Impious

Which is one of the points we make here pretty regularly. A 1db difference is essentially inaudible, hell a 3db change would be hard to hear. So people picking pieces of equipment fretting about these small imperceptible changes is asinine. But it happens, all the time. Worry about the big stuff, don't sweat the small stuff you can't hear. People in this hobby worry too much about things they can't hear.

When you try to EQ system response to a particular shape on an RTA, it's called a target curve. There are dozens of different target curves people use based on dozens of different research, theories, studies, trials, etc......it's not a trivial topic by any means. And while none of the graphs agree completely, there are some general trends. Generally the bass is boosted, because that's what we like subjectively. Somewhere in the midbass or lower midrange it rolls off, back down to zero. Through the midrange it's generally flat for a bit and then in the upper midrange or treble it starts to gradually roll off again. So it does sort of follow an equal loudness curve in that the midrange is pretty flat and the highs are gradually attenuated, but we boost the bass to keep it subjectively pleasing.

Speakers don't have a signal to noise ratio, so not even sure what you are referring to there. Signal to noise ratio for electronics is exactly what it says....it's the ratio of the signal to the noise, typically expressed in decibels. Divide the level of the signal by the level of the noise and then convert that to decibels. So if an amp,has a SNR of 90db, then the signal is 90db louder than the noise. Noise in an amplifier is typically a fairly constant level independent of the level of the signal. Which means by default the signal to noise ratio will get worse as the level so the signal decreases. You can see this in most THD+N graphs for an amplifier, at low power levels the THD+N is typically worse because the noise constitutes a higher percentage compared to the level of the signal. It also means it's very easy to fudge SNR.....just increase the level of the signal, and magically the SNR gets much better. An amp might be rated for 100w, but if the manufacturer wanted to fudge the SNR they would increase the power beyond 100w so the SNR looked better or that particular measurement. NOW HERE'S HE REALLY IMPORTANT PART.....any amplifier you would purchase has a high enough SNR to not matter. Literally it doesn't matter. You WILL NOT hear a difference between them. The SNR of the amp just has to be better than the SNR of the environment, and our environment sucks. Ignore SNR completely. The numbers are easily fudged, and even if they weren't modern electronics are good enough that SNR simply does not matter. A gain control is used to adjust the input sensitivity so that he amplifier will provide full power without clipping. Don't make it any more complicated than that. The gain control doesn't increases the output of the amp. It basically allows more (turning it up) or less (turning it down) of the input voltage to pass through to the amplification stage so that full power is provided without clipping. Don't worry about it beyond that. Yes allowing more or less input signal voltage to pass will affect the amplifiers output, but don't think of it like that.... I think it's confusing you. You are overthinking it. The gain ratio of an amplifier is fixed...I.e. the amplifier provides 20db of gain. The gain knob is there to adjust the level of the input signal so after 20db of gain is applied the amplifier is producing full power without clipping. Your installer is an idiot. Ok, fair enough a high gain setting resulting from low voltage might allow thermal noise to creep in. Everything else he said about "high fidelity sound" and "provides a better voltage to amplify from" is nonsense. Utter fucking nonsense. Aside from the potential for thermal noise preamp voltage has ABSO-FICKING-LUTELY NOTHING to do with "fidelity", "better for the amplifier", "sound quality"' etc. NOTHTING. That AC unit is extremely limited in usefulness, and not much use if you don't understand what it's telling you in it's usefulness.

Amplifier efficiency varied by a higher percentage than the power output or voltage input in that test. Maybe SPL guys should spend more time keeping that consistently high rather than debating the type of connector used ?

Personally on your budget I'd look for a good used comp set. You could spend $150 on a new comp set or buy used and get $300 speakers for $150. That is assuming you are comfortable with buying used. But it squeezes out a bit more performance per dollar when you are on a tight budget, and you'll lose less when you try to sell them.

Subjective opinions are one of the worst things to base a decision on. That goes for both positive and negative comments. They are dependent upon way too many factors and variables, and the reviewers personal preference may not align with yours. Objective information provides a much more level playing field. I'd say plug them all into something like WinISD and compare the response differences in your intended enclosure and power. Then decide how their respective prices play into the decision along with the modeling. I don't think you'd be upset with any of them. The SDX and Ultimax have both peaked my interest more than once. I'm actually really surprised the SDX hasn't garnered more attention in car audio. I'd have to look at the specs again but IIRC they work well in pretty reasonably sized enclosures.

We did try to help you solve the problem. They won't work ported.....Q is too high, response will be peaky and transient response will be terrible. It "works" in a car for kids who don't care about how something sounds and the cabin gain fills in some of the low end which they will lack in a home environment. Sealed enclosure would need to be huge and you'd still have a high Q alignment with an early and steep roll off on the low end. Best option is to run them IB if you are stuck with those drivers. Sealed you could probably get by with 5cuft per driver if you don't mind the loss in transient response and don't really need response below 40hz. But I'm with Sean....for what you would end up with, I wouldn't want to waste the space and wood just to end up with something that was still substandard. Why can't you sell them and use the money for a driver or drivers that would actually fit your needs ?

One thing WinISD is not going to account for is real world factors such as power compression. Keep that in mind when comparing drivers in modeling software. Small differences in the program might be large differences in real life, and vice versa.

IB and an EQ and hope you don't run out of power or excursion too quickly. Those subs are not going to be ported friendly for the type of ported enclosure a house requires. And with their high Q and high Fs they need a large sealed enclosure to not raise the Q too high but are also going to roll off pretty early no matter what you do. To be honest your best bet is to sell them and buy something that actually fits your needs.BTW you need to delete that picture of the dual 18 XXX's. It makes me drool all over my keyboard every time I have to scroll past it.

Keep in mind how something performs in a vehicle and how it performs in a house is COMPLETELY different. They also have completely different enclosure requirements.

I'd have to concur with 95Honda. Haven't modeled them but just glancing at the specs I wouldn't call those ideal for HT/HA use given the high Fs and high Q. If you have the choice to go with something different....go with something different.

Someone help me understand what is going on. Tablets and other smart devices are on craigslist advertised "with flappy bird installed" for thousands of dollars. At first I thought it was a typo, then I saw all of the others for sale at similar prices. I understand that flappy bird was pulled from the market amidst controversy, but people can't seriously be paying thousands of dollars just for a device with the app, are they ? http://fortwayne.craigslist.org/ele/4331392341.html http://fortwayne.craigslist.org/ele/4331362341.html http://fortwayne.craigslist.org/ele/4331325743.html http://fortwayne.craigslist.org/ele/4331261714.html http://fortwayne.craigslist.org/ele/4332198258.html

Subbass is inherently slow and muddy. There's no such thing as "fast" sub bass. If you want that quick punch and snap, you are focusing on the wrong thing. What you are looking for is called midbass. Focus on your midbass drivers.

Actually sensitivity and efficiency are well defined and easily calculated with TS parameters independent of manufacturer sensitivity ratings. A manufacturer can try to fudge their sensitivity spec, but as long as you have the TS parameters it is very easy to accurately calculate: Sensitivity (SPL) = 112 + 10*Log(9.64 * 10^(-10) * Fs^3 * Vas / Qes) *Vas in liters

I'm just honestly looking forward to saving that money. I smoked a pack about every other day, so it'll be over $1K per year. Put that shit in the bank, or considering I'm the only income that extra $25 to $30 per week will go a long way towards daily living expenses. Half a tank of gas if nothing else.

Wellbutrin gets prescribed with it sometimes to help out with mood swings. I didn't get any though. That first day was ROUGH....more so for everyone around me who had to deal with my attitude.

That's make for one sweet subwoofer

After 17 days you should be good! Keep it up!Taking that Chantix, which is what helped. Didn't stop the urge but calmed it enough to allowed me to power through without killing someone

WHAT ?

Quit smoking I think. Haven't had a cigarette since Sunday. Still really feel the need to smoke but I think it's more out of habit than the nicotine

None of them are beginner friendly in that if you don't know what the hell you are doing, your results are going to be subpar. Going from running coaxial to active, even if it's "just" 2-way, is a big leap. IMO it's better to start out passive and work on understanding how to improve your system through basic tuning, EQ work and installation and understanding what you like/dislike in terms of speakers and frequency response and how adjustments in the EQ affect the sound you hear is needed before you go active without making it an exercise in futility. Once you throw crossover points and slopes into the mix along with EQ and time alignment and other install issues, a novice is going to have a hard time making heads or tails of what needs improved, where at and how to go about fixing it. Sure, you could throw an active setup in, guess at a crossover point and slope and call it good. But at that point you might as well just go passive as they're virtually performing the same task and there's little advantage to active at that point....in fact it's probably worse. I'm not discouraging you from running active at some point, I just don't think if your experience level with front stage speakers and sound quality is virtually non-existent that active is a good step for you right now.

This feels like the never fucking ending winter. I can't remember a winter that has been this continuously cold and this much snow on the ground. I'm over it. It needs to be spring.

Input the parameters in WinISD and model it. I would bet the response between the High Q and the regular driver in the recommended enclosure would be audibly indistinguishable.

I was strictly referring to the boost in response, rough comparison. But it's more of a side effect, resulting from damping?The Q does represent the shape of the "knee" in the response....I.e. the "peak", or lack thereof, in the response just before it begins to roll off. That peak or lack thereof, the shape of the "knee", is a result of the system damping.

I only know of 2 cars with "sucessful" competition enclosures built like this ...... And I am so aggrivated that Ican not fimd my pics from these ... One is from a Todd Crowder built car I got to demo at USACI 2010 World Finals in Shreveport, La ... The other I got to demo at 2013 SPring Break Nationals ... One of the best Sound Quality vehicles in the world ... Scott's G35 (all pics copy and paste from Google) There are "SQ" advantages to a 4th order bandpass enclosure. But no one ever focuses on those because the SPL guys latched on to the design for their narrow band efficiency and sort of ruined the original intent of the design and many of their advantages.