Sundown SA-8 Thermal Test

[sundownz 197]

We got bored a few minutes after close and decided we were going to smoke a pair of mechanically damaged SA-8s -- well it turned out to be harder than we suspected to thermal these little guys... even the 2" coil SA-8 was able to out-last the Type-R 12" that we tested - I am pretty satisfied with that.

Video comment :

"Comes online at 69v/9.5A=655 watts so 325 each... crank it up a bit and land at 81.5v/10.5A=855 watts so ~427 each. All the way down at 3 minutes we are still at 82.6v/9.16A=756 watts... we keep playing nice until 5 full minutes elapsed at right around rated power levels then crank it up all the way to 115v/12.5A=1437 watts or 718 each !!! Then continued to play for ANOTHER 2 minutes or so at this power level before smoking the coil."

Not too shabby for subs rated 400 RMS each... especially keeping in mind that at 60 Hz there is very little excursion so coil cooling is nowhere near optimal. On music with higher excursion the coils will cool even better.

So remember... SA-8s are MECHANICALLY limited... chances are you will not smell them or hurt the coil, ever. So don't do the "smell test" to see if you have too much power -- watch the level of excursion and listen for mechanical distortion!

Pardon the opening remarks *laughs* Brandon didn't let me finish introducing the video.

[cheese20323 13]

fantastic sub an 8 with a 500 rms amp is good enough.

[Randal Johnson 544]

Sounds like a great sub ...

[Kanaworm$ 292]

Should rename the SA-8 "Beast"!

[sundownz 197]

Funny thing... coils aren't totally destroyed, just really black. Did not completely unwind yet.

The one on the right started to come unwound a little at the top -- both coils still read but read lower than they should (shorted windings).

The one on the left still reads normally on both coils !

The former got so hot it bubbled out - this is why they locked up at the end of the video. We hadn't quite reached total coil melt-down yet - but we had exceeded what the former will handle !

[Bob345 39]

Ha those sa-8's are beasts!