Sub comparison

[J Wikoff]

http://www.daytonaudio.com/index.php...fer-4-ohm.html

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/details/p3d4-10

Between these two, the Dayton has a higher Xmax. Beyond that and power handling, I don't know how to compare them really. I'd put either one in a 1 cuft sealed box and power it with:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...ries/GM-D8500M

Any thoughts on which sub to go with?

[GRRR8GT]

Dayton subs have always impressed me. Tight bass and pretty efficient. And made in the USA...that's the way I would go. As far as the amp the one thing I wish my amp had is soft on because the thump the sub gives on start up drives me bananas. Just my 2 cents.

[J Wikoff]

The Dayton will get 300 w at its 4 ohm impedance. The RF will get 600 wired at 2 ohm. My current sub is wired at 2 ohm on the amp I am using and the volume level is good. If I switch to a 4 ohm sub will I lose volume?

[GRRR8GT]

Possibly but then the two speaker efficiency ratings come into play. Those numbers tell you the db per watt of input. So a speaker that produces 90db per watt compared to a speaker that produces 83db per watt will sound louder for a given amp output. It does not sound like much difference but to take 83 db up to 90 db takes quite a bit more power. Lower ohm loads allow the amp to produce more power but are harder for an amp to drive. Ideally you would try and listen to both because more possible volume does not mean better bass. Your ears would be the best judge. Tight controlled bass usually sounds better to most than uncontrolled boomy bass that spl louder. Then of course the amp ratings are a whole other story. Car amps are notoriously over optomistic in their ratings. 600 watts into a low impedance load takes a pretty robust amp not to overheat. This ramble is probably not helping you decide so I'll end it now.

[J Wikoff]

Ok, that does help. The Dayton is 85 db w/m and the RF is 82 db w/m. The RF would have twice the power and I'm reading that 6 db w/m would mean twice as loud per watt. There would need to be another 3 db w/m between the two for the 300 w Dayton to produce the same db as the 600 w RF.

Edit:
http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-efficiency.htm

According to the calculator on that site, the Dayton would have a loudness of 109.77 and the RF would have 109.78. Does that mean they are almost identical in sound output?

[GRRR8GT]

Good article you found and if the calculation comes out to that then sort of. The SPL produced by both speakers is identical but one can "sound" louder than the other by a small margin. SPL and db are kind of like pressure and volume. They go hand in hand but are not quite the same thing. Again this only accounts for sound level not quality which is subjective to your ears liking it. This is why efficiency is quite important now as amp demands change with that efficiency number.