Asking too much from the 10" Dayton DVC??

[mikem]

I probably know the answer already (get a more power handling sub), but going to ask anyway.
I have the DVC 10” Dayton sub in a 1 cuft sealed box with Acousta-stuf.

Normal music and subwoofer test do really well. Like running the subwoofer test off Youtube, but watching movies more often the sub clips and pops at good bass scenes.

Example in The Dark Knight during the very first 10 seconds when they shoot out the window for the building-to-building cable I get a pop instead of a nice whumph.

In Polar Express when the train first arrives at the house, the sub just can’t take it and pops like crazy and the sub volume is barely turned up.

I have a 100W external sub amp connected to the 10” into 4 ohms. It doesn’t have any adjustments other than volume or gain knob and I only have it at 25% level.

It crosses over from the mains at 85hz and I have my .1 out of my 5.1 directed through the mains instead of subwoofer out from my Yamaha.

So am I just asking too much from the 80w Dayton? Maybe get a smaller amp instead. I see a lot of people use the Dayton 70watt amp for this 10”

Should I try tuning with a port?

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=295-485

TIA

[Brent_S]

On the surface, it does sound like you're probably expecting way too much from a 10" driver with only 6mm of Xmax in a sealed alignment.

Reviewing the P-E sealed design sheet (appears to be what you built) for the 10" SDVC shows an f3 of 52Hz. Rated max input power falls like a rock from just over 100 watts starting at 70Hz. At 30hz, the P-E chart shows 3-4 watts for max input, it falls below 1 watt before reaching 20hz. Without running the model myself, I don't know if they're rating max power needed for Xmax or Xsus, but you're supplying enough power to go way beyond either.

"The Dark Knight", like most other big blockbuster action movies, frequently has bass in the 20-40Hz range and it's not out of the realm of possibility to see teens and even single digits. The lower the frequency, the more excursion required to sustain a given SPL. You're either bottoming the driver repeatedly or clipping the amp...likely some combination of both depending on how loud you're trying to listen.

The gain setting on the sub amp has nothing to do with power delivered. You could get max power with the gain at 1/10 of rotation or never reach max power at 100% rotation. It all depends on the strength of the input signal and the gain structure of the amp.

It's not just about the driver's power handling, you need to design a sub that meets your SPL requirements and frequency response requirements. You need to start with an SPL meter at your listening position and find out what you consider normal and loud in dBs on a typical soundtrack using your mains. Your subwoofer will need to meet or exceed (likely) that SPL down to whatever frequency you want...for HT, 30Hz is probably a minimum with 20Hz being better. And you're up against the iron law of low, loud, small...pick 2.

-Brent

[philiparcario]

Think of home theater as moving the lawn. The ten acre lawn ! More power. Build a better sub. For home theater not music the lowest price kit that will play most anything is this.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=300-770

price right now is 285. Three of these under your tv as a built in tv/home theater stand will play a lot of movies with all the sub power you need. Even one will do much more then you have..

[natediggidy]

I don't think you'll get what you want from that sub in the sealed enclosure that you're using. Simply putting that sub in the recommended vented enclosure will get you bass about an octave deeper than what you're getting now.

[ocool_15]

Have you seen this thread?
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