2 quick questions..okay, a few Qs.......

[shame302]

hey guys. i have a couple quick questions that i was hoping you could help me answer.

say i have one tempest, wired in parallel to get 4ohm use of the 500w bash amp. if i were to add an additional driver, another tempest and wired each driver together in series i still get the 4 ohm load rating right...is this any harder on the amp? would i need a bigger amp or possibly another bash for basically a clone of what i already have?

i was hoping to pick up another driver, build a passive box for it wire it in series and re-wire the existing one in the same manner. i would either remove the amp from the first box and patch the hole making it passive as well and run the amp externally OR rewire the existing box and add in a set of binding posts for "outs" to the second enclosure. i hope that makes sense here.


secondly, would it make sense to make a crossover for the sub to block out say, lower than 16-18hrz? the current sub is great 99% of the time but certain scenes will max out the driver against its suspension. examples would be the very beginning of gothica and i guess you can include WOTW. other than an spl meter, i dont have any other measuring equip to better know whats going on. im happy with the output (set with tones and an spl meter at reference level) other than that. i hate haing to turn the gains down. thats why i figured id add in another sub for a little more output.

suggestions or opinions greatly appreciated...thank you for your time..john

[ThomasW]

1) say i have one tempest, wired in parallel to get 4ohm use of the 500w bash amp. if i were to add an additional driver, another tempest and wired each driver together in series i still get the 4 ohm load rating right

No you'd have an 8 ohm load, wiring in parallel would give you a 2 ohm load. Those are the options

2)s this any harder on the amp?

Depends on which load you use, most plate amps aren't happy driving a 2 ohm load.

3)would i need a bigger amp or possibly another bash for basically a clone of what i already have?

Either is an option

4)i would either remove the amp from the first box and patch the hole making it passive as well and run the amp externally OR rewire the existing box and add in a set of binding posts for "outs" to the second enclosure. i hope that makes sense here.

Depends on whether you want

5)secondly, would it make sense to make a crossover for the sub to block out say, lower than 16-18hrz?

Hard to say when you've posted nothing about the alignment

6) the current sub is great 99% of the time but certain scenes will max out the driver against its suspension. examples would be the very beginning of gothica and i guess you can include WOTW. other than an spl meter, i dont have any other measuring equip to better know whats going on. im happy with the output (set with tones and an spl meter at reference level) other than that. i hate haing to turn the gains down. thats why i figured id add in another sub for a little more output.

It would take 4 or more Tempests to adequately reproduce the WotW effects scenes.

There, 6 quick answers to your 2 quick questions...

[shame302]

There, 6 quick answers to your 2 quick questions...

well, i really do appreciate it, and thank you very much for your time.

Hard to say when you've posted nothing about the alignment

well, i have a tempest x in a sealed 7CUFT box powered by an o-audio bash 500 plate amp. the box is stuffed with fiberglass insulation and constructed with double layer 3/4"mdf. it has 2 window braces 1/3rd the way in from each end. the driver is wired in parallel.

Depends on which load you use, most plate amps aren't happy driving a 2 ohm load.

ic, no way to get the 4ohm load with 2 tempest x drivers. okay, so in theory, 4 8ohm dvc drivers, each wired in series but paralleled together would get you back to a 4 ohm load right? im not really sure how a driver uses power. i guess what i was wondering is, will the amp drive multiple drivers just the same as one if the ohm rating is the same?

would it be alright to wire each driver in series and parallel the 2 together (8ohm load if im understanding correctly)? this brings my plate amp closer to 350w instead of 500@4ohm. theoretically, what can i expect from this arrangement? would it be better than my current setup?

i wont be able to get another plate amp for awhile but would that be the wiser path?

a friend of mine is going to be running 2 tempest in their own 24" cubes off of an ep2500. did i screw up not doing the same thing? 2 plate amps are about $200 more than the ep2500 would have been and its much more powerfull...

It would take 4 or more Tempests to adequately reproduce the WotW effects scenes.

well, i cant really imagine that. my issue is with the driver maxing out against its suspension. i was under the impression that the amp wouldnt be able to max this driver out. i dont think its the box its in. the amps gain is less than 1/2 way up (about the g in gain). im definitely not pushing the driver hard. i dont think the amp is clipping. its quite natural all around until it tries to reproduce the super low stuff. it just runs out of surround. ill have to bring it back up to reference levels with an spl meter again and record a vid.

[Dennis H]

I was going to agree with Thomas and then I noticed Tempest-X in your sig. I thought you were talking about the old Tempest. WinISD says you're right at Xmax with 500 watts.

Like you said, you'd only get 175 watts/driver (350/2) if you wired the coils in series and paralleled 2 drivers. Up to you if you think that's enough.

[shame302]

i would assume that it isnt enough. this is a new unit. i want to add another sub, but more than that id like to sort the issues im having with the one i have out.....

would the amp output 500w even with the gain half way up? im deffinetly under refferance levals. im calibrated at refferance (0dbFS) on my nuforce, and on the opening scene of gothica, rightwhen they display the title, the driver maxes out. not at refferance levals either, i have to turn it down to about -6db to avoid the driver maxing out. anything above 50 it "hits the surround". IMO, this thing shouldnt be maxing out so easy...

[Dennis H]

would the amp output 500w even with the gain half way up?

Sure. Where you have the knob doesn't matter, just how much it's putting out. Have you calibrated the system with an SPL meter?

[ThomasW]

would the amp output 500w even with the gain half way up? im deffinetly under refferance levals. im calibrated at refferance (0dbFS) on my nuforce, and on the opening scene of gothica, rightwhen they display the title, the driver maxes out. not at refferance levals either, i have to turn it down to about -6db to avoid the driver maxing out. anything above 50 it "hits the surround". IMO, this thing shouldnt be maxing out so easy...

The frequencies recorded on that DVD are so low you need to either filter them out using a high-pass filter or you need to buy a bunch more woofers.

[shame302]

Sure. Where you have the knob doesn't matter, just how much it's putting out. Have you calibrated the system with an SPL meter?

i had it all callibrated with an spl meter. at some point the sub started maxing out and i dont know why. ive since had to dial it back to avoind this. i have another driver coming so ill be able to switch it out to see if the driver i have now is somehow compramised. i just dont want to damage a new driver. i was under the impression that this amp couldnt damage or over drive the tempest.

The frequencies recorded on that DVD are so low you need to either filter them out using a high-pass filter or you need to buy a bunch more woofers.

i understand. my nuforce doesnt have one other than the low pass for the lfe and highpass for all the other speakers. is that how most people are handaling that? i havnt realy seen anyone else with the issue. i would think i should be able to keep the sub at refferance level without it maxing out in any movie.

as much as id love a bunch of drivers, 2 is likely going to be my cap. 2 subs maxing out isnt going to be any better though. hoping for the best.

i guess useing WotW isnt realy fair then. the opening scene from gothica is easier to pinpoint. has anybody checked out the movie? im realy curious to see what freq. thats hitting. its after the "heart beat" pulse, the tone where the title gothica shows up in case anybody does. it kind of ruins even having a sub having to worry about when its going to do "that". could this be a problem with the box?

as far as a "high pass filter" for a sub, is that something that can be built with x over components or am i going to have to make my wife super mad by buying a DEQ like the sms or something. i realy, realy cant afford this.

since i have another driver on the way im thinking about enclosures. right now i have the sealed 7cuft box. ill probably just make another box just like this one for the other driver but i figured id ask if i can remove the amp from the current box and mount the other driver there. bad idea? i assume i would need alot more volume and the drivers probably wouldnt work together in the same box but i was curious if this would be a reasonable option.

i really appreciate it guys....thank you again