SPL Sound Pressure Level

SPL Sound Pressure Level Car Audio

Car audio, one of my favorite hobbies. Some people go for sound quality and some go for loudness, or SPL (sound pressure level).

I started out about two years ago with my first set of 12" subs from Infinity, then moved up to a pair of 12" Alpine Type-Rs. The amplifier I used was a Better Audio 1600M1 rated at 1600wrms (watts rms) @ 1ohm.

The Type-Rs held up my SPL addiction pretty well until I started to compete in MECA, a somewhat local car audio competition league.

It was there I learned that my Type-Rs had nothing on the big boy companies: Digital Designs , Resonant Engineering, American Bass, and TC Sounds just to name a few.

These guys were pumping out scores in the 150 dB (decibel) range while I measured in at a measly 145.1 in the kick. I wanted something that was louder, lower, and capable of handling power. Not only that, but I didn't want to spend over $400 in new subs. The solution was Audioque.

Not wanting to go into too much detail, I eventually ended up with a single 15" Audioque HD3. Now the question is power.

I started with a Treo SSX1500.1, but it blew up less than a month later which was because I was running the amp at .75ohms and didn't have a good electrical system in place. Low voltage (10v!) + low loads (.75ohms) = fried amp.

I then went with a modded MA HK4000D which puts around 3200-3500 watts @ 1ohm running on 12 volts. A higher voltage, say 14v, 16, or even 18v would make the amp put out even more power, but my weak Honda alternator and 2 batteries cannot maintain 14v for very long.

Then comes the enclosure, which was a 4.5 ft3 tuned at 40hz with 4 4" "aeroports" The most recent score I have is 147.2 dB @ 40hz taken at the headrest during the Carl Casper Autoshow last year.

During the earlier year prior, I was able to finish 2nd and 3rd in two different classes at the MECA world finals. I ended up finishing 1st and 3rd in two different classes at Carl Casper. Lastly, here's a video of what I'm working with.