Erin's CEA-2010 Subwoofer Testing Master Thread

[KEW]

As far as value, let's look at -A results:
I've ranked the Elac value as $1.20/dB for -A. The next closest value is $1.49/dB (Sony)

Unless I am looking in the wrong place, it looks like for CEA-2010-A, Polk beats the Elac at $1.17!

Also, any ideas on what causes the wonky stuff going on with the Sony group delay between 200 and 400Hz?
How would you explain/interpret the negative value for Group Delay (Sony again)?

 

[shadyJ]

Very nice, Erin! I can appreciate how much work and effort was involved in this. You are very lucky to be able to do this testing in your backyard. One of the biggest challenges for me is finding somewhere to test. It isn't easy to find a wide-open area that has access to an AC outlet that also has a low noise floor that I cam also get permission to use, all in the Chicago suburbs.

I am surprised at how poorly the Klipsch did. I am also surprised at how well the Polk did. For as much as Polk gets trashed on the subwoofer forums, it smokes the Klipsch sub. That Sony sub is getting a lot out of mileage out of inductance, blech.

One thing that would be nice to see is separate frequency response graphs for each sub. It's not easy to tell the response for individual subs when they are all on one chart.

Anyway great work, and it is also interesting to see how CEA-2010-B compares to A.

One more thing that I would add for anyone who wants to compare these numbers to that of other testers, Erin's numbers are stated at 2 meters peak. Data-bass and Audioholics scales their number to 2 meters RMS, so to compare Erin's numbers, you need to subtract 3 dB from them for a more direct comparison to Audioholics and Data-Bass and many of Brent Butterworth's measurements.

 

[KEW]

One thing that would be nice to see is separate frequency response graphs for each sub. It's not easy to tell the response for individual subs when they are all on one chart.

I don't think it is too bad at 5 subs, but once the spreadsheet gets more populated it will go to poop in a hurry! ... and the shades of colors start to get too subtle.

What would be really cool is to set it up so the viewer could select the subs to show on the FR graph, kind of like this:

Create an interactive chart with series-selection checkbox in Excel

Create an interactive chart in Excel using checkboxes. This tutorial guides you through the steps to link data series to checkboxes for dynamic chart.

www.extendoffice.com

However, I am not sure about the ability to do this without allowing the user the ability to wreck the entire sheet. Seems like Excel does have ways to limit access to specific options, but my deep-ish knowledge of Excel was around the turn of the century (boy, doesn't that sound epic in scale, lol)!

 

[ErinH]

I’ll try to add filter capability for the FR. On the max SPL graphs, you can filter down on select subs and the graphs will update. But I frankly forgot to do that with the FR and Group Delay given the immense amount of time I had already spent testing and putting the data in to a concise and easy to follow format.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I spoke with Brent Butterworth last night. He gave me some good insight. In a nutshell, he still prefers -A but seemed to not be staunchly against -B. Personally, I like -B. But comparison against others' -A testing is nice to have as well.

Therefore, I have decided that I will provide both -A and -B spec results. It will take more time. But it will cover me for both *general* comparison against others' tests and future proof me if -B takes over and people begin adopting it more fully.
...- Erin

That will be the best. You are a pleaser

 

[ErinH]

@its phillip how you gonna give my post a thumbs down, dude? LOL

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

@its phillip how you gonna give my post a thumbs down, dude? LOL

You see how much beer he drinks? Lol.
Probably missed the button!!!

 

[its phillip]

@its phillip how you gonna give my post a thumbs down, dude? LOL

Definitely a mistake! I always mark your posts with a positive reaction (on ASR as well). I’ll fix it now

You see how much beer he drinks? Lol.
Probably missed the button!!!

 

[ErinH]

An apology is not enough! You caused me emotional grief and damage. I want those minutes of happiness back. I want one million subwoofers. But I'll settle right now for 3.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Definitely a mistake! I always mark your posts with a positive reaction (on ASR as well). I’ll fix it now

You always post the most beautiful beer...

 

[ErinH]

My first powered subwoofer review video is now up. Next time your friend asks you to recommend a cheap subwoofer for his/her house, send them this link.

Again, I asked Monoprice and PE if they would be willing to loan me their subs to review as part of this shootout but they did not reply.

 

[ErinH]

Alright. Based on feedback, I updated my sheet to where the FR and Group Delay plots can be filtered based on what the user wants.

Erin's Audio Corner CEA-2010 Master Test List

docs.google.com

Just go to the "FR Plot Data" and the "Total Group Delay Data" sheets and filter. When you do that, the "FR Plot" and "Total Group Delay Plot" sheets will reflect what you filtered on. This isn't perfect ... ideally, having one sheet to filter down and have both plots update would be best that makes keeping up with things a bit more of a pain for me.

Anyway, it'll be useful when the list grows and someone wants to sort down on specific speakers to directly compare without having a whole bunch of other lines blocking the view.

For example, filtering the data down to the Polk vs the Elac gets you this FR:

View attachment 84609

and the Polk vs the Elac group delay:

View attachment 84610