DoubleWhoosh

Posting on internet boards? Those are credentials? I think anyone with a computer and an internet connection can do that.

This is what I see as the true danger of the internet and its forums - these poor guys come on here, ask a question, and actually believe what some other person says, regardless of their true knowledge or experience. Even if someone else who actually knows something posts, it ends up an argument and then the original question asker ends up even more confused than when he started.

I really don't like to drop facts to make myself look more credible than the next person, in fact, I like to stay behind the scenes and stay quiet as much as possible. Anyone who knows me will attest to this. I don't like to show off, I don't like to brag, nothing. I really do keep to myself. But when I see someone leading a lost, impressionable newbie off into left field, I really feel I need to take a stand. This is because I WAS there at one time, so I do take this specific kind of issue VERY personally. I was lucky enough to have traveled down the road of proper system design, vehicle acoustics, etc. I could have easily gone off on a tangent without knowing it, and been just as confused as the next person, but my guidance came from some very knowledgeable people, most of whom I am sure you never "read about in a magazine". These people are true experts, trust me on this one, and at the same time they have no desire to be in the public eye or be recognized for their accomplishments. This is the same place that Eric Holdaway from Speaker Works gathered a lot of what he knows now, maybe you've never even heard of Eric either.

The fact that I did come from a hobbyist/driveway installer background makes me take to heart the ability to help people out who are just starting out. This is also the time when they need to be shielded from others who blab about nonrelevant theories, and nonproven ideas that they have collected during groupie electronic adventures. You can read all the magazines you want, do all the research you want, until you actually put something in a car and make it work, you don't know squat about car audio.

I've been doing this for a "while" like I said earlier, but I wasn't specific, like I said I don't like to drop credentials just to show off. But for your information it's been over 15 years to be exact. If you are having exams, you are probably 20 or 21 years old. Maybe more, maybe less, but nonetheless, you were around 8 or 9 when I won my first IASCA world championship. I won that year over the second place car by more points than anyone in any other class. This was in the most populated and competitive class at that time. This was even more points than the Speaker Works Buick beat Mark Fukuda's S10 Blazer.

The next year, when you were around 10, I won another IASCA world championship with a different car. I can't even recall offhand anyone who has won with two different cars. This was with a home-built car, against 5 and 6 digit unlimited budget cars. This was when IASCA was run what you brung, no crying.

The next year, I won again, and also set the highest points total for a single season, a record that still stands today, 10 years later. You might have been in the 6th grade by then.

The next year, I won again, and again after that. I can count on my two hands how many people have won two world championships, I can count on one the number of people who have won three or more. Anyone can win that show once, but to repeat is when you show that you meant to win the first time. Five times I've been on the stage for first place finishes. That is not a fluke.

I also had the highest install score at the Masters Invitational in Georgia, and if it were not for a freak failure of a volume control unit and the set number of points deduction for that, I would had highest sound quality as well and would have taken best of show. This was with TWENTY separate judges, and these were literally the 25 best cars on the planet. All head to head, no power classes, no divisions, nothing.

I've written many articles for Car Audio and Electronics, Car Stereo Review, Auto Sound and Security, Mobile Sound, and some others that are not even around anymore. These were all technical articles, relating to sound quality reproduction, enclosure theory, electrical theory, etc. I did not ask them if I could write these, they asked me. Let me know when they come to you to write something.

I also was an OEM Engineer for 3 years at Clarion Corporation of America. I worked on projects with engineers from Nissan, Subaru, Isuzu, GM, Ford, Chrysler, Saab, BMW, Volkswagen, Mazda, Hyundai, maybe more I can't recall right now. In all those situations, I had to EXPLAIN to them about sound reproduction in a car. If you haven't noticed, the sound quality in many of the cars today are pretty damn good. Don't think that happened on accident. Cost is probably the only thing holding OEM back from having systems that would be nearly impossible to improve upon. I also did a lot of automotive acoustic consultation work for McIntosh, as they are a Clarion subsidiary company.

On my own now, I've worked on projects for Alpine Electronics of America, Clarion, Pioneer, MB Quart, aftermarket companies such as Edelbrock, Holley Performance Products, Nitrous Oxide Systems, Tanabe, Toyota USA, Mazda, Honda of America, and others that I cannot mention due to confidentiality agreements. I did prototype electronics work for Audi of Germany, they FLEW a prototype 05 model year A6 here from Germany for me to work on. All of these companies have contracted me on their own for this work. Once again, let me know when they call you up.

I contribute to this Lexus board on my own time (which I really don't have much of as it is), as I truly am dedicated to the Lexus community as a whole. I do not post here to trick people to solicit my business, nor do I try to draw business away from others who post here. I simply try to contribute what information and knowlege I have here for the benefit of others who do not have the luxury of having this information and knowledge at their disposal. I also do not post anything unless I am absolutely positively sure that I am right. Not so that I am right, but so that I do not post misinformation.

MW is of the same mentality, as are all of the moderators on all of the different sections of this forum. When someone comes in and tries to "grace us" with their information, it doesn't fly. Telling us that you will "come back with more detailed posts later" already shows that you feel that your knowledge is so valuable that we must wait patiently for your responses.

I'm not sure what you are trying to prove, but you will wear out your welcome pretty quickly if you continue to attack the regulars here.

MW spends a lot of time helping people out here, he doesn't have to. He has better things to do. Really. But he does. Percy and Mean Gene as well. They sacrifice a lot of hours in their day to keep things in check here. They also have better things to do, but they contribute because they are also dedicated to the Lexus community as a whole. There are always differing opinions on any given topic, but there is no need to be so abrasive that it becomes a hostile posting war.

As mentioned earlier, your posts and information are more than welcome, but your tact is not. I'm sure the moderators will not be happy with my post here, but your arrogance and attempts to discredit me (and the others here) left me with no alternative.

Anyone who does not feel my post here was appropriate, my apologies.

Todd M.

retrodrive

Ouch...this has been so much fun to watch. Babba, just stop digging yourself in deeper. Do not post any detailed information please

LEE, I second Percy on Deflex pads in doors. They make quite a lot of difference with some speakers. Do a search at partsexpress.com but they are a little pricey over there.

BabaBooey

Fine, this board isn't even worth my time when I'm not busy. All of you can blame me for "leading this kid into left field", but I gave him proper advice and have sent him on his way to getting a decent setup. Next time someone on here has a 4 ohm subwoofer, let him waste his money on an amp that puts out max power at 2 ohms mono. And I didn't list the boards I frequent to portray myself as the kind of car audio, but simply to show that I haven't just fallen off the "turnip truck" or whatever the hell you call it. I'm just going to get back on and get out of this place.

Lvangundy

Now I'm kinda lost, back to the original subject.

Will getting a new amp putting out power at 2 ohm make the sound worse? If the speakers are 4 ohm.

ehh..

Mean Gene

Todd - I have NO problems with U stating your qualifications here!! In fact, I'm sure that some of the younger Members aren't sure exactly of your accomplishments. Personally, I've never had the pleasure of meeting you ( I don't think? ). I'm 44 & grew up in the early days of USAC ( remember George Reed ( no relation ) & his moniker of "Doc Thunder"? ). Competed against Mark's Blazer & the old "Rolling Thunder" van when I played in my friend's shop. In fact, our Ace Audio "High Voltage" van won the 1988 World's Championship over in the Astrodome but events back then ( & down here in the Deep South ) were all about SPL. I'd imagine that we all got our starts doing driveway installs on our & friend's cars so we've shared the typical late night meal of cold pizza & Pepsi ( as Percy says!! ). I'm an engineer but pale in comparison to yourself, Percy, Retro & others when dealing with the technical side of things so I tend to keep quiet here myself. Besides, this is probably the easiest Forum to moderate due to the peacefulness that NORMALLY exists! I've got my own stories about Earl "the God of car audio" Z. but this isn't the place for them ( not real fond of Fishman, either but that's kind of a personal issue - he DOES have some of the most creative installs I've ever seen but still haven't figured out how an aquarium in a car helps the SQ? ). Tell Eric Holdaway to drop back in here occasionally ( we had a brief debate over woofer sizes a few months ago & quickly reached a nice compomise - the way it should be ).
Anyway, nothing wrong with a difference of opinions but I'm afraid that I have to go along with what I was taught - that a bridged amp will "see" half the impedance of the speaker that it's driving.
BTW - my basic math does suck! The wife's always telling me that I can't afford a Lexus mod due to lack of cash flow but then she manages to find enough $$ to pick up ANOTHER pair of shoes!!:eek:

Percy

Gene,

Tell that little scrapper cajun that you found a perfect pair of shoes for her. Also don't forget to mention that they just happen to be locked inside a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 so you have no choice but to buy the car to get to the shoes inside. The "fishman" fish tank helps in SQ only when the contents have been poured over his amps while the system is running. Best rendition of arcing and smoke that I'll ever hope to see... I'll be sure to have plenty of film ready for the event in case it ever happens! (evil grin!)

Lvagundy,

You shouldn't really notice the difference if the amp was spec'd for 2 ohm and it's pushing out power for a 4 ohm sub. At least not in SQ (hopefully) wise.

Percy

TimDimman

If you have 2 4 ohm speakers and you parallel them, then your ideal load would be 2 ohms. That amp you're looking at would be perfect.

This would be an ideal setup for you, as your speakers wouldn't have any contentions with eachother if you are keeping them in a shared volume enclosure.

Tim

Lvangundy

nice.

thanks

Amp later, lower ball joints first

DoubleWhoosh

Ahhh yes the Astrodome events...I remember those well. That was back when I was the one looking in amazement at the magazines!!! Also CAN I and CAN II were what really got me going.

I don't think I've had the honor to meet you, I'm sure we'll run into each other sooner or later. The industry is small enough that it's unavoidable

But yes, anyone who knows what is going on has to have come from late night driveway installs. That's where you put in your dues, and that's where you learn a lot...just hopefully down the right path!

Oh yes, Fishman and Earl Z both...no comment!!! :X

As far as the amp issue, whether it's 2 ohms, 4 ohms, the basic problem still went back to generally not enough power anyways. And lack of power is what damages speakers. Those were my points regardless of how much overanalyzing was done over everything else.

Anyways, nice and quiet again so I think we're ok here

bassfreak

you guys blew this out of proportion. simple terms you guys twisted. like underpowering hurts speakers which is totally false. baby was pretty much right though the entier thread.

pcmw

My job at CAN I and CAN II.... push the Alpine Lamborghini's back into the truck because they NEVER RAN.

MW

DoubleWhoosh

Gee 2 posts. I wonder who this could be

TimDimman

I don't want to overanalyze or sound uppity or anything, but just to clarify...hopefully simply...

Generally too little power won't do much of anything...trying to overamplify a signal with too little power is what leads to problems.

I agree though, that I think the amps are just too small for any decent amount of bass...

Tim

TimDimman

Baba was nice enough to cross post this argument on Car Audio boards...now we will probably be flooded with people seeking to back his cause...

Tim

DoubleWhoosh

Really?!?! That's cool because I don't have any reason to be nice over there...

He's not the sharpest pencil in the box now is he?