Reliable foundation. Choosing a car cabinet subwoofer
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Before reading descriptions of models, you can compare their parameters in the form of table. And if you want to see which woofers for cars are offered by the best manufacturers, then complete catalog of subwoofers is at your service.
 Loud subwoofer, stylish cabinet, good headroom, good price.< /div> Takes up a lot of space in the boot, cannot be placed in a corner, as the bass-reflex port is blocked, the bass is embellished. | The Sony subwoofer is installed in a bass-reflex design in the form of a "barrel". Only at Sony the barrel is not round, as usual, but hexagonal. Probably not to ride on the boot. Seriously, consider the advice: the cabinet subwoofer must be fixed in the boot, firstly, so that the connecting connectors do not break, and secondly, so that in the event of an accident the subwoofer does not fly out of its place. The model with a hexagonal shape looks unusual. The shape of the polypropylene diffuser here is also hexagonal. Now it’s clear where the idea came from to get away from the classic round shape of the barrel. From a practical point of view, a non-round shape of the cone and surround can significantly affect the price, not the sound. Subwoofers with this acoustic design are attractive to young car bass connoisseurs due to their low price and high volume level. They are suitable for music that does not require precise bass notes, such as rap. This Sony subwoofer will blow loud enough for its low price range. However, any subwoofer can be made to blow loudly by increasing its acoustic volume and setting the bass-reflex port to a higher frequency (for example, from 30 Hz to 50 Hz). However, the more you increase these two settings, the more the subwoofer will sound like a bell ringing at the same frequency. And this is not good for high-quality perception of music. Let's consider the most budgetary option for connecting this inexpensive subwoofer. In Pioneer car radios, you can turn on the LPF (low-pass filter) for the rear speakers and instead connect a subwoofer with a bridge, that is, directly to the acoustic outputs of the radio without an additional amplifier. The sensitivity of the Sony subwoofer head is enough for such a connection scheme. At an average volume level, we will even hear bass, but of course, this will not be enough, and the driver will want to unscrew the volume control to the maximum, which can lead to overheating of the 300-watt voice coil of the Sony XS-GTX121LT subwoofer. At the maximum volume level, a clipped (distorted) low-frequency signal will come to the subwoofer from the radio. Therefore, it is desirable for the Sony XS-GTX121LT subwoofer to select an amplifier of approximately 350-450 watts of rated power. In addition, it is advisable to install the Sony XS-GTX121LT subwoofer in the boot behind the rear seats in the centre so as not to block the exhaust of the bass-reflex pipe, which is located on the back of the subwoofer, otherwise it will seem that the bass will be half as much as it should be. |
 Low price, well protected woofer, amp and wires included, good musical ability, remote bass control. < span>Cumbersome cabinet, better sound quality after refining the subwoofer. Price from 5 230 ₴
| The body shape of the Mystery MBB-302A is almost square, the back wall is straight and will not fit snugly against the back of a tilted rear seat . A chromium-plated steel decorative mesh will reliably protect the diffuser from damage. The power connection is made in the form of an easily removable connector for easy removal of the subwoofer from the boot. The kit includes wires for connecting the speaker. The signal can be taken both from car radios that have linear outputs, and from radios that do not have them. Not all car radios, especially regular models, are equipped with a subwoofer adjustment function. In this case, for convenient adjustment of the subwoofer bass for different styles of music or for different quality of recordings, a remote bass control is included. The letter A in the name of this model emphasizes that this subwoofer is active. The built-in amplifier has a nominal power of 180 watts, while the subwoofer head has a rating of 400 watts. The difference in numbers is explained by the fact that low-cost active subwoofers cannot be equipped with powerful amplifiers, as this will greatly affect their cost. The suspension made of foamed polypropylene does not harden in frost. Therefore, in winter you can listen to music without first "warming up" the subwoofer. The surround is very wide, which means that the paper cone travel could be large and the sound pressure high at very deep bass, if not for some of the nuances of this model:
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 High efficiency, large headroom, works with both low-cost low-power amplifiers and expensive powerful ones , high sensitivity (92 dB). Not suitable for all genres of music, bulky case, diffuser not well enough protected from small objects. | Passive subwoofer in a large bass reflex cabinet. A very popular model for those who want to get a lot of bass for relatively little money. In addition to the price, the design also attracts attention to the JBL GT5-1204BR. On a night-black carpet background, a massive silver phase inverter port with a patented Slipstream shape stands out. The fast movement of air through a normal bass reflex port can be accompanied by various overtones, but not with a Slipstream port. The silver dust cap in the centre of the diffuser bears the name of the American JBL brand. Thick silvery curved arches ensure the woofer's cone runs smoothly, protecting it from bulky items in the boot. And it is better not to put small-sized objects next to the oscillating diffuser. Rigid and very light polypropylene diffuser is given even more rigidity by four ribs, which also give the speaker an original appearance. The external volume of the box is rather big — more than 50 liters. According to the sound pressure developed in the car interior, this JBL bass-reflex can be compared with a large-sized bandpass (narrow-room acoustic design with a high coefficient of performance (COP)). The JBL GT5-1204BR has an even narrower frequency range than the bandpass. What does this say when listening to music? On many modern electronic compositions, the bass has no tonality. With this kind of bass, JBL does a great job, playing it dynamically, powerfully, etc. Music with a wide range of bass notes, JBL will not play back as well. After all, it has a pronounced emphasis on one note. It is better to dock this subwoofer with low-playing midbass and use an LP filter at a level not higher than 80 hertz, but better than 70 hertz, since this model has a sharp decline higher amplitude-frequency characteristic. In the lower part of the frequency range, there is also a sharp drop in level — after the frequency of 39 hertz, to which the phase inverter port is tuned. This is the standard effect of all bass reflex enclosures. This subwoofer was conceived as a loud bass booster. The rear wall of the subwoofer has a slope that follows the backrest of the rear seat, so there is little variation in the installation of the JBL GT5-1204BR in the boot. Acoustic terminals are "recessed" in the side wall of the case. Screw terminals securely fix the cable with a cross section of up to 10 mm / 2. The rated power of the JBL GT5-1204BR (275 W) is not for low-cost amplifiers, but it will also bass with low-power ones. After all, there is an active version of this model with a built-in amplifier of 150 watts JBL GT-BassPro 12. The recommended nominal amplifier power for a passive JBL subwoofer should be 300-500 watts, taking into account power drawdowns of the amplifier in the cross section and the quality of the wiring, and provided that the power source uses a regular lead-acid battery. |
| Very high efficiency, original design with blue body illumination, with a powerful amplifier, the bass can be felt by the body. Bad microdynamics. Price from 6 557 up to 9 300 ₴
| Alpine SBG-1244BP Price from 6 557 up to 9 300 ₴ → This is one of the most compact bandpass models. This type of acoustic design passes only a narrow part of the frequency range emitted by the subwoofer head through the slotted port. The sound pressure level of the Alpine SBG-1244BP bandpass is higher than, for example, that of a similar subwoofer model in a bass-reflex enclosure Alpine SBG-1244BR (with the same input power ). Another advantage of the bandpass is that the woofer is perfectly protected from external damage, only an incorrectly tuned power amplifier can disable it. The black box subwoofer does not attract the attention of buyers , so the engineers made an acrylic glass window through which the speaker is visible. The case is illuminated from the inside with blue LEDs, and at night it looks very beautiful, and even attractive during the day. Turning on the twelve-volt backlight of the subwoofer housing can be powered from the boot limit switch, and then it will not always light up, but only when the boot is opened. In case of replacement or repair, the speaker can be accessed by removing the acrylic glass. The Alpine SBG-1244BP is very versatile in terms of matching a power amplifier to it. The rated power of the subwoofer is 250 watts. It works quite loudly with low-cost low-power amplifiers, but if you want to feel the subwoofer not only with your ears, but also with your body, then you will need an amplifier of about 500 watts and preferably a monoblock. After all, single-channel speakers usually have a higher damping factor, that is, they “swing” the speakers better. The case covered with dark grey Carpet looks like a cube, although the back wall is made at an angle, as it repeats the slope of the rear seats. Two pairs of terminals are “recessed” on the side wall: screw terminals for speaker cables and bolted terminals for a screwdriver to turn on the backlight inside the case. In this case, if the terminals are mixed up, the backlight simply will not turn on, and the subwoofer cone will move forward or backward, depending on the polarity of the 12 volt connection at the terminals. By the way, since the speaker inside the case is sideways with respect to the slotted port and in relation to the interior of the car, many may have a question: where should the diffuser start moving forward or backward, and in relation to the interior — to the left or right? In other words, what phase should the subwoofer play in? The answer is ambiguous: the subwoofer phase should be the same as the midbass phase at the listening position, that is, at the driver's seat. But since the driver's seat is not in the centre of the cabin, the phase (polarity) of the subwoofer, as the most distant speaker from the listening position, must be joined to the midbass phase by ear. It is convenient to change the polarity of the subwoofer if there is a phase switch in the radio settings. If not, then you will have to do it on the acoustic terminals of the subwoofer case. |
 Compact bass-reflex cabinet, original cabinet coating, reproduces very low frequencies. No wiring included for connecting a subwoofer, not the best cone protection, weak overload potential of the moving speaker system. | Another version of an active subwoofer, only in a bass-reflex design. The case of Kicx ICQ 301 BPA is more compact than the closed case of active Mystery MBB-302A. Kicx has an original MDF body cover. The side walls are covered with glossy black vinyl, and the front and rear are covered with plastic, similar to carbon fibre. The bass reflex port and amplifier are on opposite side walls. The material of the subwoofer cone is polypropylene with a chrome-plated front part, and the suspension is rubber, of medium size. The diffuser is protected by thin metal arcs. According to the manufacturer, the rated power of this subwoofer is 300 watts. This is outstanding power by the standards of active low-cost subwoofers. If this were however then Kicx ICQ 301 BPA would be twice as powerful as all of its competitors. However, if you look at the complete fuse rating of 20 amperes, then it is easy to calculate the actual output power using a well-known approximate formula. The voltage of the on-board network with the engine running is 14 volts, multiplied by the fuse rating of the amplifier 20 A and multiplied by the efficiency of the amplifier class (amplifiers A / B class efficiency is approximately 50%) 14 * 20 * 0.5 = 140 watts. This is already a standard indicator of the nominal power of most active amplifiers. Wiring for connecting to Kicx ICQ 301 BPA needs to be purchased separately, only a remote subwoofer volume control and a connector for high-voltage connection are included. Also, the input signal is taken from the low-voltage inputs through RCA connectors. Three control knobs of the built-in amplifier adjust: 1) the sensitivity of the input signal; 2) the cutoff frequency of the LP filter (cutting mid and high frequencies) from 50 to 250 hertz; 3) Bass Boost level with a centre boost of 50 hertz from zero to +18 dB. In the car, the Kicx subwoofer sounds very low with Bass Boost off, down to barely audible to the human ear 20 Hz. Therefore, using the Bass Boost control, you should correct the frequency response of the bass. In this case, you can achieve a better balance between dynamism and bass depth. |
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