so the stereo competition was earlier today. as you can tell by the topic im very disappointed with my equipment. partially i believe its the amplifier. im not very happy with it. anyway, with the brand new 2005 meca mic. which is really damn accurate. i was rated at a 138.8 at 11.7volts. my gosh darn battery wouldnt keep the charge so that hurt me. it was good enough to lock in second place, but for me anyway, second place is only 1st place loser to 1st.

 

Sorry to hear you're disappointed, but congratulations on the 138! Don't forget, most people will never even come close to those kind of numbers with their systems (except maybe with radio shack spl meters and/or poor mic placement). And at 11.7 volts from the battery, you know that there's more to squeeze out of it.

I'll be lucky to get anywhere near there, and I'm putting in a fairly decent system (in my opinion, at least). I'm trying to keep the focus of this project on SQ right now, but SPL is so tempting....

What are you running?

 

im running a hifonics brutus 1000watt class-d mono block amplifier to two jl audio w3v2 10's. yeah after i looked and was told me voltage reading which was only at 11.7 i knew i could easily get more out of it if i charged it right before i went into the lane to compete. oh well, yeah i guess 2nd place isnt bad. theres another comp. in june that ill be entering in. a bigger one than it was yesterday. i plan to get rid of my hifonics amp and hook up a jl audio 500/1 by then and then see what happens. also ill definately be hoooking my battery up to a charger right before i drive into the lane and compete to i should definately be above 13volts instead of the weak 11.7

 

Why not get an amp that will benifit form a higher voltage output? JL audio amps don't care about the voltage input level so haveing a system that will put out 13 volts won't make more power just creates less stress on the amp due to the regulated power supply.

Also what your box configuration? sealed or ported size if its ported whats the port area and tuning?

 

the box is completely sealed. it did have ports in it, but they are and have been sealed for about 3 weeks to a month now. also there is insulation inside the box to i guess increase the sound density (i watched the jl audio factory do it for competitions so it obviously helps the subs out a little bit i guess)

 

Not sure how meca is but if its a 138 on a termlab at the dash then thats not that bad of a score for a sealed box. A ported box would be louder but you would want a larger box with big ports and a high tuning frequency.

 

The TermLab meter is the official MECA SPL meter, and will be used for all Double or Triple Point events.


http://events.mecacaraudio.com/event...hp?eventid=256


to view results of the stereo competition.

keep in mind that when i tested at a 138.8 i only ran at 11.7 volts. next competition i plan on breaking the state record of 141.8. (higher voltage and most likely the jl audio 500/1 amplifier)

 

like he said... the jl amps are great because the are like pudding.... the make the same awsome power at diff volatge and ohm ratings....

id say that you should design a SPL box ie ported and humongus... lol well maybe just go for a porper SPL design..

 

that does actually have a lot to do with it. if i designed and built a different box it would definately help me out a lot more than the pre-fab box that i have and have been using.

im not really into the whole building a new box thing though yet. right now im goin for power and efficency. im trying to get rid of my hifonics brutus 1000d that ive only had since febuary 05. its not workin out for me. im gonna go with a JL audio 500/1. i thought about getting a memphis 1100D BUT the only problem if i did that, then i have a really high risk of blowing my subs. so im just gonna stick with the jl audio 500/1 which pushing out over 600watts continious (even though its only rated at 500) ive seen the jl amp pop 60 amp fuses all day long.

after the amp upgrade thats pretty much it until i get around to building a new box. lol thats really all that theres left to do besides get a new car and start on that someday. for now my SPL measures a 138.8 on a TermLab mic. which are the absolute best and VERY VERY accurate. State record here is 141.8. and im goin for it damn it. lol next competition is in June and thats when i plan on givin that record a run for its money.

 

If it were me I would find a way to have you battery more up to snuf as the amp you have is very dependant on voltage. JL isn't the way to go if your looking for effieciant amps. Once again not saying they are bad but just not the best choice for what your wanting to do. your really going to have a hard time fitting a good SPL box for both subs

 

the voltage isnt going to make a HUGE difference. it will make a lilttle, but not much. not near the amount of db that i need to gain.

i need to gain 3db to break the state record, which technically means doubling the stereo system. (a quick way to looking at it, any car audio place will tell you the same, BUT RESULTS WILL VARY)

but anyway, im trying to get an amp that is going to push my subs like no other. without blowing them of course. i thougth about a Memphis 1100D. which is a continuous 1100 watts to both my subs. that amp is required to be ran at minimum 1ohm. so. it is true power. After looking realizing how much continuous power that will have and then realizing that in a stereo competition i pretty much max out my subs and amps. i have a very high risk of blowing them.


so, in relation. the JL audio 500/1. same in price. pushes an absolute minimum of 500 watts continuous. in reality it pushes over 600 watts continuous. Ive seen the JL audio w3v2 subs handle this amplifier and its full potential AS LONG AS the subs have been broken in. so pretty much by adding this amplifier im maxing out or using the absolute full potential of my subs. mathmatically i should gain a 1.5 db by doing this. but as stated above. results may vary in db gain depending on the cars acoustics and a big part is the box as well. i have polyfill inside my box to make the sub think that it has more air space than it actually does. it works pretty well.

 

true power is never true...

I don't think memphis is any better than any other brand... I prefer PG or PPI over them

 

well i tested both the jl audio 500/1 and the memphis 1100 D. and i gained 3.5 db with the memphis so it obviously pushing a crap load more than my 1000watt hifonics did. also its a great amp. i love it.

there is one problem actually. i keep my bass setting on my deck at -3 and my sub setting at -6. i still have a crap load of bass from my subs. but, if i turn up my bass setting just to 0 and also the sub setting to just a plain ole 0 db setting. i overpush my subs at certain frequencies and they pop. obviously not good. but still overall and VERY good amp and highly recommended if you wanna spend the money for it.

 

oh and my amp upgrade and DB gain. i raised more than enough to set a new state record. im just awaiting the stereo compitition in June this year to set it.

mic tested readings went from 138.8 to 142.4 (and the current state record right now FOR MY POWER CLASS, is at 141.8)

so im excited about that

 

sounds like you need a better EQ

 

yeah but ive really gotta slow down on spending all this money on my stereo system. its rediculous how much money ive spent on it already and im not even done. like i mean, shoot, my new memphis amp cost me a very pretty penny. and like im happy with it, but now im not satisfied wiht my 4 channel and im prolly not going to be until i get the matching 4channel memphis to go with the sub amp. and thats gonna cost another really pretty penny. not quite as nice as the sub amp but still. get my drifT?

what i need to do is save up or just sell it all and buy a croch rocket

 

yea well crotch rockets are nice but they dont have sound systems nor do they keep you dry in the rain.. nor do they carry any kinda luggage nor do they carry many passengers.... catch my drift?

 

i want a bike as a second vehicle. if i stopped putting so much damn money into my stereo system i probably could have had one by now.

 

chicks like crotch...

































rockets.

 

i want a hayabusa

 

you'll get lots of chicks, until they fall off the back when you're doing a wheelie...

 

i already got enuff girls with my car... and i can fit more at one time in it...lol

 

has anyone noticed that you can fit like 5 chicks in our cars? it's insane!

/I like having 5 chicks in my car.

 

i keep getting *** damn tickets in my car though. i swear to *** cops hate me. exahust is to loud(WHICH ITS NOT!!!), stereo system is to loud(okay with the windows down and t-tops off, your gonna hear the system no matter how ****in loud it is), driving to fast(okay that was my fault). etc...

i do believe ima try to sell my car now =x go with somethin smaller. lil 4 banger then put a turbo in it or somethin.

 

ric ers get as many tickets if not more than us...

the reason we get so many tickets is because we are punk kids...

if an older person was pulled over, they'd just get a warning...

logically speaking, the YOUNGER people should get more warnings and less tickets... because older people SHOULD KNOW BETTER!