FI.SSD 15'' Or Fi.SSD 18'' Please Help!!!&

[lamchop_8 0]

I thought about the five 8'' kicker comps and realized they were bad from the start so for a little more money I seen the 15'' FI.SSD for only 269.99 (Fully Loaded!!) but for 20 bucks more I seen the 18'' FI.SSD for 299.99 (Fully Loaded!!). I know 18's hit harder, deeper and sound better than 15's but the question is I have a 2004 Chevy Aveo (Sedan 4-door Not hatchback) so I was thinking a 18 probably wouldnt fit so i was thinking i would get the 18'' but have it custom made for the trunk. I really want a 18 but please help me out on this one!

Fi.SSD Specs

https://ssl.perfora.net/www.ficaraudio.com/...view.shopscript

Oh yeah this guy told me ''18's suck they sound very sloppy''.Is that true or is he jealous becasue he cant afford one? also how much db will i be hitting now @ least 146db hopefully how loud is 146db please give details like how many blocks you can hear me from and whatever

p.s.what should I tune the ssd to for the best ground-shaking bass? im more of a spl man not sq but still want good sq.

thanks guys

[jonbearsmt 919]

i dont think you have the space for an 18.... well maybe sealed.....

also what do you have inmind for power?

also if your more into slp with a music base, i would go with the BL. it hammers hard and sounds fine on most music IMO.

but you would have to run a ported box for a bl... to be honest in a little car like that 1 15 is gonna give you everything you want,.

the last thing is WHY do you want an 18.. it seems to me like your only reason is so that you can say "i have an 18"

[nick_19 1]

What kind of space do you have? Dimensions would be great.

http://www.makeitlouder.com/Decibel%20Level%20Chart.txt

[95Honda 486]

There aren't any "sound" differences between a 15" and an 18". The differences are in the box alignment and loudspeaker parameters.

Use an 18, you'll probably just blow the 15....

Edited September 28, 2008 by 95Honda

[jonbearsmt 919]

i dont understand that..... use an 18 cause you will just blow a 15........

if hes gonna blow the 15 he will blow the 18.

[christobear 0]

i think he's saying that the 15 won't be as loud as he wants and so he's going to end up clipping the amp trying to get more volume

[Adrian_D 520]

i think he's saying that the 15 won't be as loud as he wants and so he's going to end up clipping the amp trying to get more volume

That's just what I'm thinking

Also, the OP could just save up some dough and buy a BL.

[jonbearsmt 919]

the same person thats gonna clip a 15 is gonna clip an 18.

the 18 inch bl would take alot of space.. thats a tiny car.

[95Honda 486]

Clipping doesn't hurt anything. Please read this before you respond to this statement:

http://forum.carstereos.org/clipping-test-...41.html?t=47441

Yes, I suggested the 18 because he would more than likely ask too much from the 15, and blow it.......

[christobear 0]

the link says "power handling severely dropped when the square wave was applied in this test. Time to failure was cut by a factor of 4 for most drivers."

doesn't that mean that clipping is bad?....or am i missing something with the whole "non-normalized power" thing?

the same person thats gonna clip a 15 is gonna clip an 18.

the 18 inch bl would take alot of space.. thats a tiny car.

i dunno, its always hard to judge how loud people expect things to be.....maybe he really wants 2 18's

but defintely, an 18 would be tough to fit in that car, unless he glasses the whole trunk. im struggling to design a box for an 18 in my xB.....but i think i've got it figured out

[95Honda 486]

the link says "power handling severely dropped when the square wave was applied in this test. Time to failure was cut by a factor of 4 for most drivers."

doesn't that mean that clipping is bad?....or am i missing something with the whole "non-normalized power" thing?

That is where many people get confused.

When you look at normalized voltage, of course there is more power, this has never been a debate. But if you look at the watt per watt failures between square and sine, there are almost identical. This is because power is power, the sub doesn't care if it is a square or sine. If the sub will handle 500 watts, it will handle 500 watts of anything you put in, as long is it isn't long term DC and have no cooling from cone movement....

Clipping has never blown (thermal) a driver. To much power does, that's it. A driver will blow just as fast with a 1000 watt square wave as it will with a 1000 watt sine wave.

You could have your headunit totally clipping, say full THD, as loud as it will go, just raping it..... As long as the amplifier never puts out more power than the sub is rated for, this will never cause damage. The same is true for running an amp into hard clipping, as long as it isn't putting out more power than the speaker is rated for, than it will not harm the speaker, unless the manufacturers are exxagerating the power handling claims.

You have to think about guitar amplifiers to help understand this. They can run upwards of 30-40% THD to get the sound they want.... And the drivers last 10,20 even 30 years..... With a decent amount of power running through them. If you listen to any electric guitar music on your system, and there is any type of distortion/overdrive being used, then clipping (severe clipping) is being played through your system....

If you have your system so tapped that you are continually blowing subs due to what you believe is inaudible clipping, than you have serious problems. When clipping becomes severe enough to raise your amplifier output to a level that can cause damage because of power increases, and you can't tell by listening, you should find a better way to spend your money...

Some people will get this, some won't...

[BKOLFO4 29]

I wish I understood it

I was just told by a Kicker employee last month "99% of our subwoofer failures are caused by people not running enough power". I have only met this guy twice, but I knew there was no need to even think about trying to explain why he was wrong.

I think the confusion comes in from say a 1500 watt sub with a 1000 watt amp. The 1000 watt amp will actually produce well over 1500 watts if it can clip hard enough without destroying itself. It is the increased power, not the clipping that kills the sub.

Brian

[NDMstang65 403]

I disagree with that..

I'll prove my point later, but it involves accelerometers and proving that clipping (square wave form) in and of it self does blow speakers.

Think about it..your going full boogie forward with no transition in the wave form where it normally rounds over in a sine wave, your going forward 300 miles per hour and immediately stop and slam in the other direction, in those few milliseconds there is heat build up and inertia that nobody has yet to account for.

Over time, it will blow it. Whether it be thermally, or mechanically. Thermally it will pop it on the coil where the wire turns up to go to the tinsel leads...mechanically is obvious at that point.

I'll prove it soon when i've got time in the labs to do the testing with the signal generators and accelerometers...

But i've gotta be able to focus on just a few things first instead of 12 like I am right now.

[95Honda 486]

You know the cone never makes an immediate stop, at least not the majority of it. As far as swept air, I'd be willing to bet that, beyond the scope of reason, this could never be shown to increase cooling effectiveness, at least say above a few Hz or so.

The cone still moves back and forth the exact same amount with a square or sine wave, maybe even more with a square wave giving even more effective cooling.

I wouldn't be able to say if this makes a mechanical difference or not.

Many voice coils are rated at 1khz anyway.....

I think clipping is used as a reason for failure, it seems logical at least.

My test took 20+ drivers and proved this, I have the knowledge and had the proper test equipment at the time. An HP Distortion analyzer, a $2K current probe, etc....

I still think the effects of clipping are way over touted, there are literally 100s of 1000s of guitar amps to back this up...

Honestly though, I would never expect anyone that sells drivers to say clipping was a good thing, I certainly would not....

Edited September 29, 2008 by 95Honda

[95Honda 486]

I wish I understood it

I was just told by a Kicker employee last month "99% of our subwoofer failures are caused by people not running enough power". I have only met this guy twice, but I knew there was no need to even think about trying to explain why he was wrong.

I think the confusion comes in from say a 1500 watt sub with a 1000 watt amp. The 1000 watt amp will actually produce well over 1500 watts if it can clip hard enough without destroying itself. It is the increased power, not the clipping that kills the sub.

Brian

Absolutely correct.

[lee 2]

I cant wait to see the differences this argument is going to create here

[jonbearsmt 919]

no.... it should go in one of the MANY clipping topics....

we need to help this young man decide.

[95Honda 486]

I think he should get the 18!