what does this mean? If the number is high does this mean the sub is louder? also which sub is better? 500w rms 1000w peak 87.3db 500w rms 1000w peak 93.3db
Frequency response is the range of tones it can take. The lower the frequency, the lower the pitch. A good subwoofer will go down pretty far. Anything below 30hz is pretty good. And, obviously, 2khz = 2000hz.
The sub with the 93 sensitivity is better on paper, but different companies use different methods to test their subs. The sub with 87 db could actually be more efficient.
It actually has very little to do with how loud the sub is anyway. Some are measured with 1W/1M, some 2.83V/1M(this will appear louder than the 1W/1M test) some fudge and give more voltage and a shorter distance(and don't state this), etc. A lot of people try to guess SPL of a sub by this rating and come up disappointed. They use the principle of twice the power is a 3 db increase, or 10x the power is a 10db increase, so say a sub with an 84 db rating would do 94db with 10 watts, 104db with 100 watts, 114db with 1000 watts, and so on. Very ineffective way of guessing SPL. Some of the top rated subs in the world actually have low efficiencies: JL 13W7: 86.3 db 12" Adire Audio Brahma: 84.4 db 12" Resonant Engineering X.X.X.: 85.9 db For comparison, the 12" Image Dynamics ID Max is rated at 93.2 db, and rated at 1000W RMS, same as the JL 13W7. You'd think the ID Max was a louder sub than the 13W7, but it's not the case. The ID Max is a fantastic sub, don't get me wrong, and I used it strictly for example. What efficiency can show you sometimes is how well the sub can work with lower power, in this case 1W, given that the ratings weren't lied about and you're comparing apples to apples.