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Eclipse Thiele/Small, difficult to find!

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=75296
Printed Date: May 13, 2025 at 7:53 AM


Topic: Eclipse Thiele/Small, difficult to find!

Posted By: coppellstereo
Subject: Eclipse Thiele/Small, difficult to find!
Date Posted: March 29, 2006 at 1:45 AM

I am looking for the displacement (Vd) of my SW9122.

Why are Eclipse's specs so hard to find!? Does anyone know a website that has info for this woofer and other Eclipse subs and speakers?

Thanks!

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Replies:

Posted By: Steven Kephart
Date Posted: March 29, 2006 at 2:32 AM
Why do you want to know the Vd?  Keep in mind that it might not be comparable to other manufacturers as many manufacturers rate Xmax and Sd differently.




Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: March 29, 2006 at 6:53 AM

If you're entering parameters into a design program, Vd will be auto-calculated if you have some other parameters entered.  Try this:  in the blank driver editor box, enter the values Xmax and Sd.  You will see two calculated values appear:  Dd and Vd.

Here an example of a database I filled in the other day.  The values in green are entered by me, the values in blue were calculated by WinISD:  autocalc.jpg

If you're looking for volume displacement of the whole driver installed for the purpose of calculating airspace, the value Vd will not give you what you want.  In the example above, the actual displacement of the sub, front-mounted to a 3/4" baffle, was listed as .07 cu ft...where in the pic you can see that the value of Vd is only .045 ft^3.  This is something I do a lot of guesswork on;  comparing given displacements for several subs and making a call for a particular one I don't have info on.  And, if you are doubling the baffle face, the displacement would be less by the cu. inches of the extra cutout hole.



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




Posted By: coppellstereo
Date Posted: March 29, 2006 at 4:17 PM
I know it is the product of xmax and Sd. right? I cant even find Sd.

I am building a new box and just want to make sure I can make it accurate.

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Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: March 29, 2006 at 4:19 PM
Look in the owner's manual.

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Posted By: coppellstereo
Date Posted: March 29, 2006 at 4:34 PM
Yeah, I wish I could find it. Most manufacturers have their manuals posted on the net. Except Eclipse doesnt seem to. Maybe this is to discourage grey market buying?

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Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: March 29, 2006 at 5:00 PM

Yes, that may be why.  Here's what I found for the 9122.  It may not be 100% accurate but it should be close enough for modeling work.

Fs=27Hz; Qts=0.30; Re=3.8; Vas=90.6 liters; Xmax = 3.81 cm (one way); Sd=335 cm^2



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Posted By: coppellstereo
Date Posted: March 29, 2006 at 5:29 PM
With these values it calculates a box at about .685 cubic feet. Seems like it should be quite a bit bigger than that... (Qts = .707)

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Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: March 29, 2006 at 6:04 PM
Yep.  Loks like sealed is 19.89 liters (0.702 cuft) net airspace for Qtc=.707.  Fb is pretty high around 90Hz.  Much better response in a vented enclosure of 34 liters (1.3 cuft) tuned to 36Hz.

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Posted By: coppellstereo
Date Posted: March 29, 2006 at 11:48 PM
which vented box alignments should I choose when modeling in WinISD?

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Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: March 30, 2006 at 12:11 AM
See kfr01's add-on response in the stickied subject  Guide: Using WinISD

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




Posted By: coppellstereo
Date Posted: March 30, 2006 at 12:18 AM
I was following the original post. didnt make it to the addendum. Thanks!

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Posted By: coppellstereo
Date Posted: March 30, 2006 at 2:09 AM
I'm having a hard time using winISD to model my ported box. How did you get the ported box of 1.3cuft? What were the port dimensions?

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Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: March 30, 2006 at 10:09 AM

That's a very suspect Qts parameter for a sub touted as being engineered for use in a small closed enclosure (https://www.cbrstereo.com/browseproducts/Eclipse-Titanium-Series-12--Subwoofer.HTML).  Here is a page from the Eclipse site:  https://www.eclipse-web.com/sw9100/sw9122.html

Looks like .30 is what it is, but I wonder how the coils were wired for that measurement.  Usually they're run in series, then measured, so set your program as 2 coils in series (just before you hit "save").  Also, change the Fs to 22 Hz as shown here.  You'll find that this change makes it easier to work with.

For a vented box, try 1.25 cu ft, tuned to 26 Hz with a 4" round PVC port 37" long.  And it will probably lower the power handling capacity to about 500 watts.  The port itself will probably take up about 0.3 cu ft displacement, and the driver looks to be about 1.2 or so...it's a big one.  If you double the baffle thickness, reduce the driver displacement by about 0.05 cu ft.  You'll only change it to 1.15 by doing that, so really, an actual displacement measurement might be in order for this.  Good luck if you try that!



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




Posted By: coppellstereo
Date Posted: March 30, 2006 at 10:43 AM
so is this driver suited for sealed?

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Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: March 30, 2006 at 10:50 AM

That's what they say.  If the EBP is 68 as it shows with the Fs changed to 22 Hz, then that is a gray area that can go either way.  Personally, if it is correct (I'd still rather have an actual measurement of this sub) I would tend to work it up as ported.

Sealed doesn't look very good given what we have to work with, though.  But if you are intending on powering with 700 watts, then sealed is how you should go.  Look at a 0.9 cu ft box response and check the SPL chart.



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




Posted By: coppellstereo
Date Posted: March 30, 2006 at 11:09 AM
Yeah, I have more than enough power for the sub. Right now the box is about 1.2 cu ft. Then subtract driver volume, which we are assuming to be how much!?

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Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: March 30, 2006 at 11:17 AM
Ooops...I said above I thought the driver would displace about 1.2.  I meant to say 0.12 cu ft.  If you double the baffle take .05 from that, which leaves 0.07 cu ft.  The actual displacement is not going to be as critical with sealed as it is with ported.

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




Posted By: coppellstereo
Date Posted: March 30, 2006 at 6:15 PM
When modeling transfer function, can you define a good slope to look for? What makes one better than another?

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Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: March 30, 2006 at 7:14 PM

Lots and lots of variables there.  What I did was, using the program: 

  • Bring up several of the drivers already loaded into the database.  These drivers were entered at one time or another by the program's author, and I think just because he started the exhausting project, he resoved to come to some sort of a collection of drivers that he could rightly call a "database".  So, figuring he was punching in parameters from various sources for the ones he finally put together, you can assume that it's probable that some of them are in error.  And, you can assume that he didn't sit there and tweak the program to get results different than what the program figured on its own.

With that, know that some of what you bring up to look at might not be entirely accurate.  But in the long run after you've looked at many, you will see consistencies in the response curve with both sealed and ported enclosures.  Oh, and you should always click on the "Show parameters" tab when you bring them up.  The program will always seek the flattest possible response curve.  Going from that, you can know that it is desirable to have a flat response.

  • You will see some that stick out as oddities.  High peaked response above the 0 line or box sizes way too big to be reasonable are cues that the woofer was poorly engineered.  Look at the parameters of all of these and you will start getting a feel for what looks odd.  If the program can't provide a decent-looking somewhat flat response with unlimited space for the enclosure, then there's something about the woofer you don't want to have any part of.  If it turns out to be a well-known sub or otherwise is important to you, check sources to find if the parameters were entered correctly.
  • You will notice that the low end of a vented box drops off much more steeply than a sealed, but provides a higher power range to the lower frequencies.  From that, you can know that for SQ it is desirable to have a gently sloping curve rather than an abrupt nosedive.

Look at DYohn's published ported response on page two of the thread Can a ported design sound sealed? for a picture of a beautiful SQ curve, for vented.

  •  With any sub there will be one response that looks the best with the amount of airspace that is available in the vehicle.  A response for SPL will peak in a band of frequencies from about 50 to 80 Hz.  An SQ vented response will extend to very low frequencies and drop off below audibility.
  • A sealed response looks like it doesn't provide the deep bass of a ported, but the variable you have to assume is cabin gain.  This will provide a boost in frequencies normally around the area of 50 Hz, of a probable 6 dbs or even higher if you are building for that purpose.  You have to use your mind's eye to a degree to picture what it might look like if it were actually tested in the car itself.

When modeling for ported, I look for a reasonable box size and a reasonable port length.  If I can't get a port length that can fit into my imagined box without bending it twice or more, I'll look either to use a sealed for the sub or use a different sub altogether.  Once I establish my size boundaries, I'll play with the tuning frequency over and over, watching the port length, and watching what it does to the response curve.  I would want it to hit 40 Hz nice and loud (but not as loud as it hits at 80 Hz).  Then I would look to see that the slope curves down consistent with the majority of other ported boxes that I've looked at, and not drop precipitously downward.

For sealed, I want the same requirements as far as box size, and no more than +1 db peak over the 0 line.  The deeper bass in real life comes out at more power than the curve indicates.  But the one thing to look at, which I covered in the guide, is F3.  Look at where F3 is on all modeled subs.  I'm not happy with an F3 of 40 Hz because I wouldn't consider that "nice and loud".  Mid-30's or lower is better.

With all of them, there are limitations.



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




Posted By: coppellstereo
Date Posted: March 30, 2006 at 7:52 PM
Wow, thanks for typing that for me!

With out changing anything, sealed box is showing F3 @ 68Hz. It also goes off the graph at -30db / 12Hz.

That seems bad in relation to what you just said.


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Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: March 30, 2006 at 9:05 PM

You need to change your chart to make it more realistically useable.  You shouldn't be looking at -30 db.  Right-click on the chart, select properties, select Transfer Function Magnitude.  Change the start and end to -6 db and +6 db.  Or you could use -12 and +6 db.  No more than that is necessary.

Are you working on that Eclipse sub?  Check your database editor for parameter input.  Fs is 22 according to the Eclipse site I linked to on page 2.  Fs shouldn't read that high, it should come up at 55 Hz with the default sealed response for the .707 alignment.

That's why this sub looks so bad sealed.  But we have insufficient parameters to work with.  This is a case where hearing from the experienced re: that particular sub would do a world of good.



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




Posted By: coppellstereo
Date Posted: March 30, 2006 at 9:22 PM
I have it in a small sealed enclosure, it sounds great. But I wanted to see if I could get lower freq. response by making a larger enclosure.

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Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: March 30, 2006 at 9:34 PM
Using the supplied parameters, making the box larger will not result in deeper bass where you want it, at F3.  And it very quickly corrupts the Q when you get larger than .9 ft^3.  According to the results I see, the deeper bass will be had by porting.  But if you have this set up now with plenty of power, and given that you can't get hold of a good list of parameters, you might consider just leaving this one alone.  Small sealed with a lot of power is what they designed it for.

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




Posted By: coppellstereo
Date Posted: March 30, 2006 at 9:42 PM
very cool. The box is 13x13x13
Minus driver displacement 1.15
Should I try a smaller box to see how it sounds?

I put my girlfriends SW8122 in a 1.25 cuft box - maybe I should have made it smaller!

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Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: March 30, 2006 at 9:49 PM
Yeah, most definitely.  It's easy to displace more airspace in your present box using various methods.  Figure out a way to load in defined cu. in. blocks of displacement until you decide on what sounds best, then install a permanent displacement solution into the box.  The bad part is having to unload and load the driver each time to gain access to the inside, but it beats building box upon box until you find the right one!

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




Posted By: coppellstereo
Date Posted: March 30, 2006 at 10:31 PM
Nice idea!

Anyone have more input on these specific drivers?

Eclipse SW9122
        SW8122

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Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: March 31, 2006 at 9:24 AM
I'll post later... I have the SW9122

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."





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