Small is Beautiful ?

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august

Member - Posts: 3

Joined: January 16, 2005

Posted: January 18, 2005 at 2:23 AM / IP Logged

The ongoing “choice” dilemma!

I thought that I had at least settled on a subwoofer, but no!

I was all set to buy a JL Audio 10W3v2 sub. Designed a box that would snuggle nicely behind the rear seat of my 2004.5 Audi A4 3.0 Avant. Spoke to the tech at JL Audio regarding the internal volume of the box and the subtleties of impedance vs. power, etc. Then I started to think how nice it would be to have a smaller box, say one that would be appropriately sized for an 8” sub, specifically, the JL Audio 8W3v2. In either case it will be powered by the Memphis Belle 600, 5-channel amp on the 200W, 2 Ohm channel.

I posted yesterday regarding the Diamond Audio Hex component speakers. Thanks again by the way! In that post I described my sound taste as follows: “I generally play rock and roll, world, jazz and classical music. I am interested in high quality, accurate sound, highs not too bright and clean mid-range. I will be using a JL Audio 10W3v2 sub powered by the 400W fifth channel of the Memphis Belle. I have no interest in rattling windows ......... just good clean sound!”

With that in mind do you all think that I would be making a mistake going with the 8” sub instead of the 10”? Same clean power from the Memphis Belle. Appropriately sized and well-built enclosures for either choice.

I just don’t have any personal experience listening to these two differently sized subs in an Audi. I am hoping that someone here can share his or her insights with me.

Thanks again,

John

wheelerdr

Copper - Posts: 337

Joined: October 25, 2004

Location: Louisiana, United States

Posted: January 18, 2005 at 7:41 AM / IP Logged

If you need the box to be small go with the 8" but I would rather go with a 10", best thing to do is go back to the dealer and listen to both subs to see which one you like if you like the sound of the 8" and this will have you in the graces you want space wise than go for it.

stevdart

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Joined: January 24, 2004

Location: Pennsylvania, United States

Posted: January 18, 2005 at 9:36 AM / IP Logged

Just the power handling of the two subs is different enough to make an easy choice. The 8 is 125 watts, the 10 is 300 watts RMS. The Belle should be making at least 250 watts into 4 ohms on the 5th channel. Work up a good enclosure for the 10. The dual 6 ohm model will parallel to 3 ohms and give you about the best power from the amp while keeping the output close to the sub RMS. One cubic foot is not hard to find room for in just about any car. And stuff the enclosure with Acousta-Stuf ...you'll want to cheat the volume size up a little for a flatter response (from JL's recommendation of .75 cu ft).

kfr01

Gold - Posts: 2,121

Joined: April 30, 2003

Posted: January 18, 2005 at 10:22 AM / IP Logged

The 8" would be a mistake, in my opinion. Again, you seem like a guy with a quick learning curve. You might be interested in downloading some enclosure design and modeling software. There are a few linked on this page under downloads. My favorite is WinISDpro (not linked here). It will allow you to see and compare estimated frequency response curves for a variety of drivers. It will also allow you to see the effect of different sized boxes on frequency response.

I'm confident that if you would load up this program, you'd see that any 8" on the market will roll off well below a 10" in a small sealed box. I also like classical and jazz music. We don't need to shake the windows, but accurate bass as low as possible is important. I don't think a 8" would cut it.

In fact, those two drivers are already in WinISDpro's database. In boxes of the same Q, the 8" is 3db down at least 10hz above the 10".

New Project: 2003 Pathfinder

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Small is Beautiful ?

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