I updated the amplifier gain page.
SubwooferTools: How to Set Your Amplifier Gains with a Digital Mul...: Full disclosure: some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at no cost to you, this website earns a commission if you cl...
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Friday, May 22, 2020
Home Theater Gurus: Ep. 35 - How to get an amazing Piano Gloss Finish on the Hammer Home Theater Sub
I've built subwoofer enclosures for people and they've painted them. I've never been good at paint, to be honest. This video inspires me to try again some day.
Home Theater Gurus does a great job of showing how to use epoxy primer to seal MDF and then wet-sanding the primer smooth with an orbital sander, cleaning with a tack cloth and then finally finishing the box with base and a top layer.
My experience with painted enclosures: make sure the box is well-braced. A mirror finish will highlight any panel flex.
Home Theater Gurus does a great job of showing how to use epoxy primer to seal MDF and then wet-sanding the primer smooth with an orbital sander, cleaning with a tack cloth and then finally finishing the box with base and a top layer.
My experience with painted enclosures: make sure the box is well-braced. A mirror finish will highlight any panel flex.
Thursday, May 21, 2020
BigDWiz: Budget Amp Picks in 2020?
BigDWiz reviews the best budget amplifiers for 2020 in this informative review. All of the amplifiers produce great power for the money. These amplifiers run the gamut from monoblock subwoofer amplifiers to stereo amplifiers to multichannel amplifiers. Which amplifiers are you picking in 2020?
ExoContralto: 12" DESTROYER Subwoofer EXPOSED!!! Testing NEW Rockville Voice Coil Temperature w/ BIGGER Dust Cap
So, a year or so ago, a number of youtubers were given a sample of Rockville's new line of woofers to test, so they did. There was a promise of an inexpensive, high power handling woofers available and the next thing you know, all of those youtubers blew the woofers. They didn't even have to go "full send". Those youtubers just put the woofer through the paces of a fair test.
Rockville responded to this criticism.... poorly.
ExoContralto did the fair thing and tested the v2 version of the woofer, noting the improvements in both engineering and build quality. He then gave away the driver to one of his viewers. Legend.
Exo waited a year before reviewing another woofer from Rockville because of the fallout of his first review.
This time, he's reviewed Rockville's "Destroyer", a woofer whose xmax parameter is off the charts crazy. This driver's cone flexes 3 inches (76mm) peak to peak.
If you subscribe to Exo's Patreon, you have a chance to win this woofer, though it's got an upgraded dustcap, watch the video to find out why!
Rockville responded to this criticism.... poorly.
ExoContralto did the fair thing and tested the v2 version of the woofer, noting the improvements in both engineering and build quality. He then gave away the driver to one of his viewers. Legend.
Exo waited a year before reviewing another woofer from Rockville because of the fallout of his first review.
This time, he's reviewed Rockville's "Destroyer", a woofer whose xmax parameter is off the charts crazy. This driver's cone flexes 3 inches (76mm) peak to peak.
If you subscribe to Exo's Patreon, you have a chance to win this woofer, though it's got an upgraded dustcap, watch the video to find out why!
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Code complete on the minimum viable product.
The code is now complete on the minimum viable product for the box calc. This means a user can enter driver and enclosure parameters and the application will spit out an enclosure design complete with a 1w/1m response curve.
What does "minimum viable product" mean? It means it's version 0. I have a backlog of half a dozen features I will be including over the coming months, but it feels good to reach this milestone.
That said, the application is not yet public. I dove into code and decided to "deal with that other stuff later". Well, later is now and I get to deal with what the home page is supposed to look like and what the root level url structures are going to be.
I'll have those decisions made in the next couple of weeks, just in time for a summer of box building.
Thank you for your support.
What does "minimum viable product" mean? It means it's version 0. I have a backlog of half a dozen features I will be including over the coming months, but it feels good to reach this milestone.
That said, the application is not yet public. I dove into code and decided to "deal with that other stuff later". Well, later is now and I get to deal with what the home page is supposed to look like and what the root level url structures are going to be.
I'll have those decisions made in the next couple of weeks, just in time for a summer of box building.
Thank you for your support.
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
DealerScope: Rockford’s 40th: A Reason To Celebrate in 2020
Has it really been 40 years since Rockford Fosgate opened for business? If you count the early Fosgate Electronics car stereo amplifiers of the 1970s, it's been even longer.
Author Brett Solomon provides a brief history of the company, including how they've managed to keep building great amplifiers while expanding their portfolio to over 400 products for Cars, Motorcycles, Boats and ATVs. We also learn how Rockford planned to celebrate their 40th anniversary and how they're trying to keep the celebration going during the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic.
One thing is true that's remained since the beginning: Rockford is always working with their customers first and foremost.
Dealerscope: Rockford's 40th: A Reason To Celebrate in 2020.
Author Brett Solomon provides a brief history of the company, including how they've managed to keep building great amplifiers while expanding their portfolio to over 400 products for Cars, Motorcycles, Boats and ATVs. We also learn how Rockford planned to celebrate their 40th anniversary and how they're trying to keep the celebration going during the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic.
One thing is true that's remained since the beginning: Rockford is always working with their customers first and foremost.
Dealerscope: Rockford's 40th: A Reason To Celebrate in 2020.
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
ExoContralto and ShowtimeSPL: Does SUBWOOFER SIZE Control SOUND? Can You MIX Inverted Subs? Is MORE CONE AREA Best For LOUD BASS?
ExoContralto and ShowtimeSPL get together to answer four questions:
- Is Cone Area The Most Important (to get loud)
- Does Subwoofer SIZE Determine How It Sounds?
- Can You MIX Inverted Subs with Regular Subs?
- Is Peel & Seal Good Automotive Sound Deadener?
Check out the video and learn some more design tricks!
Monday, May 11, 2020
Five Star Car Stereo: The Best car stereo out the Sony RSX GS9
Five Star Car Stereo unboxes and reviews Sony's Flagship RSX GS9 in dash unit.
Some highlights:
Some highlights:
- 3 USB inputs, one rear, two front.
- High (speaker) level inputs, handling 3 to 12v input
- A minimalist user interface that does not draw attention to itself
- High res DAC
- Plays back 8 different file formats
- Remote
- Smartphone app
What do you think? Leave a note in the comments!
Thursday, May 7, 2020
CNN: Pioneer's new car audio receivers bring Alexa along for the ride
According to an article at CNN, Pioneer's new NEX series of connected in dash car stereos will also include Amazon Alexa, in addition to established in car digital technologies such as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The author, Jacob Krol of CNN Underscored, goes on to explain that the Alexa in-car experience is just like the Alexa at-home experience. One caveat: Alexa's in car experience will require internet connectivity either through your phone or through the car itself.
The $600 entry level DMH-W4600NEX and DMH-W4660NEX units each sport a 6.8" screen in a familiar "double din" chassis, while moving up to the $900 9 inch DMH-WC6600NEX gives you a modular design, where the "box" can be mounted elsewhere and the screen fabricated into your dash.
The flagship models, the $1000 DMH-WT7600NEX and the $1200 DMH-WT8600NEX use a single DIN mount and allow the screen to "float", allowing the user to customize the screen's position for convenience.
This is great news for those who subscribe to Amazon's music or play interactive games with Alexa.
Read more: Pioneer's new car audio receivers bring Alexa along for the ride (CNN)
The author, Jacob Krol of CNN Underscored, goes on to explain that the Alexa in-car experience is just like the Alexa at-home experience. One caveat: Alexa's in car experience will require internet connectivity either through your phone or through the car itself.
The $600 entry level DMH-W4600NEX and DMH-W4660NEX units each sport a 6.8" screen in a familiar "double din" chassis, while moving up to the $900 9 inch DMH-WC6600NEX gives you a modular design, where the "box" can be mounted elsewhere and the screen fabricated into your dash.
The flagship models, the $1000 DMH-WT7600NEX and the $1200 DMH-WT8600NEX use a single DIN mount and allow the screen to "float", allowing the user to customize the screen's position for convenience.
This is great news for those who subscribe to Amazon's music or play interactive games with Alexa.
Read more: Pioneer's new car audio receivers bring Alexa along for the ride (CNN)
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Amplifier Test Video: Audiobank P8000.1
BigDWiz reviews and tests $145 subwoofer amplifier and pulls no punches. He is not kind to this P8000.1 amplifier during unboxing and testing.
Spoilers: This amplifier produces respectable power for the money, in this author's opinion. I mean, I grew up in an era when you were going to spend a dollar per watt for a quality amplifier. $145 for 1200w is downright amazing to me.
However, the lack of respect for the consumer, assuming we're all a bunch of dumb children who will believe anything written on the heatsink, is why I avoid these products. The build quality is probably sub-par, too.
Spoilers: This amplifier produces respectable power for the money, in this author's opinion. I mean, I grew up in an era when you were going to spend a dollar per watt for a quality amplifier. $145 for 1200w is downright amazing to me.
However, the lack of respect for the consumer, assuming we're all a bunch of dumb children who will believe anything written on the heatsink, is why I avoid these products. The build quality is probably sub-par, too.
Monday, May 4, 2020
Subwooferjs 1.03 released
New feature for Subwooferjs: The driver object has three methods to produce subwoofer objects. Two are designed for maximally flat response (one sealed, one ported) and one is designed to produce an "extended bass shelf" to get extension from woofers with a higher fs parameter.
The code is available open source at github and npm.
The code is available open source at github and npm.
Amplifier Test: Gravity Audio WZ8000.1D:
I enjoy BigDWiz's Old School Stereo equipment review and test videos, especially when he gets a hold of a $300 amp emblazoned with "8000w" everywhere. How much power does it really make? Watch BigD's video to find out!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)