buickid

Car: 2008 Scion xB (Think miniature Mini-van) Amp: Sundown SAZ-1500D Goal: Daily beater Music: Mostly rap Ok, in the trunk, I've measured out space for a box about 17x38x13.5 (LxWxH), about 5.05 cu ft. Now my dilemma is choosing a subwoofer. With my space and power, I could do either one BL or two SSDs. One BL15: 2.8-4 cu ft -Flatwind & Cooling -Power handling: At least 1500 watts -Driver displacement: 0.18 cu ft -Efficiency: 90.7dB 1W/1m Two SSD12: 3.6-5 cu ft -Flatwind -Power handling: At least 1600 watts -Driver displacement: 0.28 cuft for both -Efficiency: 85.3dB 1W/1m I'm trying to decide which one might get louder. More cone area vs. higher efficiency is my dilemma. I know there are a lot of factors that will influence this, but anything will help. I've tried to give as much information as I could, so if theres anything else that might help you help me, ask me. Mahalo ~Trevor

Holy CPR Batman! This is a pretty old thread that you dug up just to say that?! If people want to copy the woofers, they will find a way, just like anything else. :/

Unless you print huge, ~5 megapixels is sufficient for most prints you will do. Even with cropping, you can still make good sized prints. What is more important is how the sensor handles you cranking up the ISO (ASA in film terms). A good sensor will have less noise and mottling then a lesser sensor. Really though, most modern consumer DSLRS handle pretty well up to 1600 ISO. Beyond that is pushing it, but with my D80, if an ISO3200 shot is exposed well, the grain is acceptable. When I shoot for my school yearbook and newspaper, most of the shots were published in black and white, which means I can pretty much ramp the ISO to as high as I like. Printing in B&W makes the grain all but invisible. If you want a cheap used DSLR, look for a Canon Rebel XT or XTi, or a Nikon D50 or D70. All of these are great cameras which for a casual user, should do everything you need. If you're going to buy film, a Canon AE-1 or similar ancient camera, be aware that these cameras have been out of production for manymanymany years, and as such, repair parts could be a bit hard to come by. You may want to look at a newer camera, a Nikon F4 or similar Canon used camera. The F4 was a professional camera, built to last, and parts should still be availble. In addition, it has autofocus (invaluable, in my opinion). I'm a bit Nikon biased, as you may have noticed.

Haha, I know what you mean by running out of summer. Good luck with your setups!

Oh. If its the refurbished thing, I have full confidence that the refurb will last. I was told that most of the amps that come back suffer from a blown power supply - caused by under-voltage.

Heh, alright. But you'd be hard pressed to find a better deal. My refurb was through Jacob for $375 or so, with one extremely slight nick the size of the tip of a sharp pencil, and the mounting points of course. 9.95/10 in my opinion. If cash is tight, theres no way you can go wrong with a refurb. Brand new performance and looks, for a killer price. Order one for your boat first, and then see if you want another for your SUV.

Oops, double post.

The "darn near mint" one I bought from Jacob, is as good as mint. Really, if the place where the screws go weren't marked up, it would have been as good as new for me.

The center terminal is +12 and the outer terminal is ground. Make sure its constant +12V.

Aluminum tends to dissipate heat faster.

Look for an old Nikon F-series camera, maybe an F4. Really though, if you find photography interesting, invest in a entry-level Digital SLR. You can play with shutter speed, aperture, and best of all, you don't have to use a whole roll of film to switch ISO sensitivities (ASA for film). The digital screen allows you to see the results of the the adjustment to the exposure ou just made. Not to mention you'll be saving film. :] Edit: A new 6.1 megapixel Nikon D40 with a 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens is $469 at B&H Photo Video. Should last you years and years of shooting. And keep in mind, its not all about how many megapixels you have.

No one?

Okay, so I was playing around with the box calcuator (http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/home/index.php/boxtools/291-boxtoolscat/96-sideport-box-calculatorflash) and you can put in two different lengths for the port. I can get my desired tuning of 32Hz by using different combinations of height and width. Is there an advantage to using a long and wide port over a short and narrow one? I'm guessing wind noise comes into play, but not exactly sure how that works.

I was thinking... Deep cycles (ie. Yellow Top) are meant to discharge quite a bit over a long period of time, but starting batteries (ie. Red Top) are meant to discharge large amounts of current over a short period of time, like the starter. Now for our application, car audio, unless playing with the engine off for extended periods of time, wouldn't starting batteries be better? Music is quite dynamic, and as such, starting batteries would be better able to provide the bursts of current. Now I understand that purpose built batteries such as Kinetiks and Powermasters probably have high current in mind, but when using other batteries like Optimas, would a Red Top work better? ~Trevor

Haha, I guess my computers aren't the norm. My computer now has four power hungry hard drives. Yummy! 580 watt power supply supplies the energetic electrons!

Hmm, thats quite interesting....

Hmm, interesting. How much did they results of the tests vary by? This is true, starting batteries are damaged by repeated deep discharges. In theory, with a beefy enough alt, this shouldn't become a problem, the battery acts as a buffer. Perhaps Optima Blue Top type batteries would be ideal, as they are made to dump lots of current, and discharge over a long period of time. Hmm.

Good deal, thanks. Just making sure I wasn't going to set anything on fire.

Ok, say I want to use a simple toggle switch to control a relay for whatever reason. Do I grab +12 from any source (battery, ign switched, etc), run it through the switch, to the relay coil, to ground, and hook up whatever I wanted to power using the switched terminals? Thanks, ~Trevor

Heh, my old FJ40 with its tractor-like engine I6 redlines about 4k. Not that you'd want to push it past 3500 too often.

It is recommended that you bridge the 100.2 to no lower then 4 ohms. I think a 2 ohm load bridged would be too low, and likely to break something. What exactly are you trying to power, and what is the coil configuration?

These are indeed external dimensions. This is going to be a ported box, tuned to around 32Hz, hopefully.

Got the PM Abunai, thanks, will check it out. Well, it looks like the SSDs might be happening. If anyone else has anything to chip in, go for it.

Sundown for the win. My refurb 1500D is great.

I could go for some of that Kraft Dinner! And maybe a couple of those little stickers. Sweet present though!