500 watts vs 1000 watts

okay sorry if this sounds like a noob question, but i think i know the answer?

lets say you have two 12" subs both are have a sensitive rating of 90db. both are to be used in a 1.25  sealed box. one sub is rated 500 watts rms the other is 1000watts rms. and you feed them the appropriate power. the 1000 watt sub would be louder correct.

-------------
ac delco am radio and sparkomatic 40 watt sound exploder

Two equal subs, one given twice the power of the other will in theory be louder, yes.

-------------
Support the12volt.com

Louder: yes.
By how much?
my guess 3dbs.
So what does that mean?
Noticeably louder. . . NOT TWICE as loud.
Usually when we say it SOUNDS twice as loud its about 10dbs louder.

-------------

DYohn] wrote:

---

wo equal subs, one given twice the power of the other will in theory be louder, yes.

---

not arguing at all, the only difference in the subs is 1 is ratted 500 watts rms the other 1000watts, so are you really giving it twice the power,  i know 1000 is dbl the watts of 500,

sorry i would test it, but my funds are low,

i know if you have a 500 watt sub and putt 1000 into (if it can thermaly take it) it will be perceived as twice as loud by ear 3db

-------------
ac delco am radio and sparkomatic 40 watt sound exploder

Should be.
The 1kW sub may be less efficient. (Maybe a intra-core light show, or stiffer, etc.)

OK... SO many things you do not understand...

1: If they are equal woofers, they will have the same sensitivity.
2: If you have two woofers, one rated 1000WRMS and one rated 500WRMS, but you apply the same amount of power, they will have the same output, if, as you say they are both 90dB efficient.
3: If one woofer is rated for twice the power handling of the other woofer, they cannot be the same woofers.
4: If you have a 500 watt woofer, you cannot run 1000 watts to it, and expect it to survive. E V E R
5: If they are different woofers, as indicated by their disparate power ratings, they will have different OTHER parameters. Fs, Vas, Mms... If you try yo put them in the same enclosure volume, one will work better (really, just closer to optimum) than the other.
6: The one that is aligned closer to optimum will likely be louder, (at least in its eficiency band) no matter HOW much power you apply.

Additionally...

66sportfury wrote:

---

i know if you have a 500 watt sub and putt 1000 into (if it can thermaly take it) it will be perceived as twice as loud by ear 3db

---

It can't thermally take 1000W if it's a 500W sub. What, exactly do you think IS the power rating on a woofer? WHAT precisely does 500W power handling mean to you? You are aware that ANY driver's power rating *IS* in fact, the thermal rating of the voice coil/bobbin assembly, right?

The question you have asked, with the limits you have placed on it, cannot be answered accurately.

I likes stevdart's reply (may it RIP).

If it were the same woofer, then 1kW would be 3db louder than 500W.
But it isn't.

oldspark wrote:

---

I likes stevdart's reply (may it RIP).

---

...what'd I miss...? :P

Haemph, I deleted my two-sentence post because I was just pointing out to the OP that he didn't pay attention to what was already written to him in this thread - that there will be NO perception of "twice as loud".  But then I thought, if he's not paying attention to answers anyway, this answer will be no different.  Then I suggested that his 'what-if' questions were too imprecise for answering and could he just tell us what it is he wants to do?

Then, I thought, I really didn't care.  So I deleted the post.

But I likes your answer, Dave. 

-------------
Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

i am listening to the answers and, I'm just collecting information,  yes i know a 500 watt sub cannot take 1000, and I never said they were the same sub, somehow you took that way,  i just said one was 1000watts the other500 and both have a sensitivity rating 90 db.  both work well in the same box.. 

haemphyst thank you #6 was the answer i was looking for,

and yes that's all this is is just "what if" questions, I'm sorry that i wasted your time with this post.

-------------
ac delco am radio and sparkomatic 40 watt sound exploder

i just saw you mentioned "sparkomatic" in your sig, ive only ever seen one pair of sparkomatic speakers and all i could think of was what a horrible name for anything dealing with sound electronics.

-------------

soundnsecurity wrote:

---

i just saw you mentioned "sparkomatic" in your sig, ive only ever seen one pair of sparkomatic speakers and all i could think of was what a horrible name for anything dealing with sound electronics.

---

yes terrible name for a horrible product, the sound exploder was a booster in the 80's maybe the 70's? it was junk too.

-------------
ac delco am radio and sparkomatic 40 watt sound exploder

The power rating of the subwoofers means nothing except the voice coils are wound differently.  However, if the sensitivity of both is the same, then one receiving more power input will produce more dbSPL than the one receiving less input.  How much more depends on a lot of factors you have not described, and is likely unpredictable.  But more power into a 90db sensitive woofer will produce a higher output than less power into a 90db sensitive woofer.

-------------
Support the12volt.com

thank you dyohn,

so running 500 watts in a 1000 watt rms sub will be as loud as running 500 watts in a 500 watt rms sub,

being everything else is the same in the subs except the rms power rating, which was described in a earlier post as impossible,

this is what i was looking for as with 1 of heymphyst said sorry if i spelled his handle wrong

-------------
ac delco am radio and sparkomatic 40 watt sound exploder

First: I am sorry if you thought *I* thought you were wasting my time... You weren't. If you were, I wouldn't have answered in the first place.

And B: I answered the way I did, because you were not terribly descriptive in your question, I was simply trying to cover all the bases.

Not meaning to offend or push (this time), I am glad I might have shed some light on the subject. I was only trying to help! :P

As long as the alignments of the driver/enclosure are equal, (meaning that both are in a .707 (or 1.1, or .5) enclosure) and their efficiencies are equal, then the rated power handling of the woofer will have no bearing on their outputs, at equal power. Their outputs will be equal, with equal power applied.

haemphyst wrote:

---

First: I am sorry if you thought *I* thought you were wasting my time... You weren't. If you were, I wouldn't have answered in the first place.

And B: I answered the way I did, because you were not terribly descriptive in your question, I was simply trying to cover all the bases.

Not meaning to offend or push (this time), I am glad I might have shed some light on the subject. I was only trying to help! :P

As long as the alignments of the driver/enclosure are equal, (meaning that both are in a .707 (or 1.1, or .5) enclosure) and their efficiencies are equal, then the rated power handling of the woofer will have no bearing on their outputs, at equal power. Their outputs will be equal, with equal power applied.

---

yes i know i wasn't to descriptive, and rather dry and generic. i knew I'm my mind my question perfect, =+)   

thanks you guys have helped out allot, no offence taken, people have their own way of answering. if everyone had the same way of thinking it would make for a dull life,

-------------
ac delco am radio and sparkomatic 40 watt sound exploder

My post was cranky and that was why I deleted it.  Like the old boxer (who lost the fight) said, "I should've stood in bed".  But your thread turned out pretty good after all, huh?

I had Sparkomatic speakers in my first car.  No amplifier, just the speakers, but I must have also had a cassette tape deck too (probably a Sparkomatic mounted under the dash) but I can't remember.  And I mounted those bad boys on top of the rear deck in plain view.  I would fall asleep in my car listening until the tape ran out, it sounded so great.  Hoo boy...

Someone actually broke into my '73 Javelin and stole those Sparkomatics.  They were in plain view...

-------------
Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

stevdart wrote:

---

My post was cranky and that was why I deleted it.   But your thread turned out pretty good after all, huh?

I had Sparkomatic speakers in my first car.  No amplifier, just the speakers, but I must have also had a cassette tape deck too (probably a Sparkomatic mounted under the dash) but I can't remember.  And I mounted those bad boys on top of the rear deck in plain view.  I would fall asleep in my car listening until the tape ran out, it sounded so great.  Hoo boy...

Someone actually broke into my '73 Javelin and stole those Sparkomatics.  They were in plain view...

---

yeah wasn't bad., i know the one watt at i meter,  i kinda sounded like a dumb as& but, never hurts to ask anyway,

don't get me started on stolen stuff. every time id lock the doors someone would break in. so i said screw it, i leave my windows open and doors unlocked, never had anything stolen since.   oops i lied a pack of smokes.

stolen

that i can remember. punch 30hd, punch 150hd,  A pair of fultron 6x9's, 4 fultron pro series 10", alpine 8022s? amp. 3 alpine, 2 tape decks, 1 cd. Orion cobalt 15. (1995  yr) arc audio cxl 2050, 2 Polk db 6.5, power acoustik 1200 something amp (joke was on them it was a PA haha) 2 12" hifonic subs, 2~ 12 inch blues (who remembers them?) a epicenter, a copy cat epicenter, a pair of polk 5.25 ex separates, coustic 10"  clarion cd player,  Fulton parametric eq,  Panasonic cd player, RF series1 12" RF punch 12" i know I'm missing stuff just don't remember, and a 1995 dodge stratus, i think i have pics of that car on here from when i was a member in 05?

-------------
ac delco am radio and sparkomatic 40 watt sound exploder

stevdart wrote:

---

My post was cranky and that was why I deleted it.  Like the old boxer (who lost the fight) said, "I should've stood in bed".  But your thread turned out pretty good after all, huh?

I had Sparkomatic speakers in my first car.  No amplifier, just the speakers, but I must have also had a cassette tape deck too (probably a Sparkomatic mounted under the dash) but I can't remember.  And I mounted those bad boys on top of the rear deck in plain view.  I would fall asleep in my car listening until the tape ran out, it sounded so great.  Hoo boy...

Someone actually broke into my '73 Javelin and stole those Sparkomatics.  They were in plain view...

---

HAHAHA! +1 for nostalgia

-------------