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Whats the purpose of square subs? (1 Viewer)

Oachalon

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Apr 23, 2002
Messages
195
I have a tempest for my ht that i built and i have 2 12 Solo baric L7s. If you do it right like any speaker you can make any speaker sound good. The solo-barics have won plenty of spl competitions and plenty of sq competitions. The subs are 4 years old and they still play like they are brand new and trust me they have been abused for 4 years. They have no wear on them so kicker must have done it correct. The surround is perfect the cone is perfect and everything works great. The suspension is round. Im happy with my tempest in my ht and i am happy with my kickers in my car and thats all that matters. The kickers do have around a 16mm xmax which is not a ton but they have a xmech or xmag forget which one is around 2inches so if ur doing all out spl and dont care about how it sounds at that point they get moving and get real loud. When they are within xmax they sound good.
 

Oachalon

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Apr 23, 2002
Messages
195
Michael the link u sent is for the L5 which is the lower end version. The L7 has more xmax and handles more power and a stronger cone. Now if you really want to see a massive square sub look at the kicker solo x. The 18 weighs 100lbs.
 

JimPeitersen

Second Unit
Joined
Dec 7, 2001
Messages
470
I think that the answer has been beaten to death, the square subs are intended to maximize linear displacement for a given size.
Hank, I've always found your answers to be useful and technically correct - but did you miss it on this one (given the same 12" linear measurement [across the driver cutout "hole"] it seems obvious to me that a square shape will displace more air than a circle)?
JP
 

Jason Dalton

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Feb 20, 2004
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174
I don't understand the "circle has the most area of any shape" satement. I'm assuming that means the most area per unit length of perimeter.
 

Chu Gai

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Jun 29, 2001
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I am learning a lot about sex here that they don't show in the movies. Thanks!
 

Hank Frankenberg

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Oct 13, 1998
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Chu, THAT was funny!:)
Okay, guys, here's what I meant (wish I knew how to post drawings): imagine a square of whatever side length that is the dimension of the cone of a square driver. Now, in the exact center of that square, insert the point of your drawing compass, open the compass leg out so the tip of the lead is at one of the square's corners. Then scribe a complete circle. The circle will touch all four corners of the square, but beyond the corners, the circle will encompass four areas the shape of a squashed half-moon. The area within those four areas is the extra square surface area that would be added by a circular driver cone.
Thats how I envision it, and if I'm wrong, please let me know without too much humiliating diatribe.;)
 

MichaelAngelo

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Oct 22, 2002
Messages
137
Hank,

I get what you're saying about the area of a circle. :) I'm not trying to promote Kicker, but their reason given for square subs is this: Round subs would have a roughly diamond shaped gap between them, mounted on a wall in a car (or van, most likely, for campetition use,)whereas square subs leave almost no mounting board exposed; thus more of the mounting board, or wall, is used as moving cone area.

In the Apr/May 2002 issue of Car Stereo Review's Mobile Entertainment, Tom Nousaine reviews the Xtant X1244, a hexagonal (!) shaped sub, and he writes; "With large mounting surfaces, such as a wall dedicated to subwoofers, it could be possible to get more diaprahgm area with hex-frame subs than with round-frame subs. Imagine a wall of woofers; hexagons fit together better than circles..."

HTH
 

JimPeitersen

Second Unit
Joined
Dec 7, 2001
Messages
470
Hank,
You are correct, but we are thinking about it differently. I, and I assume others, are thinking about the simple "width" of a 12" driver. The 12" square subs fit where most 12" round subs do, and give you just a little more surface area (the "corners" of the square outside a circle of 12" diameter.) Using your example, the round sub would be bigger than a standard 12", and would indeed have more surface area than the square 12". Since Kicker and others seem to have conquered the problems with the surround corners, I see no reason why a square sub can't be comparable with a round sub (SQ/SPL). As an extreme example, the other day I heard one of those Sonic Impact cardboard speakers systems (yes, cardboard) in the shape of a trapezoid and it sounded amazingly good.
JP
 

Brian Bunge

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2000
Messages
3,716
So the real question is, is the 12" measured from corner to corner diagonally or is it the actual length of one side? This will determine which has more area.
 

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