Dear Enthusiast,
Currently everyone is gaga over power handling... i.e...
major brand name drivers now claim to handle 500 /1000 plus watts. Problem is the price
they paid for that was efficiency.
Most of these are around 85 dB sensitivity. That means they will create an SPL
of 85dB with one watt of power. Since you have to double your power every time
you want a 3dB increase in SPL, it doesn't take long for these high power
drivers to be at their thermal limit. For example there is a 10 inch woofer made
by MT? that handles 400 watts RMS and is 84.5 dB efficient. That means at 400
watts the SPL is at around 110 dB. This of course assumes you have the money for
a good 400 watt amplifier to run it.
Our
DHM108B will hit the same 110 dB with around 100 watts. And at it's thermal
limit of 275 watts RMS it is doing 114 dB. (Enclosure type and cabin gain adds
considerable SPL to the above figures. A pair of these woofers in our wicked one enclosure won a 1999 Outlaw SPL contest with an SPL of 161.8 dB with around 500 real
watts.)
If
all this is new to you, I recommend reading part of car audio book "Secrets of Car Audio" - it may save you from making
costly and all too common mistakes.
-
Steve Deckert, DECWARE / High Fidelity Engineering Co. |