i'm not actually looking for a 1000 watt automotive system, i'm looking for a maximum "slam" small woofer that will work with only 20-30 watts of power for a custom BICYCLE system. that's right... bike.
i've looked at a few high efficiency woofers from fostex, eminence and even pyle but have found that most have serious rolloff in the bass region. i'd rather get an 88dB woofer that is relatively flat below 100Hz and that will work with just a little "boombox amp".
$500 JL audio woofers are out of the question. 50 pound woofers aren't practical and i'm not a fan of foam surrounds either. i'm just looking for decent punchy (not ported) bass in a small fiberglass enclosure that won't eat batteries up on power up.
looks are a little bit important to me as the bike is a custom. at the moment, i'm thinking of going with a "Boss" 10" woofer as they are rated at 93dB or so, look light and stylish.
anyone that knows of other woofers, especially 8" that can "get it up" in a tiny enclosure with just 20 watts would be real helpful. i'd like to run a pair of 8s sealed with 93dB 500-20Khz planar drivers. basically i want a hifi boombox.
i'm not looking for "deep boom", i'm looking for quality "thump" that's battery friendly. i'm aiming for a $150 max for a pair of 8s or a nice 10". i've seen 97dB kevlar 8s, but they were 8 ohm and $350. 8" X 94dB X 4 ohm X $75 w/rubber would be nice.
i was going to say that i was totally surprised to see cerwin vega drivers rated at only 88dB when they used to be known for 95dB+ speakers in the past.
for something like you're doing you may want to instead consider using a 6" woofer in a folded horn or TL enclosure. you'd use about the same space, it'd probably be lighter, and use less power. that's the sort of setup most small 3 piece PC speaker systems use. that or even just go with a 4th order bandpass enclosure fpr the 6" driver. you won't find anything as small as an 8" with a flat response to 20Hz. those smaller drivers just have too high of an Fs and not enough mass to deliver really low frequencies at a flat response.
i realize that smaller drivers roll off more due to physics, but some drivers roll off more than others. i was just hoping that someone (eg. set-head) had alot of experience with higher efficiency 8" woofers.
horns are definately out of the question. i don't like horn tweeter sound and never was a klipsch fan. i love my tiny super zeros. besides, folded horns hide the drivers and would also drive the box price up. i have no idea how much that will cost.
as it stands now, i'm considering going with 8" X 91dB 2X8 ohm DVC daytons because they're super cheap and shielded too. then i could mount an ipod in the box without fear of magnetic interference.
it might not be the most efficient system, but the daytons look great naked and are shielded. i think i could get useable bass with only 91dB. the daytons go pretty low and i've found that i can get useable bass out of a pair of 86-89dB 5 1/2" mission minimonitors with the port plugs in.
i guess i'll just give up an hour or two of run time for those shielded daytons. they look like they might have been old boston acoustics drivers.
i've also considered bi-amping with 10wpc for the 93dB planars and 20-30wpc for the bass. i don't know if 4 channels of line lever x-over is more efficient than 2 channels with regular x-overs. i read somewhere that crossovers tax amplifiers which would matter even more when using rechargeables.
i had a lasonic boombox that got a couple hours use with only 10 batteries and 50wpc i think including lighted 12 band eg and other lights. i imagined that not sharing the power load with anything (tape, lights, eq amplification etc.) would help run time.
i'm not into ports or horns, but thanks for the feedback. i actually had considered 6 1/2 X 8 ohm full range fostex drivers in regular horns for a minute, but i love planar speed. magnepans are super light, but wouldn't be practical on a bike. LOL
i was hoping that there were alot of quality high efficiency drivers available besides 8 ohm $$$ fostex and lowthers, tiny tang bands not included.
i've also considered either including a bass boost circuit or "pre-equalizing" tracks before loading them. then i'd only need a potentiometer in front of the amp, or could even use the ipod's volume control direct into the amp(s).
i actually like bass rolloff. i didn't want my 12" sub, but couldn't get the 2X8" box i wanted. i'm starting to think that 91dB X 8" will do as i bet that the cheap drivers in old boomboxes are only 85-89dB efficient. besides, i doubt any boomboxes were ever acoustic suspension or used power caps. ;)