover: Uses inductors (coils) and capacitors to direct proper frequencies to the appropriate drivers. these crossover systems can be simple (First Order 1 component @ -6dB/octave slope) to complex (Fourth Order = 4 components @ -24dB/octave slope).
Passive Radiator: A device that looks just like an ordinary driver, except it has no magnet or voice coil. A radiator is usually a highly compliant device, with a similar cone material and surround found on regular active divers. The radiator must usually be at least as large (or larger) providing bass reinforcement for the driver in a similar fashion as any regular ported box. A clear advantage of the radiator is the absence of port noise and some audiophiles claim the radiator provides a better sounding bass than a ported enclosure Disadvantages include difficulty in tuning and the extra, required baffle area for the radiator. Most radiators can be tuned with either weights or silicone, adding material in a balanced manner until Fb is attained.
PDM: (1) (Product Data Management) An information system used to manage the data for a product as it passes from engineering to manufacturing. The data includes plans, geometric models, CAD drawings, images, NC programs as well as all related project data, notes and documents. A PDM also manages the interrelationships between the data so that when changes are made to one database, the effects are highlighted in the others. PDMs are developed for work-groups as well as the entire enterprise. (2) (Pulse Density Modulation) A modulation technique that generates fixed-width pulses to represent the amplitude of an analog input signal. Like its variable-width pulse width modulation (PWM) cousin, the output switching transistor is on more of the time for a high-amplitude input signal and off more of the time for a low-amplitude signal. PDM is used for audio signals in a variety of applications from cellphones to SACD music format. See PWM and Class D amplifier.
Pe: Driver's rated RMS power handling capability.
Peak: The maximum amplitude of a voltage or current.
Phase: Refers the timing relationship of two or more signals or sound waves. It's especially important to be sure that your stereo speakers are playing "in phase." This means that the drivers (cones and domes) of your right and left speakers are moving in and out at the same time. If your speakers are "out of phase" you'll hear significantly less bass, and instead of producing a strong center image, the sound tends to stay localized at the speakers.
Phase Coherence: The relationship and timing of sounds that come from different drivers (subs, mids, tweets) mounted in different location in the vehicle.
Phase Distortion: A type of audible distortion caused by time delay between various parts of the signal; can be cause by equalizers.
PLM: (Product Life cycle Management) A comprehensive information system that coordinates all aspects of a product from initial concept to its eventual retirement. Sometimes called the "digital backbone" of a product, it includes the requirements phase, analysis and design stages, manufacturing, product launch, distribution, quality assurance, in-service maintenance and spare parts provisions.
The terms PLM and PDM (product data management) are sometimes used interchangeably: however, PDM is typically only the data handling component of PLM. PLM also interfaces to the CRM and ERP systems within a company, which support the customer relationships, supply chain management and accounting. Following are the primary elements of a PLM system, all of which must interrelate with each other in order to provide the integration necessary to be a PLM system.
Polarity: The orientation of magnetic or electric fields. The polarity of the incoming audio signal determines the direction of movement of the speaker cone. Must be observed when wiring speakers, so that they are "in phase."
Ported Enclosure: A type of speaker enclosure that uses a duct or port to improve efficiency at low frequencies. Excellent design for lower power systems, as the port often adds up to 3dB's to low frequency efficiency. F3 can be set considerably lower with proper design, although low frequency roll-off is generally -24dB/octave. Good transient response with proper tuning, Fb, but source material or frequencies below Fb cause the driver to progressively perform as if it were not enclosed at all. Due to this, ported enclosures without a low frequency filter may have lower power handling compared to other designs. More difficult to properly build and tune than a driver. The best way to model these alignments is with a software program, where changes in tuning and enclosure size can be immediately noted.
Power (P): The time rate of doing work or the rate at which energy is used. One equation for power is: P = Volts^2/Impedance
Power Line Capacitor (Capacitor): Wired in-line on the power lead with your car amp, this device stores current for instant release when short bursts of energy are needed to produce loud, deep bass notes. Best to mount as close to amp as possible.
Pressure Effect: In sealed box designs, the pressure build-up on one side of the cone which may cause non-linearity and inhibit dynamic range in the low bass.
Push-Pull Configuration: One driver is mounted normally, the second is mounted so that it faces into the enclosure, both sharing the same internal volume and wired out of phase with one another. The drivers are acoustically in phase since they move in the same direction. This alignment theoretically reduces second order harmonic distortion.
PWM: (Pulse Width Modulation) A modulation technique that generates variable-width pulses to represent the amplitude of an analog input signal. Like its fixed-width pulse density modulation (PDM) cousin, the output switching transistor is on more of the time for a high-amplitude signal and off more of the time for a low-amplitude signal. The digital nature (fully on or off) of the PWM circuit is less costly to fabricate than an analog circuit that does not drift over time. See PDM.

Q:

Q: The magnification of resonance factor of any resonant device or circuit. A driver with a high Q is more resonant than one with a low Q.
Qa: The system's Q at Fb, due to absorption losses.
Qec: The system's Q at (Fc), due to electrical losses.
Qes: The electrical Q of the driver.
QI: the system's Q at Fb, due to leakage losses.
Qmc: The systems Q at resonance (Fc), due to mechanical losses.
Qms: The mechanical Q of the driver.
Qp: The system's Q at Fb, due to port issues (turbulence, viscosity, ect.).
Qts: The total Q of the driver at Fs, Qts = Qes + Qms.
Qtc: Value for the damping provided for a driver in a sealed enclosure. Denotes the enclosures ability to control the driver response at resonance. Qtc = 0.707 is the optimum value for sealed enclosures, providing flattest response and highest SPL for deep bass extension. Enclosures for this value are often rather large. Lower Qtc can give even better transition response, down to a Qtc of 0.577 for the best damping and transients, but the enclosure is usually huge and SPL's are down. A Qtc of 1.0 is a compromise between deep bass and transient response vs. smaller sized enclosure. Larger subs can go with an even higher Qtc, as their resonant frequency is often very low, but Qtc's above 1.5 can begin to sound very muddled and boomy, and sacrifice deep bass extension and transient response for enhanced mid-bass peaks (louder).

R:

Ras: Acoustical equivalent of Rms
RCA: Also known as line level input, wires carry signals from your source unit to other processors such as an amp, EQ, crossover, line driver, etc. They can also be used from one processor to another. They carry higher signal strength than speaker wires, also known as high-level input. This means that you get a cleaner, stronger signal from unit to unit which helps increase the performance of your stereo. RCA's are the preferred method of wiring.
Rear Fill: In auto-sound, the ambiance created by a pair of rear speakers that helps complete the sound-stage. A set of high quality components for the front powered by an external amp and a set of coax mounted on the rear deck powered by the head unit or small amp is a good example of a rear fill application. Rear fill speakers should be faded so that they create a richer ambiance, but you should not be able to isolate any sounds coming from them.
Res: The electrical resistive equivalent of RMS.
Resonance: The tendency of an object to vibrate most at a particular frequency.
Resonance Frequency: The frequency at which you speaker tends to vibrate most at.
Resistance (Re): In electrical or electronic circuits, a characteristic of a material that opposes the flow of electrons. Speakers have resistance that opposes current.__Revc: DC resistance of the voice coil only.
Rg: Amplifier source resistance (includes leads, crossover, etc.).
RMS: An acronym for "root mean square." Used in audio to help rate continuous power output of an amplifier or input capability of speakers. This is the preferred method for comparing anything in audio applications.
R-off (cut-off): The attenuation that occurs at the lower or upper frequency range of a driver, network, or system. The roll-off frequency is usually defined as the frequency where response is reduced by -3dB's.

S:

S or (Q'): The overall damping of a 4th order bandpass enclosure. I,e., if you were to figure a 4th order bandpass enclosure with a Qtc of 0.707 for Vr (the sealed chamber), then you would also figure Vf (ported chamber) with an S of 0.707.
SAF: Spouse Acceptance Factor.
Satellite Speaker: A small speaker with limited bass response. It is normally intended to be used with a matching sub woofer.
Sd: Effective piston area of a driver, Normally measured in meters squared (M^2).
Sealed Enclosure: Air tight enclosure that completely isolates the back wave of the driver from the front. Very tight, defined sound (with Qtc = 0.707) with very good transition response and power handling. Low frequency roll-off is at -12dB/octave. Less efficient than other designs, and higher distortion levels at resonance. Easy to design and build. Originally this design was pioneered and marketed by companies like Acoustic Research. Sealed boxes are normally the best enclosure to use for sound quality applications.
Series: A method of wiring that raises the total impedance of multiple voice coils when wired together.
Series-Parallel: A method of wiring that contains elements from both wiring methods.
Signal: The desired portion of electrical information.
Signal-to-noise (S/N): The ratio, expressed in dB, between the signal and noise.
Sine Wave: The waveform of a pure alternating current or voltage. It deviates between a zero point to a positive value and a negative value. Audio signals are sign waves or combinations of sine waves.
Sound Pressure Level (SPL): An acoustic measurement for the ratios of sound energy. Rated in decibels (SPL dBA, SPL dBC).
Sound Stage: The sound systems ability to recreate an imaginary stage. A good speaker will faithfully make the stage seem close to the actual height, width and depth of the actual performance stage where recorded. Imaging is similar, but the speaker must be able to place each instrument or voice in the correct location on the sound-stage. The reproduction of the way the music would sound if you were actually watching the musicians play in front of you. The stage should always appear to be in front of you, with a proper "image" of where each musician is playing on the imaginary sound-stage.
Spider: The flexible material that supports the former and voice coil within the speaker frame.
Standing Wave: A buildup of sound level at a particular frequency that is dependent upon the dimensions of a resonant room, car interior, or enclosure. It occurs when the rate of energy loss equals the rate of energy input into the system. This is what you hear when you listen into a seashell. Building a slant in a box on the back wall can help reduce standing sound waves.
Strontium Magnet: A magnetic material with superior magnetic strength characteristics to that of ferrite.
Sub woofer: A loudspeaker designed to reproduce bass frequencies.
Subsonic Filter (Infrasonic): A filter designed to remove extremely low frequencies usually between 20Hz-50Hz or lower noise from the audio signal. This prevents the speakers from playing frequencies that could damage them.
Surround: The outer suspension of a speaker cone; holds the diaphragm in place but allows it to move when activated. Usually made of foam or rubber.
Surround Sound: Usually representative of the monophonic sound extracted from the stereo signal sent to small rear or side speakers used in a home theater.

T:

Timbre: The quality of a sound related to its harmonic structure. Timbre is what gives a voice or instrument its sonic signature -- why a trumpet and a saxophone sound different when they play the same note.
Thiele/Small Parameters: Numbers that specify the behavior of drivers. These are normally tested by the manufacturer and are used in conjunction with computer programs to help design enclosures for drivers (normally sub woofers). These programs can normally estimate the response of a particular driver in a box to find the optimum enclosure type and size.
Three Point: Positioned inside the sub, this is the name given to the area where the voice coil, cone and spider meet.
Three-way: A type of speaker system composed of three ranges of speakers, specifically a woofer, midrange, and tweeter.
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD): A component specification which describes its ability to accurately reproduce a signal. Although lower numbers are considered to be better, the human ear typically cannot detect THD ratings below 2% or 3%.
Transformer: An electrical device that can be used to provide circuitry isolation, signal coupling, impedance matching, or voltage step-up.
Transient Response: The ability of a speaker to respond to any sudden change in the signal without blurring (smearing) the sound. A speaker that can react quickly to rapid changes in sound has "good transient response."
Transistor: An active (commonly three terminal) solid state device in which a larger output current is obtained by small changes in the input current.
Transmitter: The name given to the hand-held remote control unit used by a vehicle operator to arm/disarm and perform accessory functions on a vehicle security system. More commonly called a remote.
Treble (highs): The upper end of the audio spectrum reproduced by tweeters, usually 3 - 4kHz and up.
Tri-way Outputs: When a special passive crossover is used with an automotive amplifier to safely power a sub woofer in bridged mono (low pass circuit) as well as a pair of stereo speakers (high pass circuit). Normal inductors and capacitors can be used for Try-way output. This is how 3 channel mode should be accomplished with an amplifier.
Tweeter: A speaker designed to reproduce the high or treble range of the sound spectrum.
Two-way: A type of speaker system composed of two ranges of speakers usually a woofer and tweeter.

V:

Vab: The volume of air having the same acoustic compliance as the enclosures.
Vas: The equivalent volume of compliance, which specifies a volume of air having the same compliance as the suspension system of a driver.
Vb: Total box volume, usually in cubic feet or liters. Used specifically in sealed and ported designs.
Vd: Maximum linear volume displacement of the driver (product of Sd times Xmax).
Vf: Front volume of a bandpass design.
Vr: Rear volume of a bandpass design.
Voice Coil: The wire wound around the speaker former. The former is mechanically connected to the speaker cone and causes the cone to vibrate in response to the audio current in the voice coil.
Volt (E): The term used to refer to the property of electrical pressure through a circuit. The basic practical unit of difference of potential.

W:

Watt: A unit of electrical power. A watt of electrical power is the use of one joule of energy per second. Watts of electrical power equals (volts) x (amperes).
Wave: A single oscillation in matter (i.e., a sound wave). Waves move outward from a point of disturbance, propagate through a medium, and grow weaker as they travel farther. Wave motion is associated with mechanical vibration, sound, heat, light, etc.
Waveform: The shape of a wave.
Wavelength: The length of a sound wave in air. It can be found for any frequency by dividing the speed of sound in air (1120 feet per second) by the frequency of the sound, or: WL = 1120/freq.
Windings: The wire in a voice coil that is wound around the former (also called a bobbin) to create a coil.
Woofer: A large dynamic loudspeaker that is well suited for reproducing bass frequencies.

Z:

Z: Total driver impedance.
Zero Bit Detection: A circuit in a D/A converter that monitors the digital audio bit stream. Upon encountering all bits low, or zero, the output of the D/A is disconnected from the preamp. This improves the signal-to-noise ratio specification.
Zero Output: The absence of output signal or output power.

ohms ???

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:21:05 +0000

Can you run a 4 ohm sub at 2 ohms? I have a 12" sony 4 ohm sub and an mtx mono amp, I can run in either 2 or 4 ohms. with the amp set to use the 4 ohms, it looks like it should be used with 2 subs, but if I bridge the 2 channels for only my 1 sub, it will run at 2 ohms. If I run it on the 4 ohms setup with the 1 sub will I only be using 1/2 the power? I'm a little wet behind the ears when it comes to mono amps and subs. Any help would be much appricated.

thanks
Ryan

digital black noise / digital silence

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:01:12 +0000

now i think i got my gains etc set with black nosie / digital silence all the way to the 70 percent of 50 which is 35 so i set my volume at 35 and had to lower the bass to kill some of the noise i was hearing. but ya i hear nothing car off black noise playing and was wondering who else tweeks there gains this way along with other cd's. i have checked it with pink noise and it's stable as in on a rta flat is flat etc... any ways just wondering weho else does it???

My favorite older Ferraris

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:52:18 +0000

Well other then the 250 of Ferris Buller fame. I think my favorite older Ferrari is the 288. 2.9 litre, Twin Turbo V8, 390ish hp.

And a very close 2nd place is the Testarossa.

install for the fing ranger xlt

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:06:01 +0000

here we have my cousins 2000 ford ranger, we are going to do a little install in it. it will consist on a alpine 9884 HU, stock door and rear speakers for now, a lowend 260 watt amp and a RF p2 8 ina ported box. got the HU installed with a custom built insert cause advance auto didnt sell one for his truck, then we started the box today and got it almost finished, got all the wires ran and just need to hook up the amp and run speaker wire to the back of the truck. pics are up

Amp finds on ebay

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:18:50 +0000

Xenon 100.2

RSD 300.4

Audison SRX4

Planet Audio P704 <<< I have the p706.

sadistic's at it again fiberglass

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:30:06 +0000

yep sadistic's at it again here is the start of a fiber glass box take a gander if you will.