you have no clue what you are talking about. at comps people only use free airs to hit SQ comp levels...at least the winners anyway.

i didnt say all free airs are efficient--i said the IB4s are designed to be efficient and that's why they works so good.

jlw7s mean nothing to me--actually jl makes a crappy sub unless you are talking about their free air wonder.

in my car w/ sealed enclosures i have a infinity kappa perfect which is much nicer than the JL W7--w7 pushes more air, but who cares? the other sound better.

 

"you have no clue what you are talking about. at comps people only use free airs to hit SQ comp levels...at least the winners anyway."

OK, not a single SQ competitor uses an enclosure.

"i didnt say all free airs are efficient--i said the IB4s are designed to be efficient and that's why they works so good."

That's why I found your comment pointless, not that you said IB4's are efficient freeair, but that you found this as a good and unique quality. ANY SUB placed in a freeair setup will be efficient.

"jlw7s mean nothing to me--actually jl makes a crappy sub unless you are talking about their free air wonder.

in my car w/ sealed enclosures i have a infinity kappa perfect which is much nicer than the JL W7--w7 pushes more air, but who cares? the other sound better."

I only brought up the W7 as it is from the same manufacturer. And yes, it moves more air than a Perfect, which is one of the reasons it costs more, NOT BECAUSE OF IT'S CONE MATERIAL. And I must say that I prefer the sound quality of the W7 over the Perfect.

 

So you must not be winning any comps, huh?

 

SR - I've been competing in USAC for over 18 years & don't recall seeing a free-air sub system win an SPL portion of any larger-than-local scene event ( State, Regional or National levels ). I remember that the "Reaper" Intrepid ( 1998 601+ Expert World Champion ) had (2) free-air RF 15's at one time but once U hit 150 dB, there's no extra points for those in the Expert division. U get 1 point for each dB over 100 in the classes with no cap ( except for the aforementioned Expert class). U need something that will give U a consistent air volume like a sealed or ported box to control the backwave & tuning frequency of the sub-bass system. Infinite baffles ( yes, I'm a JL fan ) have the biggest advantage in space/weight savings but not in generating SPL. I also like the IB subs except for the fact that they R only available in an 8 ohm impedance so U'll need a larger amp than if U had an enclosure. Free-airs have their place; in fact, when U think about it, aren't door & kickpanel mounted speakers essentually free airs? Percy & I don't have a problem with U guys engaging in some friendly disagreements but lets don't let this transcind into name calling or we're gonna end up like some of the other threads. U guys ( & ladies ) have rarely been any trouble to we Moderators here in the Electronics Forum so let's play nice!!

 

Gene,

You got it. You can either think of door speakers as having a wierd enclosure (very wierd shape) or as an infinite baffle. The many headaches in tuning! Oh what fun!

Kyle,

Dude....ouch.

Bababooey,

You nailed it right on the head. Cone material is not the "last word" in a speaker. And it never will be either unless the manufacturer wants to hype it.

Percy