Im worried about the extreme limit of my Tumult... (1 Viewer)

[Craig Treusdell]

Proper calibration to me is when one's vision becomes blurred and one finds it difficult to breathe.
Actually it does not sound that great when the low end overtakes the mids and highs -- the balance to a good sound is not there. But then there are those special times....

I like to think of servo control as ABS.

While I don't plan on using an LT yet (after building my amp I just have no desire to etch/solder another circuit board), I was planning on getting a Rane PE17 parametric eq to do basically the same thing. Along with adding another amp. That is why I am looking for protection.

This is what happened just last week without protection.



Luckily I had 4 more just waiting to pound. Now I have 3.

 

[ThomasW]

Ok then look at Paul W's set up. This is just the right channel of a stereo pair

 

[Brian Bunge]

As far as I'm concerned, servos are nothing more than idiot-proofing your sub. And those JL's are nothing special. I used a 12W6 for years without any problems in a sealed enclosure in my car. But they don't have much in the way of excursion. Ripping the surround comes under the heading of "extreme neglect"!

 

[RichardHOS]

Once you have an error-feedback circuit in place, it can be used for a lot of things. ONE use is as a limiter, but that certainly isn't its only use. Error control is also a possibility, and while it may be common for companies that produce servo-controlled subs to implement limiting functions, the ability to correct errors (distortion) shouldn't be systematically overlooked.

Perhaps the implementation hasn't been the best, or perhaps the technology isn't exactly mature, but stereotyping the technology itself as simple "idiot proofing" seems a bit premature.

As an example, do you think that feedback in amplifier topologies is used only as a limiter? Of course not. The same is true for electro-mechanical feedback.

 

[Seth_L]

I'd like to append my answer...

Over the weekend I realized I didn't have my Tumult hooked to the amp properly for the entire duration I have used it. I had the amp bridged, but was using only one half of the two sides and ground instead of both sides of the amp. By hooking it up correctly I was able to gain ~6dB of volume. It also sounds way better. But, all the times when I was "clipping" the amp into the driver I wasn't delivering the full 2400W into it.

In short I don't know what will happen if you put 2400W into the Tumult.

 

[ClaudeL]

Wow Seth... so I think that Im gonna try to avoid clipping as much as possible I wouldnt like very much one day to fry my Tumult :frowning:

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Maybe this? -

 

[Brian Bunge]

Wayne,

That's what happened to mine with 2500W into it!

 

[DanWiggins]

Guys,

Why the insistent need to find the absolute limits of what your driver can do? It's not a fixed volume setting, or such - it changes with frequency, and the spectral balance will change from movie to movie as well...

If the amp is clipping, turn it down. If the driver's making any kinds of strange noises, turn it down. Sacrifice the last dB or two to save some bucks. And if it's not loud enough, build a bigger/lower tuned box, or go with a second sub.

Power handling is rated per IEC 268-5, which is a 6 dB crest factor pseudo-pink-noise stimulus. It's not a continuous sine wave. It's rated for 1600W RMS with less than 3 dB of compression over 2 hours.

You can pop the driver with 1600W sine wave continuous... Again, use common sense.

Dan Wiggins
Adire Audio

 

[Brian-K-Owens]

Nice post Dan,

I have been debating with someone who wants to drive a Stryke AV12 with 2000 watts. He has decided to mount the drive motor outward on the baffle, cooling fans blowing over it, all kinds of amazing ideas, all because he cannot live with the fact that he cannot drive it to Xmax with the rated 500 watts.

Brian

 

[ClaudeL]

Because I for example, am a last possible dBs freak I know that the excursion changes with frequency but I try to maximize power in order to reach maximum excursion at the lowest / acceptable frequency in a sealed box, for example at 20 Hz. I chose the 2400W amp because I thought about making another vented enclosure and with that type of enclosure, it could accept a little bit more power. For instance, 2400W is certainly a bit too much for my sealed Tumult... but at least, I can be sure that I will most likely never miss some power. I just have to avoid as much as possible clipping... Do I think better now?

Thanx Dan for that post

 

[Marshall Joyner]

Wayne,

That's what happened to mine with 2500W into it!

Brian Bunge
Rutledge Audio Design
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Yea...it stunk...and ups broke it too on the way to me to fix...

I'm a bassmonkey from the word go...and in my house i like to hear the delivered lows...but not no 1600+ watts of it...
I too will never understand why people yearn to drive their tumults and other drivers to their absolute xmax for daily applications...

 

[ClaudeL]

In my case, its not for daily applications... but rather, to feel more confident if I ever need to push it harder sometimes. Most of the time (80%), when I listen to music, I can see just the two first pair of green LEDs on my QSC amp. So I guess that I dont push it so much most of the time.