HAs anyone messed around with an HLabs amp? Need some feedback here...im just not sure if they provide the output. I have a JL 300/2 on 2 12" Kicker Comp Vr's and they seem to be as loud in my car as in a friends car with a HLabs 800x1 on them. Anyone out there in the great caraudiotalk domain with some input? thanx h34r:
what are the differences in both the car and the install? hlab amps have proven to be pretty nice...simple, yet effective
Friend has: Mits. Eclipse hatchback, same 0-Gauge wire, stock battery & alt, stock HU, HLabs 800watt amp, FMOD @ 50Hz. I have: GrandAm w/fabricated upper rear seat, 0-Gauge, Hawker battery, stock alt, Calrion Pro Audio HU, ALpine EQ, JL 300/2 running the subs crossover @ 70Hz. And a little bit of dynomat. The kickers are in a pre-fab box, about.... 1.25 each, i dunno. The installs are pretty similar, at least on the power supply side. I think i have a superior signal path, but do not know if that makes a large diffrence on the subs. h34r:
Well, to be honest... the difference between 600 watts and 800 watts is not very significant, I wouldn't be surprised if that didn't create a percievable acoustical difference in output level. That's very normal... Remember, it takes a quadrupling of power to effect a gain of 6dB... and that is in theory! In reality, there's power compression to contend with... which means it will be more than quadruple to effect a 6dB lift... That's assuming that the subwoofer has a linear BL and flat KMS curve out to the suspension limits, which generally couldn't be further from the truth... once again, meaning more power is generally required to effect the 6dB lift in reality... And that also is assuming that the subwoofer actually has excursion and motor left, so that when you put in the additional power, the subwoofer can actually continue increasing in excursion, that it's even physically possible for an additional output increase. I'm not at all surprised at your findings! At any rate, about the HL amps... From what I understand, they are hand-assembled amps. My impression is that they look like Radio Shack projects, I'm not a big fan of the connection hardware... But they have been tested (in magazines, even) to put out rated power, and be very efficient doing it! I don't think distortion specs were too stellar, and the F-mods tested out with more of a 6dB/octave slope than 12dB/octave... But they did make rated power, and were efficient, and that's a pretty big part of things. I've got a 2400x2 amp here (yikes!) that I am planning on using for testing.... once I do a LOT more work to my electrical system to support the thing! B)
so your saying you are not surprised that the subs sound louder in my car, with the JL amp putting out LESS power h34r:
200 watts is a lot when you compare 1 watt to 201 watts... 600 vs 800 isn't a lot of difference... amp settings, also similar?
Correct... Particularly if you are talking about different cars. B) Right there - that alone will account for variances even beyond that which a truly significant difference in power, or even cone area, can compensate for! Not only differences in cabin gain (transfer function) mind you, but differences in your interior materials, reflective surfaces, foam densities, plastics, cloths, carpeting, reflection angles, etc.. will all play a large role in defining how each cabin performs as an acoustical environment. Power might not be a factor at all, particularly in the scope of a properly designed subwoofer/enclosure combination with respect to the power that they are to be presented with... I wouldn't be at all surprised if I had my old install still up and running in my Civic if i significantly beat both of you in terms of SPL with my old three JL 10W6's on just a 400 watt alpine amp that I ran for about 7 years... the enclosure was designed so that I wouldn't need 300 watts per sub to reach full output. But then again, 400 watts to 800 watts would only effect about a 2dB gain... which is nearly the minimum that people can typically perceive... so that's hardly a bold statement...
I understand the transfer of energy, and the noticeble effect of different materials on such. What i really want to know is another persons opinion on their use of an HLabs amp. I cannot find one. Not interested in a magazine review, i have read those. The JL puts out 300 watts. That is 500watts difference. At 800 watts vs. 300watts, you have about 5dB difference which translates into a percived increase of about 50%. Double power may give you +3dB, but +10dB actually sounds twice as loud. Its the same box and same subs with a different amp. I am going to change the amps out to test in both cars. h34r:
