Re: stereo

[Robert Houk - WorkGroup Server Firmware <robert.houk@east.sun.com>]

   >No kidding.  I remember listening to a single Servo-controlled 7" sub in a
   >home enviro. about ten years ago. . .breathtaking.  Speaker quality and
   >proper enclosure is the key.

   all else being equal, a high quality, properly enclosed, servo controlled
   15" sub will simply blow away the 7".
   you cannot escape the laws of physics...

      I disagree.  I have a sunfire true subwoofer in both theatres in my home.
      Driver complements are as follows:
      1 8" active driver
      1 8" I passive driver
      both with 2.5 - 3 " excursions
      enclosure size is an 11" cube
      powered by an internal 2700 (two thousand seven hundred) watt amplifier
      flat to below 18hz

As Frank said, all else being equal...

A 15" with 2.5-3" excursion will demolish an 8" of the same excursion.
That's Reality(tm) at work.

Further, the simple mechanics of getting an 8" cone to linearly traverse
a distance equal to 25% of its diameter is much trickier than getting a
15" cone to do the same thing for only 12% of its diameter. Remember the
cones are "attached" at the front, and so are not true pistons over 100%
of their radiating surface. Again the 15" wins, hands down, all else
(applied techonolgy) being equal. Now, the 15" will be at a disadvantage
(it will "lose) to the 8" when it comes to driven-mass/driven-area ratio.
Now, put three or four 8" units against a single 15" woofer . . .

Finally (and I *have* to vent here), it is NOT a 2700-watt amplifier.
I repeat, it is NOT a 2700-watt amplifier. If it were, it would require
a 240V connection, or at minimum a 30-amp (e.g., L5-30) 120V connection,
and it plugs into a "normal" 15-amp wall outlet, right? That alone says
that, at most, it can consume 12A@120V == 1440 watts. That's not power
to the speakers, that total power consumed, half (typically) of which is
dissipated as heat. More Reality(tm) at work. On very shakey ground, I
recall the amp being rated at 6A draw . . . (or was it a 6A fuse? Please
check your Sunfire unit and lemme know). So it may be able to pump out
a few hundred watts into the woofer, but no more.

Read the fine print. Carver is quite the showman. He only claims that
his Magical Miracle amplifier driving the Sunfire woofer _PERFORMS THE
SAME_ as a conventional amplifier rated at 2700watts, driving a
conventional woofer. Kinda like saying a turbo-4cyl has the power of a
much bigger V6, so labeling the engine in 'equivilent' displacement
units -- "2.8L 4cyl".

This is not to say the Sunfire is a fine or horrible unit, I have not
heard it, so I cannot say. Carver is a pretty interesting guy, and has
some really interesting ideas bouncing around that head of his. But,
like AudiQuattros (I had to sneak in AudiContent somehow...), Reality(tm)
wins out (e.g, AWD doesn't *brake* any better in low-traction conditions
than RWD or FWD, all else being equal, or the WorldsBestEngineers can
still royally **** up the electrics...no matter how "interesting" their
ideas).

					-RDH