new product testing

[blue LEDz]

stay tuned for a full review of the new maxxbass103 unit from waves inc. here's the site.

they are overnighting one to me for testing purposes

if it does what it says it does, this could be a great investement. it could allow you to use less power yet still achieve the same percieved output. it would also allow people who don't want a sub to achieve similar results with an amp and a good set of 6.5" components up front.

http://www.maxxbass.com/default.asp

even PPI is trying these out.

[MisterT]

I don't see how it could possibly work without damaging the speakers. You can only get so much out of a certain size driver unless you make an enclosure for it like Bose radios or a bandpass box. That is cool that they are letting you test one out though! When I worked in retail, our top installer got to test out every thing that we carried. He changed out his system every year at least once a year. On top of that, we had dealer accomodation which was a steal. I didn't save any money like I thought I would with the discounts because as you know, you see what you can get and only want MORE!!!

[blue LEDz]

the maxxbass system actually reduces the amount of low bass, but increases the harmonics above it to reinforce the lower one to make it sound louder.

[jnorion]

And you think this might really work? Is it something that could actually be a good replacement for buying a subwoofer, or is it just something to play with along side?

[blue LEDz]

i don't know if it really works. but i figured rather than pay $150 to buy one off e-bay, i contacted them directly and they are shipping me a loaner unit for free

it could be a good replacement for buying a larger sub with higher excursion and higher power handling. typically most 8's don't have the low end extension people want. well if this allows an 8 to have that, and everything is well balanced above the low notes, then there isn't a need for a larger sub. it would definitely be good for space saving purposes.

i'm more interested in using it on 6.5" components. say you only play your components down to 80 hz normally. this thing claims you get a 1.5 octave extension below that, so they'd be capable of playing down to 30 hz. if you can get front speaker to be percieved that they play that low, then the sub can be low passed even lower so the sub does not pull any of the sound stage to the rear of the car. in my case, the iridium 6.5's in scotts car are high passed at 33 hz. say i'd be high passing mine at 40 hz. that means that the device, in theory, would allow them to play down to 15 hz. that will make all the percieved bass sound like its coming from the front. then i'll just use the brahma low passed at like 25-30 hz for SQ comps for the subsonic kick to give you the bass "feel" that judges look for

for daily driving i would consider using 2 of the units. one on the mid-bass and one on the brahma. daily driving the mid-bass will be high passed quite a bit higher, since i'll be sending a ton of power to each one, and i don't want to blow them.

[jnorion]

I was specifically wondering about using it with my 6x9's... they're rated to 25 or 30 hz (I can't remember which right now and I'm too lazy to leave the computer to find out). What I'm curious about is whether I'll be able to turn them up any louder than I do now. They pump out a lot of bass and go very low, and have been acting as subwoofers for a long time now (low passed at 100-120hz depending on my mood that day) but they distort very quickly, because they're not designed specifically to be used that way or handle that much power. Sounds like I would be better off using 8's in the back deck if I wanted to go this route. Course then again I wanted to play around with SPL a bit too...

[MisterT]

if you can get front speaker to be percieved that they play that low, then the sub can be low passed even lower so the sub does not pull any of the sound stage to the rear of the car.

But subs produce sound waves that are nondirectional. How would they take away from the soundstage?

[blue LEDz]

But subs produce sound waves that are nondirectional. How would they take away from the soundstage?

while the bass itself is omni-directional, to a certain degree you can hear the sound being pulled to the rear. however most of what pulls it to the rear is not the bass itself, it's everything else added into the bass sound that the bass frequencies bring forward. i had asked about it on carsound awhile ago, why was it that if bass is omni-directional, you could very easily tell which direction my car was coming from, even if i played a 35 hz note. it's because you don't hear the pure note, or at least that was the explaination i was given.

[blue LEDz]

I was specifically wondering about using it with my 6x9's... they're rated to 25 or 30 hz (I can't remember which right now and I'm too lazy to leave the computer to find out). What I'm curious about is whether I'll be able to turn them up any louder than I do now. They pump out a lot of bass and go very low, and have been acting as subwoofers for a long time now (low passed at 100-120hz depending on my mood that day) but they distort very quickly, because they're not designed specifically to be used that way or handle that much power. Sounds like I would be better off using 8's in the back deck if I wanted to go this route. Course then again I wanted to play around with SPL a bit too...

are your 6x9's amped? i'm sure you've told me before, but my memory is pretty shot. if the maxxbass does what it says it does, that would be a great idea, using 6x9's with it, instead of subs.

[MisterT]

I still don't know why people face woofers firing through the seat. I tried it and it just did not sound right. You get so much more when facing the trunk. I have heard that it is for SQ. Richard Clark's old Buick Riviera had them doing the same. I think he had 15s for the bass and either 10s or 12s for midbass (that is a lot of midbass!) What is your take on this?

[blue LEDz]

if you isolate the truck, facing the subs forward works 100 times better. but that's a pain in the ass. in RC's car, the sub was more for the SPL portion of the test, and may not have been used for the listening portion. gary biggs has a sub in his firewall for some up front bass

[jnorion]

while the bass itself is omni-directional, to a certain degree you can hear the sound being pulled to the rear. however most of what pulls it to the rear is not the bass itself, it's everything else added into the bass sound that the bass frequencies bring forward. i had asked about it on carsound awhile ago, why was it that if bass is omni-directional, you could very easily tell which direction my car was coming from, even if i played a 35 hz note. it's because you don't hear the pure note, or at least that was the explaination i was given.

I think a big part of this is just that you can tell where the vibration in the frame of the car is coming from.

are your 6x9's amped? i'm sure you've told me before, but my memory is pretty shot. if the maxxbass does what it says it does, that would be a great idea, using 6x9's with it, instead of subs.

Yeah, they get 80 watts apiece. Or rather, I have a 320 watt 4 channel amp, with 6.5" components in the front and 6x9's in the back, so they can get UP TO 80 watts. I think if I got one of these I'd have to try it both in front and in the back... the 6x9's are capable of a lot more bass than the components, but since I'm using them for mid bass and sub at the same time, they will pull the sound stage back a bit. Although in the past I've found that having only bass in the back tends to create a surround effect rather than just moving everything back. But I'm not trained to hear the difference, maybe it's happening anyway.

[blue LEDz]

well i'll let you know how well the device works. if it does what it says it'll do, then trying it on both the fronts and rears is the only way to know for sure how you like it.

[MisterT]

if you isolate the truck, facing the subs forward works 100 times better. but that's a pain in the ass.

What do you mean? How do you isolate? Is it possible in our sedans? I want more bottom end!

[blue LEDz]

i mean it's 100 times better than not isolating the truck. when i say isolate, i mean face the subs forward, and block off all air passages into the trunk, so no air/sound can go back into the trunk. it's very possible in sedans, but not worth it. i still prefer subs facing to the rear.

what kind of bottom end do you want? your enclosures are already tuned rather low. below what they are capable of gets into the subsonic region that you cannot hear. you'll feel it, and your car will rattle like hell. i think you are confusing more bottom end with more output. if you want more output, i would suggest trying a bass cube from phoenix gold, or this new maxxbass device. the bass cube is a 1 band parametric equalizer that can boost around a certain frequency down to 20 hz. it worked very well with every sub setup i've had.