See how low your subwoofer can really go!

MR. APPLEHEAD

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Just thought that some of you would like to see how low your sub really goes... :thumbsup:

I made this audio file, it starts at 100Hz and goes down to 0Hz:D (going down 1Hz each second- 100 seconds long)

So when you sub goes quiet when listen to the track, see how long is left of the 100 seconds and thats how low you are currently listening to in Hz-[only accurate enough to you ear:))

The file is a pure sine wave from 100-0Hz at 0.8dB all the way through.:)

You can download it here...
ADrive.com – 50GB of Free Online Storage & Backup No you cant anymore the file has expired- I'll try to get it back on soon!

You could also use it your headphones or other peoples sound systems to show them how 'not':devil: low they can go.
 
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I tried full range sign waves when I got my pc ultra and I can hear them down to 20hz after that it is only my fillings rattling, eyeballs buzzing and room vibrations and to be honest it isnt very comfortable. After 10hz there is nothing. It is not an experiment I wish to repeat.
 
And not an experiment anyone should try at any real volume unless you are dead certain of your subwoofer protection circuitry.:suicide:

I can see the warranty claims rolling in...

Russell
 
Just thought that some of you would like to see how low your sub really goes... :thumbsup:

I made this audio file, it starts at 100Hz and goes down to 0Hz:D (going down 1Hz each second- 100 seconds long)

So when you sub goes quiet when listen to the track, see how long is left of the 100 seconds and thats how low you are currently listening to in Hz-[only accurate enough to you ear:))

The file is a pure sine wave from 100-0Hz at 0.8dB all the way through.:)

You can download it here...
ADrive.com – 50GB of Free Online Storage & Backup

You could also use it your headphones or other peoples sound systems to show them how 'not':devil: low they can go.

So how did your Sounddock fair?:)

Tested before and can just about hear down to 20hz, My sub not great at the high spl really low stuff, Far too small for that. If i had the room for a bigger sub i would have got one tho could have nearly bought a monolith for the price of MJ, But would have had to use it as a chair.:rotfl:
 
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So how did your Sounddock fair?:)

Well, as anyone would expect- not very good!:)
It did pretty well for a thing the size of a 3" thick A4 sheet! I got it down to just under 50Hz and then silence. [My Bose in-ear headphones do much better, I got them down to about 30Hz on average volume- but headphones dont really give you the right experience you want when listening to music:thumbsdow]
 
I don't use a sub-woofer (see sig.) but have recently wondered what I might be missing and been auditioning some. So far not very impressed but I shall be listening to a Velodyne next week after which I may give up the search.

However Mr. A's test tone played for me to within 5 seconds of the end; with no sub. My ear drums are still quaking and there was probably some frequency doubling going on but should I give up the search for a worthwhile sub now?
 
Using Badgers test tones and with my amp at -20db I get readings at 10hz on an SPL metre of around 73db (corrected) .. that is good enough for me ;)
 
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I can go well over 100dB(C) @ 10Hz. Completely silent apart from the house rattling. Very uncomfortable feeling of pressure. Nowhere near Xmax yet. Should I turn it up some more? :devil:

More seriously, for those unaware of the very real dangers: One really cannot recommend this game with most subwoofers. It proves absolutely nothing in the real world. A glance at any harmonic distortion-frequency graph shows that distortion rises rapidly somewhere around the nominal tuning point. Distortion is often already high well above that point with many compact subwoofers.

The natural human tendency is to turn up the volume to be able to hear the infrasonics as the sub falls completely silent below ~20Hz. All you are likely to hear (or measure) is distortion before your driver voice coil crashes and/or burns. :suicide:

The real irony of such tests is that the poorer the subwoofer the more likely you are to hear something below 20Hz. This is actually a test to detect poor subwoofers. All good subs are completely silent on sinewaves below ~20hz. Simply because the human ear can't detect such low frequencies until they go very high in level. These levels and frequencies are well above the capability of most commercial subwoofers. That is not to say that you cannot feel the physiological effects of high levels and low frequencies. :)
 
I can go well over 100dB(C) @ 10Hz. Completely silent apart from the house rattling. Very uncomfortable feeling of pressure. Nowhere near Xmax yet. Should I turn it up some more? :devil:

:eek: What sort of volume are running your test tones at Nimby ?
 
:eek: What sort of volume are running your test tones at Nimby ?

I can go up to around 110dB(C) at 10Hz and it rises rapidly to go right off the RS SPL meter scale above 40Hz. Physical discomfort is far more of a limiter than the sub's true capability. When running REW at high levels the whole roof creaks loudly like a giant hand is lifting it. :rolleyes: :D
 
Sorry mate, I meant what volumes do you run your amp ? :D

Just curious, as it is common knowledge not to run sinewaves/test tones overly loud, and I have always considered -20db to be quite a reasonable volume when performing such tests :)
 
Sorry mate, I meant what volumes do you run your amp ? :D

Just curious, as it is common knowledge not to run sinewaves/test tones overly loud, and I have always considered -20db to be quite a reasonable volume when performing such tests :)

Sorry, Paul. I've been out all afternoon saving the world. ;)

I still don't use an AVR so I haven't a clue what reference levels I'm using. I just turn it up on the preamp until it's loud enough. I can also adjust relative levels in the active crossover and on the pro-power amp which drives the IB at 2 x 650wpc. How long is a piece of string? I tend to use my Galaxy SPL meter when absolute levels matter to me. It is more sensitive in the deep bass than my RS meters. I hope this answers your question. If not, I'm quite prepared to have another try. :)
 
Sorry, Paul. I've been out all afternoon saving the world. ;)

I still don't use an AVR so I haven't a clue what reference levels I'm using. I just turn it up on the preamp until it's loud enough. I can also adjust relative levels in the active crossover and on the pro-power amp which drives the IB at 2 x 650wpc. How long is a piece of string? I tend to use my Galaxy SPL meter when absolute levels matter to me. It is more sensitive in the deep bass than my RS meters. I hope this answers your question. If not, I'm quite prepared to have another try. :)

I thought you had an AVR mate, was just trying to work out a relative average of volume/SPL@10hz from your IB to my PCU, I don't want to go too loud when using the tones but at the same time curious to see what it could do without causing any damage :D (I have a 13db roll off from 14hz to 10hz)
 
ib%2Ball%2Bnew%2Bdrivers%2Bbfd.jpg
 
Back in my car audio days I read an article about a college/uni in the states that built a big sub box and whilst testing it in the auditorium students started to throw up.:rotfl:

They did several tests at various Hz. I will try and find there conclusions but they did say they thought that at sufficiant vol 2hz could kill a human

I presume everyone knows about the 33hz trick with your girlfriends
 
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Back in my car audion days I read an article about a college/uni in the states that built a big sub box and whilst testing it in the auditorium students started to throw up.:rotfl:

They did several tests at various Hz. I will try and find there conclusions but they did say they thought that at sufficiant vol 2hz could kill a human

I presume everyone knows about the 33hz trick with your girlfriends

You don't need a particularly powerful subwoofer to feel nausea but it requires a sliding frequency scale to find the exact resonance of the internal organs. Ideally you need a well extended response deep into the infrasonic. I've felt as sick as a ride on top of a 1960s double decker bus during subwoofer sinewave testing. Turning the nausea off again was instantly achieved just by changing the test frequency. I swear I could actually smell the stale fags.

My IB array used to produce nausea on organ music in the bathroom immediately below the enclosure. This had nothing to do with musical taste. It was just lashings of infrasonics exciting the air in the bathroom through the adjoining floor/ceiling interface. I imagine the boarded ceiling was acting as a huge driver down in the bathroom. This unwanted effect disappeared when I built a manifold to kill structural reaction forces.

2Hz is probably manageable at over 100dB with the Thigpen fan subwoofer but I doubt it offers any real dangers except to neighbour relations. In fact if memory serves 2 Hz is the start point for REW's sweep. I have never noticed any sound or physiological effect from sub 10Hz sinewaves. The Gavreau infrasonic weapons website suggests 7-8Hz has dangers. If it has then my IB cannot reproduce them with enough power to be noticeable. Though it is quite capable of very serious output at this frequency. It can probably manage up around 100dB(C) without risking the drivers. Others with much larger IBs can probably reach 120dB(C) at sub 10Hz frequencies. One chap with a huge IB containing many 18" drivers can move the sofa around the room while people are sitting on it. Ripples can be seen crossing concrete floors and walls.

I have heard recently that the American and Israeli forces are using sonic weapons in street fighting to disable enemy combatants while reducing civilian casualties. The world's most powerful subwoofer has recently been built into a shipping container for US defence/offence research purposes. There are details and pictures online if you search for them.

I haven't heard of 33Hz being particularly interesting but I'm sue you'll enlighten us? :rolleyes: :eek: :suicide:
 
i believe its the resonant frequency of a certain part of a ladies body ;)

google brings up a few links but nothing supporting, guess i'll have to try it :devil:
 
Ah yes, wasn't there even a magazine called 33hz?

'Stay there darling, I'm about to play a sound. Tell me if you feel anythng' :rotfl:
 
I believe it was in the MTX van that K&M Acoustics built that had woman returning when they were demo'ing it at a car show.

OOh that tickles:D
 

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