Great video!!! As you know I'm currently testing this commonly thrown around myth as well. Never personally "broken in" a subwoofer with means of procedure before, but hopefully both our findings will help shed more light on this whole "breaking in" topic. And thanks to this weekends road trip, I'm on 6hrs of subwoofer playtime so far. Going for an even 10 to cover my bases before testing max spl. Of course I'll be prepared for when people inevitability complain about some variable being off, or not long enough, but I wanted to try my best to put some stuff to rest like you did here, thanks for posting! 👍
Hay EXO I fallow all your videos and hit that favorite button the subscribe one and I seen all your videos but what you need to to is a video of a broken in a free air sub compare to a ported box break in sub also you should do a video on the Power acoustic I know their name probably hurts your heart but they made the raiser 2500 Watt and it’s true to what it says from Walmart it’s a miracle they made something good
@@MrHellboy40160 please don't tell him he has to do anything. I'm not trying to be overdramatic and you may have not had any Ill intent. There is much better ways of asking. Again not being a dick but please phrase as a question and not a demand. Just common curiticy.
I was told when buying my subwoofers: just throw it in the enclosure and she will handle 150 watts RMS all day long. No talk of breaking in.this was in the 90s to ealy 2000s. And the seller was an engineer! Interesting video! Subbed and liked. Cheers from Australia 🙂👍👍👍
After buying my first pair of brand new subwoofers I was afraid i'd damage them. Thanks to your video, I'm not concerned whatsoever. Keep up the incredibly informative videos!
The sound will get better after break in. That's the reality. Power handeling has never been the issue for speaker break in. That's a myth like he says in the video. Exept maybe some tweeters could handle slightly more after a good break in.
Glad to see you putting out useful knowledge for people. I feel like we need to help inform the basshead masses on all things audio. Break-in, Impedance rise (how it affects every day systems vs. competition systems) T/S parameters and what they mean and how to use them to get the info you want about your sub.
I can personally say the every advice in this video is the truth and thus i am thankful for finding this video I just received my new sub and followed every tip here and lemme tell you, it keeps on giving me surprises and joy I never thought of the voice coil bubbles but after examining my sub’s vc I ACTUALLY SAW THE BUBBLES just shows the level of truth in this video
I firmly believe the physics and engineering principles behind “breakin period” being good for gradual out gassing but otherwise unnecessary. Anecdotally I also believe anything that moves or stretches regardless it’s a car, a shoe or a subwoofer can benefit from a casual breaking in period. Car makers insist on new car breakin periods, shoes are more comfortable after some wearing in, and in my experience letting new subs settle into place before going all out never hurt. Metals have a certain degree of spring but can shear, crack or fail after sudden or prolonged stress especially in thin or ribbon cables. Basically I would suggest 25-75% power for maybe a week and then have fun- but with all the vibration and force on precise moving parts it just makes sense to me. Key part is making sure your wiring /install practices and settings are legit proper - it’s easy to damage things by overdistortion or underpowering. Good connections mean way less dimming issues. But even that can be solved with an xstatic batcap they’re amazing.
We all know who is the most knowledgeable guy on yt on audio besides maybe Mark but I think u got him, enjoy your videos a whole lot, I wish we could get together have an idea for a car audio part thay would be a great seller
I know this much... I didn't really "break in" my HCCA 152 which we all know has a extremely stiff spider. However!.. after playing it for over a year it started getting much louder. So it did break in finally. Output wise at least. I just wired it up and started bumping. Orion customer service told me I was going to damage it. I do 150's with a single 15.... it's so broken😂
@@ReVoLTedShadow. yeah the Orion has a extremely stiff spider so it's definitely one of the subs that could at least use a gradual power raising process when you 1st start using it. Like don't go right to town hammering it. But really after playing it moderately for a few hours and mot going full tilt right from the start is good practice in general. Break in or not it's just better safe than sorry. I definitely didn't "break in" my HCCA to the standards Orion says you need to. But there was a sort of break in period. It's a year later and it's still getting louder. The xtr2500.1dz is crazy underrated so you could blow that sub with that amp. Especially if youre clipping. Mostly if you're clipping.
Back in 2001 I was sponsored by Treo I was in the super street 9 plus class and they had told me to install the subs and play them at 30Hz at 3/4 volume for 2 minutes let it cool down for 10 minutes , then do it again and that was it. Speaker was ready for full burps at 8k watts.
Yup, that was to loosen up the spiders because they were built too stiff to begin with. After break-in they were appropriate for what you needed. That's how I build SPL subs.
It's the 20 year old CD from Bass Mekanik V5.0. Left and right channels are used at the same time, one channel is a half frequency, and the sound you get is what happens when you use both channels. If you use one or the other it's a solid tone.
Amazing video!!! Now what I am really curious about is when it comes to putting new woofers in to expand your system. In my case: I have a no wall with 4 15s, but I bought a van to build a 9 15 6th order. What are the dangers or precautions I should take when it comes to the woofers? Do I need 9 equal (new) woofers or can I buy 5 new ones and use them all in one system?
Glad you put this I hear people saying the surround is the break in which made no sense to me. I never broke in a sub just didn't play full till after about a month and then I would set gains and meter accordingly to specs. I'm sure everyone one has a different theory.
@@EMFAudio yes you have and thank you for the quick reply 👍 I love how so say low baller 12 that's a decent 12 to me but everyone's idea of budget gem is different 🤷 looking forward to more tech. What do those run$ any way? I like that one
Good Video!! I do however have a basic question, for getting the TS specs right (e.g. using DATS) don't you think its better to break-in the sub before measuring? In the video you did talk about change in Qts (I think more precisely its Qms), Vas etc.
It is better to get specs after break in, yes. That's the point where we publish our specs. However, every person that buys a speaker isn't breaking it in, taking specs off it, building a box for it using simulations that aren't accurate anyway, then installing them. The myth being if you don't break them in, they'll self destruct, nothing related to specs.
@@EMFAudioso you do agree that break-in is good if you wish to build a better box. Based on my experience (just a DIYer) I have seen only very few drivers (mostly budget friendly ones) where the measured TS matches with the published specs (I have verified it with both WT2 and WT3 (old DATS) just to be double sure). Oddly the driver where I found that the measured specs closely matched published one is for two Fountek mids! To summarize based on my experience I have learned not to trust published specs as the simulated response would be way off from what is provided in the user manual (e.g. QTS = .48 (published) vs QTS .7x (measured) for one of the driver I recently measured. Would have been a disaster if I had designed/build the box based on the one recommend by the Manufacturer).
@@Venki7744 Our specs will match what you get on your own, I've had customers say the same thing you are and be skeptical and sure enough get the same result. You can also use our recommended box specs and get a good result. Not all companies are like that, but we're small and actually care about what we push out the door and how people use it.
Very informative not everybody has a test bench to be breaking inn subwoofers anyway. Besides if you don't properly break in a sub will it void warranty lol.
I think it would be awesome if you make a video explaining all of the specs, like qts bl etc. I know just a couple but the rest are just numbers to me, I want to learn what they mean for sure! thanks!
Technically, any time you aren't using rated power, you're "under powering". So if you are at a low volume, it's "under powered". Over powering is the point of failure. That may make for a good video of explanation though.
That might explain the smell from my digital design sub. Put it in the car with a ground zero amp. And adjusted the best i could. Turned up the volume and after 30-40 seconds it started to smell. Turned it down and havent turned the sound up again 😂 btw i am from norway so sorry if my English sucks😂
In my opinion I think it comes down to design and quality of materials being used. Its kinda hard to answer the myth about speaker break In due to the amount of different speakers out there. I have noticed that my system did start to sound better slowly over time the more I listened to it. May I also mention that clipping can be bad for any speaker. So its important that your amp and input signal are not clipping while you are attempting to break in your speakers. Cleaner the better. That means that proper tuning of your system is also important.
I specifically mentioned quality for a reason, poor quality subs break. Clipping is bad all the time, not just in break in. Yes, your system did start to sound better over time, because it was breaking in. It's not that speaker don't break in, it's that there isn't some magical procedure or duration. Breaking them in over 10 minutes or 10 years gets the same result.
Funny...i just hooked up my hdc3.10 i reconed and was looking for break-in info and found this video. Makes perfect sense to me. Thank you EMF audio for a simple and easy explanation of how subs work and the break/broken in process.
ed elsey Weather you believe in it or not, the terminology is totally wrong, it would be better said by resetting the cools. due to normal or extreme play, the coil and former heats up, when this happens, the parameter changes, spider and surround fatigues takes quite some time to occur but the coils starts the minute one starts to play it. even in this video, he mentioned this happening as well as how round and flat coils are effected by extreme heat passing through tgem. Metals are effected as well as the adhesives used but by cycling the subs for a period of time it preset the coils through that process before the customer even receives their sub. this process also weeds out subs with defects that are not detected in a conventional way such as spider and former seperations that may get by in a normal inspection.
ed elsey these are just my opinion base on my experiences. I do agrees that you can play a sub at its recommended power levels at full tilt in your system even if its new but I would lay attention to what my subs are doing and smell like.
I'm sure there are some cheap speaker manufacturers that a little break in is highly beneficial. Imagine stiff sub suspension and say elmers school glue.... I think that probably the part to most likely fail if not letting the suspension as a whole soften first spider or surround or even coil comming apart do to weak connection. Although i have personally never broken in any sub. Well nevermind. Great vid. Posted to soon 9:30 then got back to view my comment covered in detail. Thank you for mentioning weak spider tearing as well.
Ive got a couple of tens in my car currently that are mostly gorilla glue. Not do to break in so much as break apart. I do think a good ten years of pounding will do that. Seems every couple years need some repairs.
No. If it is poorly built or someone used old/bad glue it will break no matter what ritual you perform. Vas, FS and Q typically vary less than 10% once suspension is loosened up (higher Q and Vats lower Fs); plug any sub's numbers you like into WinISD or Bass Box pro and you will not see an audible difference. If you play a sub hard at x-max most of this softening happens within the first few minutes then continues for several years almost imperceptibly over time. This whole myth was started by companies looking for an unprovable cop-out for honoring warranty claims. It breaks mechanically you must not have "broken it in" with the proper ritual.... stands to reason, warranty denied. I have built and broken and pulled specs from enough specs to confirm "break in" as it's being pitched by some companies is 24 karat bullshit.
This weekend I just noticed i had a spider to former glue joint fail on a week old 15" NVX VS sub. There is no other sign of damage and it never got hot, im hoping NVX doesnt try to say I is definitely my fault like no break in (even tho it's not mentioned in the manual) or overpowered...I did stretch it's legs but don't feel I abused it and I don't have an internal watt meter but I am fairly knowledgeable, being budget sub should I have let the spider get some stretch for a bit before bumping it or is this very likely just a sign of piss poor glue job on a mass produced import sub or could this be legitimately blamed on me? I've always been under the impression NVX builds fairly quality products for there price point. I just want to be prepared when I talk to them I don't want to be bullied by them to avoid covering it.. Any input would be appreciated...
I've had people tell me they spent MONTHS ramping up power little by little, week after week. Everything but the last 2 weeks of it were basically wasting time.
The questions is why should the customer has to break in the subwoofer ? Also, are the T/S parameters measured before break in or after? Because it will give you a wrong box design in software. I'm planning on doing some Dayton um18s for home cinema. I have a single pb-1000 and the first few movies and songs, it sounded like it was not even turned on. After a few days it just came to life.
The end user is breaking it in by using it, they don't have to do it prior to installation. The parameters you get are up to the manufacturer. The specs we provide are after a reasonable amount of break in. Are they going to read the same in 3 years? No. Do some manufacturers give specs based on zero play time? Yes. What you experienced is the subwoofer breaking in.
I just bought an American bass xr 10d4 which is rated for 1000 rms. I plan on running 1000 rms out the gate and I listen to metal. Will this sub be okay? 1.8 cu ft box tuned to 40hz.
Hey guys, i just bought a DD 712f (1500 rms) and powering with T1500bdcp. I tuned amp to clipping at volume 30. But my dumbass installed the sub (in spec box) and immediately turned it to volume 32 with a bass heavy song for about 5 seconds. Coil started smelling (but not really bad like a blown sub, just enough for me to notice it’s getting hot), so I turn the volume down slowly and let it cool. So basically I over powered sub (because Rockfords are underrated) with dirty clipped power. But I’ve been playing it below volume 30 for a few days now and it seems perfectly fine. Should I worry that i lessened the subwoofers life? Or was it the glue on coil “breaking in”? Thanks you guys
People can say whatever they want regarding their opinion of driver break-in. I have owned a custom home theater business since 2001. IF ONLY driver break in was a myth, and IF ONLY I just needed to install the system and let them break themselves in over time, it would save me SO much trouble. If I don't thoroughly break in the mid and low frequency drivers in my shop before I install them in the system, I HAVE to come back out and re-tune the system in a few months because the frequency response of those drivers, and therefore their respective crossover points, has changed so much that the system sounds messy and the bass sounds boomy and exaggerated. Anyone who doesn't take driver break-in seriously isn't truly effected by it in real-world circumstances enough to know the true importance of it. Sure, to SOME people who don't have much of a distinguishing ear, the gradual change in the sound of their system will not bother them. But that isn't the same for everybody...
Opinions are ones outlook on a subject, facts are proven details that can't be argued. This video is facts, not opinions. I believe I mentioned it will sound different after break in which is why you might have to retune things afterwards. It does not change the fact that following some procedure will not make it last longer or sound better. Realistically, you could have to retune it again in a year or two because the suspension continued to change characteristics.
In my years of box building, I've found it best to cycle a sub with different test tones while inside of the box and vehicle for which the sub is housed in. I've witness several changes as you mentioned earlier in s parameters which effects some box designs more than others( tuning help compensate for those changes as well adding or removing polyfill)....I use several test tones to allow the former and its adhesives to better set as well as allow the subs to move freely with the compliance of its coil and leads through its enclosures limits. Everyone has theories, this is mine and it has worked quite well with me and the subs yhat I normally install are of those lower quality that everyone rate them as😏 but its odd that I tend not to have issues of burnt coils, spider seperations,surround or dust caps comong undone. back in the day, several co.pany's did a burn in time period after assembly then retested to assure that the subs parameters, mechanics and connections ( leads, spider and cone, spider and landings as well as the surround and its seals were still ok then they packaged the finish products but now a day, subs are assembled, tested for parameter accuracy and freedom of movement then packaged for shipping. I recall opening subs back in the day smelling the warm coil smell and not just the adhesives use to asdemble them. myth or not, it tend to work better for me, mainly in tuning before a customer even hears their ride....then after a few weeks of beating on it, they give me call or come by to tell me that it seems to be getting louder. it took all of this to say that the former heats up ...it expands and when its cools down it contracts, those gasses that you're reffering to is from both extreme heat ( over powering ) and normal play ( although mi'nute, it still forms around the coils)....and yes subwoofer design can help to remove these gasses and heat but it only can do but so much.
When they call saying it's getting louder, that's because it's breaking in. There is no avoiding that, that's what they do. The specific procedure is what doesn't matter or is actually not breaking it in at all.
Hey is,there a difference between the preorder SWAG coaxials and the immediate shipping? Also, whoever says a speaker is like an engine needs to be slapped,by both an engine and a speaker.
I have an alpine type s 12 inch that I was running on an amp that was given to me it was only 200rms at 2ohm I just bought a jl 500rms at 2ohm I set the gain accordingly and I have a slight smell from the sub. So your saying this is normal? Soon as I smelled it I backed my gain down a little bit because I was worried I was gonna blow my sub.
The gain shouldn't change based on what sub is connected, a proper adjustment is to the signal input voltage. No, a smell is not normal unless it's brand new.
@@EMFAudio it was a brand new sub but it was 300 watts under powered until last night and I ran it on the 200 watt amp for about 2 weeks. I think what I shp8ld do is just find someone with a dd-1 or a oscilloscope to properly set the gain (sensitivity level) I think I maybe had it up a little to high.
Hey man, i like the video and find it very informative. Just bought a single Skar 15, as its my first sub of any kind. Although i watched the video im still nervous to send it on the sub. I dont have much money to ruin my sub im only 16 lol. guess i should just play it like a would if it was "broken in"? Thanks.
Yes.. But break in is more about the sound getting better as it is broken in than actually blowing up the speaker.. Best thing is to start at lower volume and increase bit by bit. But the thing with break in is that the sound changes after some hours of use. Some more than others. My home speakers (and car speakers but they had less difference) sounded way better after 100hours than they did out of the box.
The sound changes from breaking it in, but starting at a lower volume is literally doing nothing for breaking it in. It breaks in from being pushed. You can get better results of break in from 30 minutes of full throw than you do 100 hrs of gradual volume increase.
@@EMFAudio You need a bit volume to move things and break in the moving parts, but I always get better sound after many hours of moderate and high volume than just 30min of heavy use. Breaking in the movement and breaking in the speakers sound is not quite the same. I agree with you for the power side of things. But after a couple of decades of experience and testing I know to get the true sound quality the speaker can do it needs alot more than 30min heavy use to reach it's best. Not so much difference for subs as it is for a midrange and tweeter but still. Maybe not the best explenation but english is not my native language so..😂 Not trying to argue with you or anything. I like your videos and you know your stuff very well. But this is my experience.
Since buying and installing subs in car's since early 80's iv'e never heard of anybody breaking in a subwoofer and i have never had a problem with the old cerwin vegas sub's back then and everybody i mean everybody just installed them and played them LOUD right out the box........
Again sorry for so many questions. I’m thinking about buying the 12” banhammer subwoofer while it’s on sale, what would be the best amplifier to buy for that because at 2000w rms I don’t think my 2 alpine amps would be able to handle it. The alpines are I have are around 400-500 rms but the have really low thd and that’s why we got them. And they were expensive they are he bridgeable power ones. Also what is the sensitivity rating or w/m of the banhammer? My subs are 98db. Oh and would I have to buy new crossovers, midrange, and tweeters if I get a more powerful amplifier?
Sensitivity is going to be another tech video. You bought lies. Yes a 2,000 watt amp would be a great match for a single Banhammer. With a bigger amp for the sub the only thing you have to worry about is being able to power the amp. So, appropriate wire and electrical supply.
EMF Audio ok the midrange and tweeter are in the same box as the subwoofer they have a sealed back so they won’t blow out. But I was told if I get a bigger amp and sub I would also have to get better speakers and new crossovers to match them or they would blow because there would be too much power going to them. Is this true?
That is very much not what I thought you would be working with. I wouldn't use any of that. An appropriate amp for all of that will be filtered in the amp with separate runs to everything. That also speaks a lot for the quality of the box, you would need a new, good one.
EMF Audio well I can’t change now that I did that and I don’t know how to install the midrange and tweeters into the doors. I was just hoping I would be able to get a better subwoofer (Banhammer preferably) and an amp for it and still be able to use the same mids and highs speakers with the setup I got. But probably not.
I'd have to see what you were working with before I could say if they could be re-used in terms of installation. Remember when you go with louder subs you'll have to have louder mids to keep up as well.
The way to tell if your car subwoofers are broken in is by pushing the cone in with your fingers if you can't push the cone in then it's not broken in yet and is still stiff
That's not accurate. Break in is relative to it's state when freshly built. I've built subs so stiff you can't move them fresh and barely move them broken in. I've also built subs very soft so fresh they would move very easily and broken in easier yet.
A sub does not need to be broken in but it will 100% be louder after it’s all loosened up and a lot louder I’ve gotten a brand new sundown sub and it let me down at first rlly bad but after a day or two it was 4-5x better
I am still not sure if the box was too big. You did not say if it is a ported box or not. If it was they owner may have been driving it hard below the port tuning frequency in a properly designed box. If the box was sealed and the system Q was over .71 he should have been ok and it was just operator error!
The box was nearly 6 cu. ft for a 12. If it was sealed that would have been insanely huge, but it was ported, which is still nearly 3 times the size it should be. There are ZERO instances where a 12 should be in 6 cu. ft.
If someone could answer a question of mine. The Cerwin Vega XLS-12S subs I have are $500 each, they have good bass, but 250w rms... doesn’t that seem really low? Does the rms really matter. Because some subs I find are $250 but have 1500w rms?? I’m new to car audio and it’s my dads set I got for my birthday so I’m still trying to learn how this stuff works. Would you just be paying more for cleaner bass??
For starters, that model looks like a powered home audio sub, no? Assuming that, there are several considerations that are universal too. For starters, you can't compare a powered home sub to a car sub. The car sub is just that, a speaker, the home sub is an enclosure, and amplifier, and speaker. Aside from that, power ratings have NOTHING to do with cost. There is no direct relationship. Cost comes from factors like build quality, materials used, toolings, development time, etc. A more expensive sub may perform better than another and last longer and that's why you'd spend more. Power ratings also have no standard of measure, so our 750 watt RMS sub may actually handle more power than another brands 1,000 watt sub.
EMF Audio the subs are car subwoofers, hard to find they because cerwin-Vega! Stopped making them around 20 years ago I think they are called XL-12S and I you put that into google it’s the fifth image instead of the XLS-12S which I think is the home audio subwoofer. And so even though they are low rms they will have just as good base? Or just not as good low rumble bass which I think they lack. Oh ya and thanks for replying! Great Vid!
You're right, those are about 20 years old. I'm not sure how you got the $500 each valuation on those, but that's very old technology. That was also a time when a 500 watt power rating was considered high. You could replace both of those 12's with one of our Lowballer 12's and it would be wildly different.
EMF Audio By wildly different do you mean better? Thanks for answering my questions I really appreciate it, I can’t ask my dad anything because he gets annoyed or ignores me when I ask him questions lol so thanks for helping.
Not just better but different. Low end response would be improved, transient response would be better, overall output would be louder. General clarity should be better as well. It's a very different sound, "better" will always be subjective but I believe the difference is for the better.
I believe if it can't play rated out of the box, then it isnt my fault. The company gave a false rating. A coil fails from heat/overpowering, bottoming out and clipping. If the suspension loosens up that is more likely to happen especially with pushing it harder when "broken in". if anything i want the sub to stay stiffer for longer. Just my logic of thinking. My custom 12 i now own that was built i was given 1500w rms, That was according to the builder who built it for a friend 8 years ago, he had 1500w rms on it the day after it was built, now i run it around 1600 clamped with impedance rise. You can still barely push it with your hand. It hasnt dropped any db in his car or my truck. But the quality is there so it can handle it. I wouldnt trust a sub that says break in. For the exact reason for what you said poor build quality.
Just play like 10-20hz low volume free air that will break the spiders in, I have had brand new subs just reconed and fail the same time giving it full power without break in. Second time it was played on low power free air on a sweep and then installed it took a lot longer to kill and sounded much better.
Sounds like you had garbage subs. 25 years and I've never broken in a sub, never had a failure because of it. I also tell all my customers they don't need to and THEY don't have problems.
EMF Audio we’ll real world test have been done by others and have had better results with breaking in subs. I had the issue on ground zero radioactive 18’s, reconed with factory soft parts and then with FI soft parts. (FI ones lasted longer) Also I have 2x FI ssd subs one that had little use from new and another that I’ve been beating on daily for over a year. Both tested on same power / same box / same car and the broken in one plays lower and louder. I guess that’s just some voodoo magic 🙄
@@DeafeningSounds What are you saying worked better? If it's the coil, then that was because it had a different coil, not because it was broken in or not. Ground Zero uses Chinese coils, Fi uses USA coils. The failure temperature is over over 200 degrees different. Your "real world" testing has variables. The actual real world, breaking in changes performance because that's what happens if it breaks in after a day or a year. Performance isn't failure.
I recently upgraded subs, the person who I dealt with guaranteed me he triple checked them before being sent to me...I barely had a chance to install them and one of the subs has a tick, messaged the person about it and has yet to respond back 🤔
@@tonyv33ee That doesn't make them exempt from having production problems or not being honest. Smaller companies like us put more time into things and make sure they're right, because we can and should.
Fs changes a c hair not noticable by ear least not my ear. Personally I apply even pressure by hand damn near hard as I can if we're talking double spider or better n at 4 spidies almost half body weight around 100 lbs till I hear spider fibers stretch n I'll hold that pressure till it's no longer stretching fibers of the spider.
To get 12kw out of am amplifier if your running 14.8v you'll need 810+ amps. It's funny to me when people buy a so called 5kw power amp and 5kw sub and install it into a car/truck with standard electrical system 12v and 120-275amp alternators. Just guessing on specs.
Actually, 810 amps would be assuming 100% efficiency, which amps are not. They require even more than that. You are correct in that people buy equipment they can't support and usually don't even use to their full potential. More often than note the same people that complain about blowing up amps never have the electrical to support the amps.
@@EMFAudio yes your absolutely right if its 100% efficiency. So it would be even more cause most amps are around 70-85% efficiency est and that's just for the power amp draw. You need to run the other electrical systems in the car/truck. I know you know your stuff. I'm just starting to learn about car audio in the electrical side of things. I've been doing home audio since I was 9 and 33 now and I just like learning audio workings. Thank you for the reply and correcting me as well I do appreciate it really
I've been researching subs the past few weeks and one thing I've noticed looking at product reviews is a lot of people will pair their amp with the peak wattage of a sub and wonder why their sub is blown after a month. Like one review, the customer stated they got an 800watt RMS amp and the sub they were reviewing was rated at 400 rms, they gave 1 star because they thought the sub was trash because it was blown in less than a month. I've also seen a tech "pro" review for a subwoofer on youtube suggesting to get an amp with an RMS that was rated twice the subs RMS. I definitely see a lot of misinformation in this field.
I always use amps which are at least double the speakers' rating (where possible) to achieve the highest output voltage possible to give transient headroom. For example the coaxial BMS compression driver in my system is driven by one 1kW per channel amp and one 300W amp for this reason. This is very common practice in high quality PA systems. The absorbed power of normal music by a speaker is relatively low, having at least a 10dB crest factor, but car stereos are obviously a different matter entirely given the unnatural bass-heavy content played by some.
A good reason to have an an overpowered amp is that, most amps will experience distortion if you max them out. If you have a 2000 watt amp and a 1000 watt sub, then youll be able to safely push the sub without the potentially causing distortion.
@@dongod2786 Spot-on. A 1965 VW Beetle (Bug) and a twin turbo Porsche can be driving side-by-side at 70mph but only one can overtake the car in front doing 80mph...
@@dongod2786 Ah isee! It is similar to getting a PSU for your PC and having it rated twice the wattage your PC will pull so it doesn't stress it and lower it's life span.
@@dongod2786 Most amps? Not true. The amp I use has a bass knob with clip indicator. It's an 850 rms amp that pushes around 1000 before it clips or distorts. Amps these days are not like the old days. Old days they would claim 500 watts and only make 100 watts, hence needing way more claimed power to get the actual power wanted. Just not the case anymore with known name brands. Still some jack leg brands out there like pyle pulling the old school crap though.
I can state breaking in a sub is actually a true thing. Use a already broken in sub with a new sub and once the new one hits the breaking period you will hear loud punch then smoke. Happened to me 3 times now. It alters the specs in the end
Pay attention to the video. It doesn't say breaking in doesn't happen, it says any type of procedure is bogus. It happens by playing it, by barely playing you're actually NOT breaking it in at all. If you play it full volume right out of the box you end up with the same break in result as if you did it slowly over time.
Before you can talk round or flat wire you must first consider the material. You typically don't find round aluminum nor do you find flat copper. At least, not in subwoofers. If you aren't comparing the same material you aren't making any reasonable comparisons.
@@EMFAudio I'm a commercial/ residential electrician and have always been into car audio but I know in DC and AC certain aspects apply as well as material and there's better conductors so to speak. Car audio has changes so much since the 90's I'm just getting back into now pushing 40 kids grown and things are payed off so now I have a little fun $ money
There are better conductors, but coils aren't just about conductivity. Example, using a conductor with lower resistance would also mean your coil would have to be longer and likely also wider to get the same impedance, which may have other consequences in design. Coils are about passing energy through a magnetic field.
I went to best buy today and bought a new pioneer subwoofer 1200 watt and it smells like burning since I got it but I bumped that 21 savage and it broke look at it and touch it is hot to the touch good thing I got warrant lmao
Pioneer typically rates in peak, not RMS, and their peak is usually 3-4x RMS. Consider that with your amp. You may also be clipping the balls off of it.
Well, this is a very controversial topic, but from my experience, most subs(especially stiffer ones) need to be broken in. I've broken in my subs(took about 2hrs) I had them in free air and played varying frequencies through them. Went to manufacturer xmax rating. Spiders moved to the second last roll. Once I saw the impedance settle(the rate of change decreased dramatically), I gave it more excursion so the last roll would move and left it for 30 mins to break in. Not a big procedure and I can be sure I won't rip a spider or something like that. And like you said, that doesn't really happen unless you have 7 spiders but it is for the peace of mind.
Hi can someone help me. ? I need a amp that can "play" from 0.6 - 5 hz I want to play say 0.6 hz with 500 - 1000 w on a subwoofer. (Just for the fun of it.) What amp can do that. How to make that amp? Thanks
I'm not sure if you're joking or not because you can't play 0 hz. Not sure why you would specifically want to play 0.6 hz, vs say 1 hz. They are virtually the same thing. So, on to the next point. It's not the amp that plays the sound. The subwoofer is what does. The amp just gives the power to the subwoofer to reproduce that frequency. You need subwoofer that is designed to be able to reproduce those low frequencies. That's determined by the size of the subwoofers enclosure, it's tuning, the size of the woofer itself, and I'm sure some other variables. The amp simply sends the power to the subwoofer in order to produce sound. I'm not expert but I don't think you're going to be able to build a subwoofer to play 1 hz with any sort of volume whatsover. You could get down to 10 with a DIY sub most likely, but that takes a lot of know how. If you want a sub that plays to 10 you're going to have to spend thousands of dollars.
@@joshm5514 im sorry but you are a ignorant. Go on youtube type in subwoofer 1 hz. Or 3 hz. And you will find plenty vids. Evin a 1" dome tweeter can play 1 hz. Now humans only here from 20 hz and up. Im however not interessted in sound. Only in seeing my woofer moving. Now the amp is the most importent faktor to my q. You dont know -So you dont speak.
@@degreesdegrees-jr4eg only thing i could suggest try to find an amp with no subsonic filter or on that is defeatable. Also i would say class A/B would be your best bet to get low.
