Motor Strength Metric

When comparing woofers, how should you decide what has the best SPL capabilities?

Best Guess:
a) BL^2/Re - according to DIYMA, this is a good thing to look at. The Pioneers have ~100, and Wardens can have ~200. More is better.

b) Thermal Power Handling - more power, more SPL (on equally efficient motors)

c) Xmax - the longer throw, the more air you can move. For SPL, it spreads out the BL, though. Not sure the net effect.


How do you guys analyze woofers without buying em?

There is no replacement for testing.

actually cody it is...........go with what works is what i was always told. rd audio has poven themselves in usaci power classes for many years, audioque has some sb records held, dd also holds down some sb classes.
power classes kicker has stock classes i can almost bet tyou that if a record was got in stock class it was with some kickers
just go with whats been proven is what we always say.

Different subs are going to work differently in different builds. I would say you are partially right because there are many proven subs out there and yes they are probably a good sub to start your testing with, but out of those companies it will take testing to see what works better for you. And every company has more than one sub. So which sub in their line is going to work better? You don't always have to follow the leader to get loud. Honestly I think that you could pick any of the top used subs out there and there wouldn't be a huge difference in the same build.

there ain't a huge difference lol well i want you to see what i saw at world finals lol an this was just a difference of swapping subs from saturday to sunday it was freakin sweet if i must say an say's alot about the product.
but yea you are right though testing will yeild whats louder in each application testing will yeild a lot of knowledge if one would just do it lol talkina about myself lol. ok let me get the video's up.

first run was with the x brand an the second run on sunday was with the R brand lol

the last thing i would do is hang and swing from rd nuts. im just saying.....

yea but you can't beat them an you know it,
you know they are strong woofers an amps your just to busy swangin from audioque's nuts i'm just sayin

lets see you switch class to prostock 1800+ an shut rd down. but we all know your gonna buzz your way in sb like you have the past 5yrs

RD/Atomic makes a good sub but its not the end all be all of subs. If so wouldn't butler or hays be using them?

lol now thats funny. honestly the last thing you should look at in a woofer is whos doing what numbers with it. and extreme cars is the very last place to look. those guys will make numbers regarldess what woofers they use.

Alan wrote:

lol now thats funny. honestly the last thing you should look at in a woofer is whos doing what numbers with it. and extreme cars is the very last place to look. those guys will make numbers regarldess what woofers they use.

I'm just saying they aren't the only sub out there. They make a good sub don't get me wrong but its not "the only" choice.

Alan wrote:

lol now thats funny. honestly the last thing you should look at in a woofer is whos doing what numbers with it. and extreme cars is the very last place to look. those guys will make numbers regarldess what woofers they use.

Ding Ding Ding! This is what I was going for.

There are alot of strong motors, each having certain benefits (linearity, cooling, brute force, excursion, etc). As long as the soft parts fill the gap nicely, and exploit the capabilities of the motor... the results will be good.

Ex: Think of a strong sub, with a 2.5" voice coil. It probably is designed for 600-1000wRMS. It should have a fairly strong magnet, some added cooling, and a rigid (but light) cone. You'll probably also notice that it has a relatively high Fs, stiff suspension, low Q, high BL, and requires a larger box size.

How do these concepts extend to full-on SPL subs?