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loud stereo VS loud exhaust

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Heh, my buddy used to have 4 12's in a competition car. We used to crank up the Bass Mechanics CD he used in competitions, pause a certain frequency, and wait at stop lights. Then we would just hit play for a split second. It was hilarious to see people freak out. Some would touch their dash like they thought their car was vibrating itself to death. I have never heard a louder stereo in my life and don't care to. The SPL would literally cause smoke from a cigarette to move an inch or more.
 
Originally posted by: Ronstang
The biggest problem that people fail to realize about car stereos with large woofers is that most do not fully develop their waves of the low frequencies until they are way outside of the car....so basically it is louder outside the car than it is inside for the extremely low bass frequencies. The waves allso travel a very long way with a large amount of energy. Try some 15" in a car. I did and they were usueless except for the people down the street.

We started using larger numbers of small drivers in our systems for cleaner bass that actually stays more in the car. I prefer the sound of 8" drivers or less. You would be surprised how much sound you can get out of an array of small drivers when the enclosure is built correctly.
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It's actually frequency related. Not the size of the driver. A 100hz wave is something like 15ft from peak to peak. So you are correct, but it's not the size of the driver, but the frequency that is being played.
 
Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
What causes the sound to not be heard/felt inside the car, but allows it to be heard/felt outside of it?
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My buddy and partner in college was the sound engineer and explained that the larger the driver the longer the wave takes to fully develop and they get longer the lower the frequency being reproduced. When you get low enough there are sounds that you can hear 15 outside the car that you will never hear inside the car. This is one reason we experimented with large arrays of very small drivers.

 
Originally posted by: Modular
Originally posted by: Ronstang
The biggest problem that people fail to realize about car stereos with large woofers is that most do not fully develop their waves of the low frequencies until they are way outside of the car....so basically it is louder outside the car than it is inside for the extremely low bass frequencies. The waves allso travel a very long way with a large amount of energy. Try some 15" in a car. I did and they were usueless except for the people down the street.

We started using larger numbers of small drivers in our systems for cleaner bass that actually stays more in the car. I prefer the sound of 8" drivers or less. You would be surprised how much sound you can get out of an array of small drivers when the enclosure is built correctly.
Click to expand...

It's actually frequency related. Not the size of the driver. A 100hz wave is something like 15ft from peak to peak. So you are correct, but it's not the size of the driver, but the frequency that is being played.
Click to expand...
Right, but the frequency a driver can achieve is generally related to the displacement of the driver. You are right though that it depends on the frequency being played, not necessarily the size of the drivers alone.
 
Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Right, but the frequency a driver can achieve is generally related to the displacement of the driver. You are right though that it depends on the frequency being played, not necessarily the size of the drivers alone.
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That is probably true but the larger the driver the lower a frequency it is going to be able to reproduce and at that point you can't hear it in the car anymore anyway. Like I said, my buddy was the sound guy I just listened to what he told me as I was the guy with the creative building skills. I just made things that fit his specs yet fit the car.
 
Originally posted by: Ronstang
Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Right, but the frequency a driver can achieve is generally related to the displacement of the driver. You are right though that it depends on the frequency being played, not necessarily the size of the drivers alone.
Click to expand...

That is probably true but the larger the driver the lower a frequency it is going to be able to reproduce and at that point you can't hear it in the car anymore anyway. Like I said, my buddy was the sound guy I just listened to what he told me as I was the guy with the creative building skills. I just made things that fit his specs yet fit the car.
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Hehe, I agreed with you 😉

I'm just saying this: 15" driver producing 60hz vs 8" driver producing 60hz at the same SPL is the same sound

If your music hits some very low frequencies producing the effect you speak about, then yeah, going with smaller drivers would solve it, as would putting in a crossover to filter out very low frequencies in the larger drivers.

In most cases, it's probably easier/simpler to just go with smaller drivers because they produce the range that you want. Ronstang, you're right, but this is ATOT, and someone has to point out flaws in even a correct answer 😛
 
Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Originally posted by: Ronstang
Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Right, but the frequency a driver can achieve is generally related to the displacement of the driver. You are right though that it depends on the frequency being played, not necessarily the size of the drivers alone.
Click to expand...

That is probably true but the larger the driver the lower a frequency it is going to be able to reproduce and at that point you can't hear it in the car anymore anyway. Like I said, my buddy was the sound guy I just listened to what he told me as I was the guy with the creative building skills. I just made things that fit his specs yet fit the car.
Click to expand...
Hehe, I agreed with you 😉

I'm just saying this: 15" driver producing 60hz vs 8" driver producing 60hz at the same SPL is the same sound

If your music hits some very low frequencies producing the effect you speak about, then yeah, going with smaller drivers would solve it, as would putting in a crossover to filter out very low frequencies in the larger drivers.

In most cases, it's probably easier/simpler to just go with smaller drivers because they produce the range that you want. Ronstang, you're right, but this is ATOT, and someone has to point out flaws in even a correct answer 😛
Click to expand...

It's all good. I am old. I like good tight bass because it sounds best with the kind of music I like. I don't like muddy buzzing bass. If what I listened to made that kind of sound it would be because my sound system was poorly designed and tuned badly. I have no use for frequencies I cannot hear/feel because they are too low and don't fully develop until they are outside the car. This is why I like smaller drivers.

I am now going to experiment with designing and building some bass vents as there is limited space in classic cars and I and my friends do not want huge boxes in our cars. A properly designed bass vent should solve the packaging problem yet deliver some nice punchy bass for us old foggies who just want some decent sound.
 
..off road exhaust used on streets and hiways is the problem. Somehow they think if it's louder it's faster. The competition audio thing is ridiculous. If the sound can be heard out side the vehicle it's too loud and numerous communities are passing and enforcing ordnances for both exhaust and audio noise pollution. Time to grow up and get a life.
 
I swear I am going to go postal on the weekend warrior Harley guys in my neighborhood. I am so sick of them burning their pipes when they drive by a coffee shop, or when I am simply trying to enjoy an evening at home with the windows open.
Why are Harley's so loud? I used to get crap for my Mustang when it had crappy mufflers and dumps, but it was never half as loud as any ahole's Harley.
Unfortunately, I think many of them are part of the good ol' boy system we have in Fullerton.
 
Originally posted by: foghorn67
I swear I am going to go postal on the weekend warrior Harley guys in my neighborhood. I am so sick of them burning their pipes when they drive by a coffee shop, or when I am simply trying to enjoy an evening at home with the windows open.
Why are Harley's so loud? I used to get crap for my Mustang when it had crappy mufflers and dumps, but it was never half as loud as any ahole's Harley.
Unfortunately, I think many of them are part of the good ol' boy system we have in Fullerton.
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..most of em are deaf as a post from all the exhaust racket. They exceed all safe noise levels for industrial enviroments. yet they are on the streets blowing everybodys hearing to hell.
 
Noise was my number 1 pet peeve when I lived in the city. In 2 1/2 years in my present house, I have only heard the bass from a car stereo once. Had that vehicle gone by my house a 2nd time with the bass really loud, I'd have warned the driver that my neighborhood wasn't going to put up with his noise. After about the 5th time, I'd follow through with my warning.
 
Originally posted by: MegaVovaN
Yo, can crotch rockets be quiet? I want one but I don't want it to be loud...
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I have yet to hear a crotch rocket that's as loud as the Harleys that come through here...
 
Originally posted by: DrPizza
Noise was my number 1 pet peeve when I lived in the city. In 2 1/2 years in my present house, I have only heard the bass from a car stereo once. Had that vehicle gone by my house a 2nd time with the bass really loud, I'd have warned the driver that my neighborhood wasn't going to put up with his noise. After about the 5th time, I'd follow through with my warning.
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You and me are more a like then you can imagine. I didn't think you would feel this way about loud music but you do!
 
Loud exhaust isn't as much of a distraction to drivers as loud stereos. Even without a high-end system, a loud stereo can make you not able to hear an ambulance approaching nearby or shake so hard that it literally HURTS people in nearby cars.

Some people just can't help their loud exhaust, it's part of their car. I haven't seen a car stereo yet that doesn't have volume control.

I hate fart pipes and obnoxious exhaust, but when I'm stuck at a redlight next to someone who is pounding their bass to hard, I just want to smash their window out, reach in and turn it down. It's a million times more inconsiderate and it's harmful to a person's ears.
 
Originally posted by: Injury
Some people just can't help their loud exhaust, it's part of their car.
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If their exhaust is extremely loud, they could've helped it. They chose that muffler, 'cuz the car damn sure didn't come like that.
 
A judge once enforced the loud noise ordinance by making the offenders either pay the $250 fine
or listen to his music for an hour. Then he gets out a big boom box and proceeds to play "Dean Martins
best" @ full volume. The kids were pissed but had to sit for an hour and listen. Then he tells them this is
how the rest of us feel when you pummel rap at us...
 
Originally posted by: troytime
Originally posted by: Ronstang
Originally posted by: troytime
ok, to clarify, i don't really mind it so much during the day

its the post 10pm sounds that make me want to murder
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I understand that and that is why when I used to go cruising on Friday and Saturday nights in the Shelby I drove very slowly on the main residential streets and idled up the ones with houses until I could get the car into the garage. That damn car is incredibly loud. I used to ask the neighbors all the time if they ever heard me come in late because it was usually 2-4AM before I was getting home and no one ever heard me. I even parked my car in my neighbor's garage across from me for a while and he never heard me coming in either.
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it would be fantastic if everyone was that considerate

i used to have four 12" subs in my car, 146dB could let several blocks of houses know that i'm there - but i usually kept it turned down while in town
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Not to mention being able to drive around at 146dB could prove a bit difficult.
 
Originally posted by: troytime
Why are there no laws to keep the noise of bikes and muscle cars down?
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you need to go to a city council meeting, not post on OT to get that answer
 
A city council would be stupid to pass regulations on vehicle noises like harleys, because a metro bus is ludicrously loud and would be rendered immediately illegal.
 
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