M mdinno Junior Audioholic May 5, 2019 54 0 8 57 Jan 21, 2023 #1 I was wondering just how important the watts of a sub really is. You have subs like the Rythmik that cost over a grand that put out around "only" 600 watts while you have subs that cost half that that put out much more. There's also a budget subwoofer shootout on youtube and one of the better sub is a 75 watt. The weakest sub by far in the shootout. It seems to me build quality and other factors play a far bigger roll in how a sub performs other than how powerful the amp is. Please weigh in.
I was wondering just how important the watts of a sub really is. You have subs like the Rythmik that cost over a grand that put out around "only" 600 watts while you have subs that cost half that that put out much more. There's also a budget subwoofer shootout on youtube and one of the better sub is a 75 watt. The weakest sub by far in the shootout. It seems to me build quality and other factors play a far bigger roll in how a sub performs other than how powerful the amp is. Please weigh in.
NINaudio Audioholic Samurai Jun 26, 2017 2,898 0 63 48 West Chicago, Illinois Jan 21, 2023 #2 It's not how many watts you have, but what you do with them that matters. Reactions: ryanosaur
ryanosaur Audioholic Overlord Sep 14, 2018 11,686 0 113 Jan 21, 2023 #3 Augmenting on what NiN said… What you don’t know is anything regarding the Driver Sensitivity, for example. There is a lot more involved behind the scenes than just looking at an Amplifier rating will tell you. Without knowing every aspect of the complete system then (not just Driver Parameters but also Cabinet Size and Port Tune) you can’t even attempt to model it to see what the performance might be. Rather this is why it is important to see quality resting done and be able to understand what the tests mean. The CEA-2010 Burst test is one but it only paints a limited picture. Long Term Compression Sweeps are another excellent test showing you FR at various output levels and where the whole system starts to break down in terms of maximum output. After that, seeing the distortion components will help you understand how clean the output is. In short, amplifier wattage is the most useless aspect of subwoofer marketing to attempt to judge anything by.
Augmenting on what NiN said… What you don’t know is anything regarding the Driver Sensitivity, for example. There is a lot more involved behind the scenes than just looking at an Amplifier rating will tell you. Without knowing every aspect of the complete system then (not just Driver Parameters but also Cabinet Size and Port Tune) you can’t even attempt to model it to see what the performance might be. Rather this is why it is important to see quality resting done and be able to understand what the tests mean. The CEA-2010 Burst test is one but it only paints a limited picture. Long Term Compression Sweeps are another excellent test showing you FR at various output levels and where the whole system starts to break down in terms of maximum output. After that, seeing the distortion components will help you understand how clean the output is. In short, amplifier wattage is the most useless aspect of subwoofer marketing to attempt to judge anything by.
TLS Guy Audioholic Jedi Oct 30, 2007 27,299 0 113 79 Eagan MN Jan 21, 2023 #4 mdinno said: I was wondering just how important the watts of a sub really is. You have subs like the Rythmik that cost over a grand that put out around "only" 600 watts while you have subs that cost half that that put out much more. There's also a budget subwoofer shootout on youtube and one of the better sub is a 75 watt. The weakest sub by far in the shootout. It seems to me build quality and other factors play a far bigger roll in how a sub performs other than how powerful the amp is. Please weigh in. Click to expand... It all depends on the design of the sub. Larger ported subs need much less lower than a small sealed sub for the same output. The sealed sub rolls off at 12 db per octave at least by 40 to 50 Hz, then a power boost of 12 db. per octave has to be applied. You have to double the power for each db. of boost. A larger lower powered more expensive sub will best a small sealed sub any day, although the small sub may have more amp power, it is usually not nearly enough, if it is a cheaper offering.
mdinno said: I was wondering just how important the watts of a sub really is. You have subs like the Rythmik that cost over a grand that put out around "only" 600 watts while you have subs that cost half that that put out much more. There's also a budget subwoofer shootout on youtube and one of the better sub is a 75 watt. The weakest sub by far in the shootout. It seems to me build quality and other factors play a far bigger roll in how a sub performs other than how powerful the amp is. Please weigh in. Click to expand... It all depends on the design of the sub. Larger ported subs need much less lower than a small sealed sub for the same output. The sealed sub rolls off at 12 db per octave at least by 40 to 50 Hz, then a power boost of 12 db. per octave has to be applied. You have to double the power for each db. of boost. A larger lower powered more expensive sub will best a small sealed sub any day, although the small sub may have more amp power, it is usually not nearly enough, if it is a cheaper offering.
H highfigh Seriously, I have no life. Sep 14, 2008 24,219 0 113 Jan 21, 2023 #5 NINaudio said: It's not how many watts you have, but what you do with them that matters. Click to expand... I like to waste a lot of power during Winter- cuts down on my natural gas bill.
NINaudio said: It's not how many watts you have, but what you do with them that matters. Click to expand... I like to waste a lot of power during Winter- cuts down on my natural gas bill.
ryanosaur Audioholic Overlord Sep 14, 2018 11,686 0 113 Jan 21, 2023 #6 highfigh said: I like to waste a lot of power during Winter- cuts down on my natural gas bill. Click to expand... Is this leaning into the audio myth of heating your home in the Winter with some good Class A Amps, then switching to some Class Ds in the Summer?
highfigh said: I like to waste a lot of power during Winter- cuts down on my natural gas bill. Click to expand... Is this leaning into the audio myth of heating your home in the Winter with some good Class A Amps, then switching to some Class Ds in the Summer?
H highfigh Seriously, I have no life. Sep 14, 2008 24,219 0 113 Jan 21, 2023 #7 ryanosaur said: Is this leaning into the audio myth of heating your home in the Winter with some good Class A Amps, then switching to some Class Ds in the Summer? Click to expand... The struggle is real. Reactions: ryanosaur
ryanosaur said: Is this leaning into the audio myth of heating your home in the Winter with some good Class A Amps, then switching to some Class Ds in the Summer? Click to expand... The struggle is real.
lovinthehd Audioholic Jedi Sep 11, 2012 44,878 0 113 Oakridge, OR Jan 21, 2023 #8 Yep without more details about the sub its amp wattage is relatively meaningless, you don't even get any particular spec with the wattage like impedance or distortion level. It's marketing mostly. Kinda like max speaker wattage ratings, just not particularly useful compared to other metrics.
Yep without more details about the sub its amp wattage is relatively meaningless, you don't even get any particular spec with the wattage like impedance or distortion level. It's marketing mostly. Kinda like max speaker wattage ratings, just not particularly useful compared to other metrics.
Kingnoob Audioholic Ninja Oct 4, 2019 3,048 0 38 North canton, Ohio Jan 21, 2023 #9 mdinno said: I was wondering just how important the watts of a sub really is. You have subs like the Rythmik that cost over a grand that put out around "only" 600 watts while you have subs that cost half that that put out much more. There's also a budget subwoofer shootout on youtube and one of the better sub is a 75 watt. The weakest sub by far in the shootout. It seems to me build quality and other factors play a far bigger roll in how a sub performs other than how powerful the amp is. Please weigh in. Click to expand... Many over exaggerating their wattage making such ratings irrelevant. Plus 499w rms is way more than 499 peak power !!! plus these brands don’t list any information about the speaker driver except it’s size, no Xmax or anything.
mdinno said: I was wondering just how important the watts of a sub really is. You have subs like the Rythmik that cost over a grand that put out around "only" 600 watts while you have subs that cost half that that put out much more. There's also a budget subwoofer shootout on youtube and one of the better sub is a 75 watt. The weakest sub by far in the shootout. It seems to me build quality and other factors play a far bigger roll in how a sub performs other than how powerful the amp is. Please weigh in. Click to expand... Many over exaggerating their wattage making such ratings irrelevant. Plus 499w rms is way more than 499 peak power !!! plus these brands don’t list any information about the speaker driver except it’s size, no Xmax or anything.
M mdinno Junior Audioholic May 5, 2019 54 0 8 57 Jan 22, 2023 #10 Kingnoob said: Many over exaggerating their wattage making such ratings irrelevant. Plus 499w rms is way more than 499 peak power !!! plus these brands don’t list any information about the speaker driver except it’s size, no Xmax or anything. Click to expand... Like the JAMO C912. It's a 75 RMS but they advertise IT'S 300 watt peak power and no mention of it's 75 RMS. Crazy part is it actually did really well in the 12' budget subwoofer shootout. Beat out subs with almost double the wattage.
Kingnoob said: Many over exaggerating their wattage making such ratings irrelevant. Plus 499w rms is way more than 499 peak power !!! plus these brands don’t list any information about the speaker driver except it’s size, no Xmax or anything. Click to expand... Like the JAMO C912. It's a 75 RMS but they advertise IT'S 300 watt peak power and no mention of it's 75 RMS. Crazy part is it actually did really well in the 12' budget subwoofer shootout. Beat out subs with almost double the wattage.
Kingnoob Audioholic Ninja Oct 4, 2019 3,048 0 38 North canton, Ohio Jan 22, 2023 #11 mdinno said: Like the JAMO C912. It's a 75 RMS but they advertise IT'S 300 watt peak power and no mention of it's 75 RMS. Crazy part is it actually did really well in the 12' budget subwoofer shootout. Beat out subs with almost double the wattage. Click to expand... Wow I’m using a jamo 10” in my set up it’s not bad . jamo a3sub.3
mdinno said: Like the JAMO C912. It's a 75 RMS but they advertise IT'S 300 watt peak power and no mention of it's 75 RMS. Crazy part is it actually did really well in the 12' budget subwoofer shootout. Beat out subs with almost double the wattage. Click to expand... Wow I’m using a jamo 10” in my set up it’s not bad . jamo a3sub.3
lovinthehd Audioholic Jedi Sep 11, 2012 44,878 0 113 Oakridge, OR Jan 22, 2023 #12 mdinno said: Like the JAMO C912. It's a 75 RMS but they advertise IT'S 300 watt peak power and no mention of it's 75 RMS. Crazy part is it actually did really well in the 12' budget subwoofer shootout. Beat out subs with almost double the wattage. Click to expand... Jamo doesn't spec it as 75/300....at least not according to this spec sheet https://d1k7keptyk1i1t.cloudfront.net/product-specsheets/Concert-912_Spec-Sheet_v01.pdf?v=1663762429
mdinno said: Like the JAMO C912. It's a 75 RMS but they advertise IT'S 300 watt peak power and no mention of it's 75 RMS. Crazy part is it actually did really well in the 12' budget subwoofer shootout. Beat out subs with almost double the wattage. Click to expand... Jamo doesn't spec it as 75/300....at least not according to this spec sheet https://d1k7keptyk1i1t.cloudfront.net/product-specsheets/Concert-912_Spec-Sheet_v01.pdf?v=1663762429
