Which Car is Louder? SPL Testing Two Hatchbacks

Testing cheap 18s in a Scion XB and a Chevy HHR for SPL. These are cheap 18s I got for $72ea as part of the $150 SPL Challenge. Box is thrown together with scraps.
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And please visit my Patreon at / showtimespl

[@EXOcontralto]

"It sounds like poop in here" 😅 Loving the nitty gritty!!!

[@riveralley]

@EXOcontralto I have a very very very important question. Are you bringing little blue to slamology 2019?

[@UsurperTCG]

@@riveralley you really have to ask that? you already know like i do he going to bring little blue to show off that 2 18 in a wtf Saturn car just to proove its possible to wall anything lol

[@lowhertzhighspl]

That's fricken AWESOME to see E.X.O. is watching ShowtimeSPL's video AND commenting on it! (yes maybe has something to do with ShowTimeSPL had once played an EXO vid in the background of one of his videos but IDC! Both of you guys fricken ROCK! (JP - LifeOfPrice makes up the best 3 most positive/nicest guys in car audio youtube world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

[@kenpatterson1670]

Keep it coming !! Knowledge is half the battle, I've learned more about care audio in the last 3 month's then the last 40 year's , it's inspired me to DIY correctly the most equipment I feel comfortable doing now, and at least I know it's done right

[@scottmiller3025]

Back in the day we just basically put stuff in and it was what it was... Lol

[@jason3000tt]

plain & simple...no overthinking.

[@Basscop]

I’ve been getting comments that I talk to much and bla bla bla! Don’t worry about it and keep up the good vids! I like what you’ve been doing, good stuff!

[@BrandinDanesi]

So I used the 56 feet @20hz, and came up with 40hz would be 7 feet at 1/4 wave, and 41hz would be 6.829 feet. 20 to 21 hz saw an 8 inch difference in length, 80 to 81 hz saw about an inch or so. 1000 to 1001 hz is a difference of .01 of an inch. For funsies, 1 to 2 hz is 1680 inches different, or 140 feet. 111 inches came up with roughly 30hz, 104 (which I think was the sh1tbox) was roughly 32hz.

[@pgmurray76]

Love the that you calculated the difference between 1/4 wavelength from 1 to 2 Hz!

[@Nickword1]

The neighbors must love you... lol

[@1-Six-dee]

That is awesome I have always wanted to build a flat wall in that scion looks like it is a speaker box to begin with

[@Skip01]

Id like to see you try quarter wave distance with like a single sub and just see the gains to be had from matching wave to end right at kick

[@robsorgdrager8477]

I did something similar with my Vic. In the trunk if you put a box on the floor the back of the box fires into a fuel tank, then a rear diff and then into the lower floor area. So I built a box that holds two dark audio nko12's that mostly fits in the upper cubby ( Vic has a lower and upper trunk😅) now the back of the box fires into the back rest of the back seat and into the cab of the car.....much much louder and way more accurate. 😁

[@joebelton2146]

Sounds like you better do more than a little sound deadening in the Scion. Lol.Tech is half the battle.Looking forward to the next sub and box.👍

[@SparkedEd]

I know right, hear that ring? It's even worse in person.

[@robsorgdrager8477]

So I used to have a Ford focus and I was running two Rockford p2 10's in a sealed enclosure powered by a Rockford 501s bridged to 4 ohm mono and that little system would make my doors , windshield and roof oscillate a lot. For the time ( early 2000's ) was very loud. That same system in an extend cab ranger sucked.

[@edud8452]

nice job Ed I think that those scion lunch boxes are a good vehicle for a system as long as they are sound deadened. friend of mine has 2 15" Memphis subs in a scion IQ it's like a smart car were taking bets on how long the windshield will last🤣

[@williamkillingsworth2619]

Turn the box with the Woofers facing down firing towards a solid floor now pick up the side towards the hatch and lift it up about 4-6 inches position the box about 4 inches from the hatch door basically what you’re trying to do is use the back of the whole car to create a folded horn with the floorboard going up the back door than around the roofline being the horn. try that. Might work well with your front firing port.

[@3RDERA]

william killingsworth Ive done something similar to this in my Nissan Cube and its really affective if you can funnel the subs pressure towards the hatch so most of it can go up the head liner towards meter. But my best score was subs up port up with long external ports and angling the subs and ports towards the hatch for horn affect. be dropping a submission video for this years challenge pretty soon just waiting on some equipment to get delivered. Are you going to get in on the fun!?

[@williamkillingsworth2619]

Just spectating. I have a home construction project that Is consuming all time and energy. I normally watch this stuff to unwind. Is there a frequency cut off does it have to be a sub woofer? Can it be used speaker, I actually picked up a set of JBLPRX 18s(2044e 1ohm) off of craigslist for 50 bucks one of them was blown and I reconed it. I literally have 150 bucks in to these things, I have no doubt I could hit mid 140s with these inside a car. I have a Mustang with 210s in it. one day just as a joke I put one of the jbls in the backseat it was much louder than my 2 cvx 10’s, off less power. I do enjoy seeing how others approach. You generally cant beat a horn, the issue is the size at low frequencies, even 60hz needs about a 25sqft opening. That’s why coupled horns are used outside because when you stack a bunch of them together they start to be able to produce low frequencies that are single unit can’t

[@3RDERA]

william killingsworth it has to be new gear available to everyone, at least 25-50 people , so no used gear unless you look up current new value on amazon or comparable site and use that price. But no freq cap, guy did a bunch of tweets two years ago was pretty cool. But ya if you can swing jump in there and mess around have some fun with it, if not check out the Facebook group and get familiar with it for next years!!

[@williamkillingsworth2619]

www.diyaudio.com/forums/subwoofers/190635-th-18-flat-35hz-xoc1s-design.html This is the design I would attempt. Using the 2 Rockvilles. This design that I believe is a copy of a Danley TH-118. Done right inside a car. This would be nuts.

[@3RDERA]

william killingsworth nice!! I can get lost for hours on hornsrep, designing the “one” to rule them all! Yeah TH can get balls to wall when they are designed then constructed perfectly. I’m building a few enclosures at the moment. Biggest one is a 4thBP 4.5cubes ported, 1.7 sealed on a Savard rap 15” Should get pretty loud, hopefully

[@74midwestbass74]

NICE TESTING BRO!

[@BARBELLS-AND-BUDS]

I have an 06 xb and you definitely gain a bunch with several layers of deadener on the roof and just all over You can gain 2+ DB and lower the peak. The roof in mine rattles like you wouldn't believe. I have metal flapping against the framing because they only glue it together basically and it separates with a lot of I bass. I have a few friends who have been in same situation as me and they loved this with several layers of deadener on the xb and the sound change is unreal and do is the couldn't feeling in chest etc with the same system after.

[@akuma4u]

" sound change is unreal and do is the couldn't feeling in chest etc with the same system after.' sorry what does this mean?

[@BARBELLS-AND-BUDS]

Sorry, talk to text issues.... The sound is different because most of the rattling is gone that covers up bass clarity. Also bass is more visceral after, and the meter shows a difference and hair tricks became possible without any other changes. That car got totaled by a drunk hit n run driver. 2013 Highlander build upcoming @akuma4u ​@@akuma4u

[@akuma4u]

​@@BARBELLS-AND-BUDSi see. So just to confirm. The sound on xb after deadnening, u were able to feel it in chest and body well? Cuz im thinking of buying this car and want to make sure it is good for bass systems and has good bass response

[@bonzainews]

I had 2 18" kicker comp vrs in a giant sealed box like that in a Chevy blazer

[@russelllopez4171]

Larry Keller I used to have 2 really old kicker comp 18’s in the original full size blazer inside of a 10 cubic foot band pass box. Bandwidth and output were amazing!!!

[@voltiovg]

Rockville RVP15W4 1000 Watt 15" Raw DJ Subwoofer 4 Ohm Sub Woofer 51OZ Magnet I just bought it, he recommends what box I should make I have a 1000 rms amp and the trunk open or closed ????

[@JakkiPi]

My Highlander had the same issue. Same enclosure and amp in my S10 Blazer was so much better!

[@last_king5610]

So putting the same subwoofer in the same position in a hatchback is louder than sedan(trunk).

[@spuds7677]

I would love to see the difference in different subs have on SPL in a vehicle. Is having a bigger sub better than having smaller more efficient subs and can you clamp the power going to the subs as you test? Putting 1500 watts in to 1 big sub vs 400 watts going into 2 subs isn't really a fair comparison. Thanks. And great work on the videos.

[@akuma4u]

so what sub setup and direction and ported or sealed ended up sounding best and loudest in the scion?

[@h.phillip5245]

In my personal opinion, you should try some of those free to use bass tracks. I'd love to hear how music sounds on these. Thinking of putting two of these on a Rockville T2 1600w rms @ 4ohm bridged in a Grand Marquis.

[@jeffyoung2089]

Thanks Ed i really enjoy watching your videos!!

[@billywalls3378]

Hello Showtime. I am trying to figure out and look at other HHR builds. i have an 07 and i want to put my amp rack under the sub box were the spair tire goes. I am stumped cant find any hhr builds. Was wondering if you could make a video of what you did with your amps and all equiptment. It would really help beings that we have the same rides. My box is as big as your spl challenge build box maybe even a scosch bigger if that matters any. thankyou man for the videos with the HHR i learn something new everyday you post a new video. Have a good day man.

[@terik555]

what sounds louder .....subs facing up or subs facing??????

[@keithblair2285]

The scores in your hhr were pretty good. I did a 144.5 with a pair of $20 Blaupunkt 10s from the trunk of a Jetta. I won't make the may 31 deadline for a vid but I will be entering the contest down the road.

[@aletsgo2165]

Would you consider doing a 6th or 8th order, low power higher output in a narrow bandwidth? Burp box tuned to be peaky 1 note wonder? Isobaric load them to gain power in smaller box?

[@gunner517]

I would like to see a test in a 4door car with folding 2nd roll seats see how much louder is it with the seats up or folded down to get access into the trunk where subs are

[@msh6865]

Ed, try laying one or both front seats forward during metering. Laying the one forward opposite the sensor might magnify the effect of having the window down. Toaster (Scion) FTL! Lol!

[@SparkedEd]

I have, there is no difference. These SPL levels are too low to really have things like that make a real affect

[@dangeruss001]

Be interesting to to check out the difference in frequency response of the cars with an RTA. I'm guessing that you are looking for the frequency that gives you the most constructive wave interference. I haven't done any real testing with car amps, But I have done a ton with tube guitar amps. Its seems strange just to see the interference patterns that come out just putting a sign wave through an amp. Then considering that the amp, speaker and speaker enclosure, and car all act together to influence the response of the whole system and all the parts individually. With guitar we even consider the resistance and capacitance of the cables we use. A cable or wire is basically an r/c filter. Then capacitance has a weird effect of introducing a phase change to the signal the amount of the change depending on the frequency of the signal, which causes even more interference patterns. The short story being that putting a pure sign wave into the input of an amp doesn't usually end up with you getting that at the output.

[@mazda2284]

great video ! keep up the good work !

[@SparkedEd]

Thanks man

[@phillycheezcake907]

I actually was just doing this yesterday with my systems i pulled the box out of my 2 door tahoe an slapped em in a hatchback sonic way way different sound😁

[@michaelsegarra2709]

Nice so please correct me if im wrong if you build a box tuned to x hz it doues not mean that this will be the loudes freq youll play because of cars design ?

[@SparkedEd]

Correct, usually you want the enclosure peak 5-10hz below the car's peak so that cabin gain helps you

[@Basscop]

Yes, every vehicle has a different resonant frequency. Same enclosure and equipment may be louder in one vehicle and not the other.

[@michaelsegarra2709]

@@SparkedEd ok thanks for responding. So is tjere a way to find my vehicles peak bwfore building the box?

[@michaelsegarra2709]

@@Basscop thank you for the response. So is there a way to find my vehicle resonant freq beefore building the box?

[@SparkedEd]

You can always build a box with a flat response, like a sealed box for one small woofer. Then play a sweep and test SPL.

[@PhiMobileSounds]

Hatchbacks are LIFE!!!!

[@lowhertzhighspl]

!PLEASE TEST your SPL meter VERSUS smartphone app such as "Decibel X" and let us know results in a video or record the testing itself. YOU ARE the perfect KZbinr for this video and I guarantee it'll earn tens of thousands of views within its first year. If by chance it doesn't then I will share, promote, and so on until it does!! I watched a YT vid of someone comparing the two (but in a recording studio) and it was SPOT ON! But how will a phone's microphone do with 130-150dBs of bass! is the question!?

[@G.L.P.40]

Can I use 2 of does for every day use

[@joecool7165]

Can’t wait to see you soon at a show I’ll buy dinner and we can hang out. Love to talk to you about a lot of things you’re very intelligent. I can only tell you what I know. And Wood glue is a no

[@SparkedEd]

No worries man. I always love meeting people at shows. But I stand by wood glue. I use wood glue and screws. Sometimes I use an air nailer, but glue holds strong and helps seal. I use screws to pull the box tight when the glue is still wet

[@joecool7165]

Can you give us an idea what your box is made of. Looks like plywood and glue. This is your first problem if it is.

[@SparkedEd]

What problem? Plywood and glue are fine and I go over the box build in an earlier vid and explain that it's a cheap, disposable box.

[@BigMerc91CMDNJ]

What's up man I just subscribed to your channel. Great videos. I seen on one of your post that you are in philly. I'm in jersey 20 minutes away. Would you build a custom box for my car?

[@BigMerc91CMDNJ]

Paying of course lol

[@lowhertzhighspl]

I'd like to know if using a dual input with a bar or "stud" output is better than a dual input using 3 set screws and wire as the output makes a difference CONSIDERING a set screw barely makes contact with the dual inputs output "stud" whereas it digs into bare wire.

[@randomtube8226]

So you can get louder just by eliminating the standing waves? So instead of using sharp edge shapes. Use round edge shapes to help reduce standing waves? In that case that should mean that round flared ports are the best and tube style boxes are the best. Bazooka Tube and Sono Tube should be the best style of enclosure at reducing standing waves. Without adding any special materials to the enclosure. Then the Beats Pill Bluetooth speaker was right on as far as shape goes. Now just need to find a way to upscale the pill shap to fit a couple of 18s. I would love to see a side by side comparison of a sealed square shape enclosure vs a sealed pill shaped enclosure, with the same internal airspace, using the same woofers. Just to see the different db between the 2 🤔

[@michaeledwards7331]

I'm doing 2 15's in a Chevy spark

[@96bansheepilot]

Are you using a term lab Magnum? If so, what app are you using? Does it link to the Magnum?

[@SparkedEd]

This is the SSA SPL sensor that displays on it's own app

[@juanmangerita]

CAF tried woofer firing down and achieved a bit better result

[@teeone10]

just was curious, how big is your box for those 2 18s ?

[@bobbybentley8136]

That's crazy my son's one 15 in a Honda wagon puts out 152 db port to the back speaker up

[@byronbridges213]

Bobby Bentley Wow! 152db with only one 15??!!😮

[@CAR1999]

What are you using for a meter/measuring setup?

[@SparkedEd]

I used an SSA pressure sensor with Bluetooth

[@shawndashkovitz9560]

Your port lengthen the port to lower the tune

[@Blaaake]

Those long shorts just scream that you drive a scion box.

[@glockinshpiel]

ginger bearded nerds are cute!

[@PolarBear_Gaming_More]

what is the device for testing spl?

[@SparkedEd]

This is the SSA SPL sensor

[@PolarBear_Gaming_More]

@@SparkedEd thx

[@DibeezyTheGifted]

That score is gonna suffer with that enclosure moving that much lol

[@SparkedEd]

Too much box rise lol. It wasn't even 140 anyway

[@urbansasquatch5537]

Are both of the cars deadned ?

[@SparkedEd]

Just the HHR. You can hear the Scion ringing

[@quintonnkoane9885]

Nice bro! 👊🏽😎

[@dropzonemedia7811]

Wonder what songs u gonna play at those frequencies. U gonna ride around bumping test tones or something 😂

[@SparkedEd]

I often do

[@bassheadrhino5574]

What app is that DB meter?

[@SparkedEd]

The app comes with the sensor that's connected through bluetooth. Look at soundsolutionsaudio.com

[@bassheadrhino5574]

@@SparkedEd thanks bro!

[@HifiVega]

Scion for the loss!

[@ballarz5019]

It's going to pound in that scion

[@nameless8261]

Dude no way your from pa? What part I am out by Pittsburgh

[@SparkedEd]

Philly

[@nameless8261]

Nice

[@joeanderson444]

Garage door was shut during the HHR testing. Rebound kept the pressure closer!

[@daytrace4635]

maybe try a series(1 box inside another) 6th order with a 15 that has a high ebp for low cost, tune both chambers the same, and decently close to your resonant freq and I bet youll get over a 150

[@charliefrancis6438]

I am surprised, you usually get better spl in more square vehicles in my experience, maybe tune the box higher for the scion

[@sansantos75]

U talk just right, not a lot

[@thecman26]

It's really loud on a single note, but how does it sound with regular music? Not bass-rap either, real music...

[@PolarBear_Gaming_More]

lol, the sh!tbox

[@yourpcmd]

Rockville, lol.....

[@haraldtktm]

What year is the Xion xb ?

[@SparkedEd]

2006

[@crazy8sdrums]

There are already cheaters posting up numbers in the $150 challenge. 12voltmag.com/2019-150-spl-challenge/ DL Designs is a rebuilder, and they have used other brands substructures to make something they call their own...and those substructures exceeded the $150 value. EMF is next on that list...they admitted a $200 sub. Below that entry are two Sundown subs, both cost $200. The first legit entry is a Brutal Sounds $100 sub. Right below them is another $200 Sundown sub entry. I find it sad that people found it necessary to cheat at a competition intended to generate interest in car audio for newcomers.

[@STRAIGHTBOXMUSIC]

uses 18 gauge wire to scion lol

[@bass-n-truth-inthestix9083]

I would not want to have your license plate(on the hhr)... 6660😲

[@SparkedEd]

My favorite number, Muwahahaha

[@bass-n-truth-inthestix9083]

@@SparkedEd you Cray Cray bruh 😂

[@BARBELLS-AND-BUDS]

I have an 06 xb and you definitely gain a bunch with several layers of deadener on the roof and just all over You can gain 2+ DB and lower the peak. The roof in mine rattles like you wouldn't believe. I have metal flapping against the framing because they only glue it together basically and it separates with a lot of I bass. I have a few friends who have been in same situation as me and they loved this with several layers of deadener on the xb and the sound change is unreal and do is the couldn't feeling in chest etc with the same system after.