Newb to diy needing a sanity check on subwoofer plans

[ryanosaur]

Quick question about amplification, if anyone can help?

If we take the dayton driver as an example (400w RMS / 800w max), what sort or power level should I be aiming for here, obviously I don't want to overdrive the sub, but underpowering it won't help either right?

Should I aim for the max figure of 800w? Or would something like 500w of amplification be sufficient?

Everybody has an opinion about this, and I'm no different. If you get a good amp with built in DSP, it will likely also have a voltage limiter. This is one way of protecting yourself from overdriving the whole system.
That said, I wouldn't hesitate to have more power on tap than what is needed to do the job. If a Sub can handle a short term dynamic peak at 800w, I wouldn't try to to push 1600w through it, but having an Amp capable of 1000w won't hurt as long as you are judiscious with your volume level.
Still, having a voltage limiter is a great tool to have access to in your amp.

 

[marticus]

Everybody has an opinion about this, and I'm no different. If you get a good amp with built in DSP, it will likely also have a voltage limiter. This is one way of protecting yourself from overdriving the whole system.
That said, I wouldn't hesitate to have more power on tap than what is needed to do the job. If a Sub can handle a short term dynamic peak at 800w, I wouldn't try to to push 1600w through it, but having an Amp capable of 1000w won't hurt as long as you are judiscious with your volume level.
Still, having a voltage limiter is a great tool to have access to in your amp.

Good to know thanks! I'm looking for something with dsp to hopefully save me spending again on a minidsp later.

And I will aim for the upper power level then!

 

[Verdinut]

Quick question about amplification, if anyone can help?

If we take the dayton driver as an example (400w RMS / 800w max), what sort or power level should I be aiming for here, obviously I don't want to overdrive the sub, but underpowering it won't help either right?

Should I aim for the max figure of 800w? Or would something like 500w of amplification be sufficient?

The RSS315HF subwoofer driver has a RMS power rating of 400 watts. A 500 watt amp would be more than sufficient. You don't want to drive it beyond its Xmax if you don't want to damage it. A 400w amp would also be a good option.

 

[marticus]

The RSS315HF subwoofer driver has a RMS power rating of 400 watts. A 500 watt amp would be more than sufficient. You don't want to drive it beyond its Xmax if you don't want to damage it. A 400w amp would also be a good option.

OK interesting, should 'headroom' be a consideration? As @ryanosaur mentioned, you can turn a more powerful amp down. So is it better to run a 800w amp at half its capacity than a 400w at 100%?

 

[Verdinut]

OK interesting, should 'headroom' be a consideration? As @ryanosaur mentioned, you can turn a more powerful sub down. So is it better to run a 800w sub at half its capacity than a 400w at 100%?

With a typical subwoofer channel source, the driver never has to produce a sustained high SPL except for a few seconds. A well designed 400w amp with a THD of less than 1% at rated power would be acceptable with the Dayton driver. You wouldn't be able to hear a difference with a more powerful amp.

 

[marticus]

With a typical subwoofer channel source, the driver never has to get a sustained high SPL except for a few seconds. A well designed 400w amp with a THD of less than 1% at rated power would be acceptable with the Dayton driver. You wouldn't be able to hear a difference with a more powerful amp.

Great thanks, the amps I've seen nearby are around 500w per channel, so it sound like they would do just fine.

 

[ryanosaur]

Verdi’s thoughtfulness about Xmax is very true. It’s all a bakancing act. If you have the Xmax and Xmech on your side and you know the Driver can take it, having additional power on tap isn’t really a concern. That can be thought of as a difference between the Ultimax and Reference HF Drivers from Dayton, for example. The Ultimax Drivers can take abuse where the HF would cry for mom.
There’s a video on YT… kind of silly to watch the whole thing, but they are stress testing the Stereo Integrity SQL 15 Drivers. Suffice it to say it took significantly more power than its RMS or peak rating, and they stopped testing because they ran out of juice for the amps!

They run the last test somewhere after the 15:45 mark.
Anyway… every system is different, and you need to be aware of the variables. Please take my earlier post with that grain of salt.
And no, I will not be dumping 8000w into my SQL-15s! But I am modeling them at their rated peak so I’ll have it covered if I ever want to sit inside the 32’ pipe of the grande organ in Notre Dame!

 

[marticus]

Verdi’s thoughtfulness about Xmax is very true. It’s all a bakancing act. If you have the Xmax and Xmech on your side and you know the Driver can take it, having additional power on tap isn’t really a concern. That can be thought of as a difference between the Ultimax and Reference HF Drivers from Dayton, for example. The Ultimax Drivers can take abuse where the HF would cry for mom.
There’s a video on YT… kind of silly to watch the whole thing, but they are stress testing the Stereo Integrity SQL 15 Drivers. Suffice it to say it took significantly more power than its RMS or peak rating, and they stopped testing because they ran out of juice for the amps!

They run the last test somewhere after the 15:45 mark.
Anyway… every system is different, and you need to be aware of the variables. Please take my earlier post with that grain of salt.
And no, I will not be dumping 8000w into my SQL-15s! But I am modeling them at their rated peak so I’ll have it covered if I ever want to sit inside the 32’ pipe of the grande organ in Notre Dame!

Thanks for the clarification, I'll check out the vid, it's another consideration for driver choice. Maybe I will go back and remodel the um22 in a sealed box to see how it stacks up..

 

[Verdinut]

Anyway… every system is different, and you need to be aware of the variables. Please take my earlier post with that grain of salt.
And no, I will not be dumping 8000w into my SQL-15s! But I am modeling them at their rated peak so I’ll have it covered if I ever want to sit inside the 32’ pipe of the grande organ in Notre Dame!

Unfortunately, it would have to be the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal at present. This church is a reduced copy of the fire destroyed Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Traditionally, more than 11 million people visit it annually, only about 1 million less than for Notre-Dame in Paris before April 15, 2019. the date of the accidental disaster.

Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[ryanosaur]

This church is a reduced copy of the fire destroyed Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.

*sighs
Though Paris has never been a bucket list destination, the possible loss of that organ is a shame. I know it's been said that it was spared, but until they fix it all up, there is no way of knowing.
*sighs again

 

[Verdinut]

*sighs
Though Paris has never been a bucket list destination, the possible loss of that organ is a shame. I know it's been said that it was spared, but until they fix it all up, there is no way of knowing.
*sighs again

As a matter of fact, the organ was saved fortunately according to the news at the time. It should not be too much of a problem to restore it. There are still several good organ builders who can help in rebuilding it to its last condition and even improve some of its features, as is done periodically on those historical instruments, when they need repair and renovation..

In France, Canada and in other countries, many churches are demolished or sold. Parts of organs such as pipes are recuperated and installed on functioning instruments. For instance, in the late 1990's French Cavaillé-Coll stops and pipes were added on the Notre-Dame de Montréal organ when it was renovated. This instrument was built in the 19th century. Of note is the fact that Aristide Cavallé-Coll had renovated the Notre-Dame de Paris instrument in the mid 19th century.