WakeWorld - spring ride sound off results

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- Archive through May 08, 2008 (http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=579409)

- - spring ride sound off results (http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=576821)

im not too sure that that boat really hit a 156.6. that would have to be a world record for boats. the arc boat didnt mesure that. (Message edited by ponte_06_x2 on May 05, 2008)

sorry. heres the link.<a href="http://caraudioevents.com/Event%20Results.htm" target="_blank">http://caraudioevents.com/Event%20Results.htm</a>

I think my 8-Track pushing .5 watts to a 3 1/2" dual cone dash speaker would have taken the highest spl... but it sacrifices in sound quality...

Wow, to take the competition by 14dbs is crazy! That guy must have his own sensor and know exactly where to place it for optimal measurements.

Those results are not the true readings. I entered this sound off and was there. I know 3 boats with 4+ woofers in the back that didn't break 136db's. That shows all the boats with 4+ woofers hitting atleast 136 with most in the 140's. Someone bought some trophies. Luke - Everyone placed the sensor in the same place. Drivers seat facing forward.

so for the guys who won, can you post up pics and details of your setup? I'd like to see them. I like to think i've got a pretty okay system. i haven't dropped nearly the coin that i'm sure most of you have. on a side note....if the sensor/meter was placed in the same general location on each boat for their rating, couldn't a boat setup thats loaded up w/ subs and speakers in that general location come off as reading higher than if the reading was taken somewhere else in the boat? Lets face it, loud is loud, but if i put my ear up to my 485, it's a helluva lot louder than if i'm standing on the platform. just curious...

I know some people got to move it around. I was there last year and all the readings are about the same except for the X80. Suprasteve I hit the 139.5 with 1 speaker, it's a W7 with an Arc amp.

So some people did move the mic? and those results counted? Thats not right. Why don't I just build a ported box and stick the mic in their then?

The one I saw didn't improve his reading at all.

I know that green and white malibu hit about 135 in the drivers seat. then moved the mic just for a test to the rear seat and hit about 140. It went up because 6 of his subs were in the rear lockers. I thought it was a test but apparently it counted?

The Green one is E's boat, so they didn't take the higher reading.

It's cool. I had fun and hope they do the Lost Isle soundoff again this year. I'll do a little tuning and see if a better number can be had. Some of those boat systems were really sick. I can't even imagine the amount of work that went into some of those installs. It was impressive.

One thing about the X 80 is that all five subs are in the cabin area facing toward the drivers area. Panels were cut open so sound can be heard through out the boat. It all has to do with sub placement in a boat. Mike (judge from the comp) has been doing this for years and is not going to show favoritism towards no one person, car, or boat. If you have any questions I am sure you can email him. We will be having another comp later in the season Delta style so get all you toys ready for another shot. A huge thank you for all that came out and played.

yea. this comp didn't make any sense. the drive by. second, third and fifth were all nvs set ups. first place was a 6 6x9 box. how in the hell is a 6 6x9 box read louder then three nvs deviants. with a lot of power. that x 80 was a weird deal also. the only reason why i say this is because the meter was at 156.6 at about the first few seconds of the bass sweep. all other boats got louder as the sweep got lower and closer to the end of the track. i would like to see that x 80 again because if it really does hit 156. then that will be a treat to see and hear. that would have to be a world record for a boat.

I was not there nor was i anywhere close to there, but i'm trying to understand this whole competition and judging, etc....so w/ that... does the judge carry a CD or Ipod w/ him and when he goes to each boat, he plays the same track so that there is a fair playing ground as far as the music goes? A song encoded at 320kbps is going to sound a lot better than a sound encoded at 128kbps.

Steve, they place the mic on the drivers seat and give you a CD with Bass sweeps that last for about 30 sec. Then you get a chance to play your own track for the same time limit. For the tower you play whatever you want. Ponte 1st on the tower has 6 6x9 and 4 6" on the tower, It's about song choice. You dont have to have NVS to be loud.

even the owner of the boat said that something was fishy about it. we just need to have some guide lines and rules. i believe we should all play the bass sweep for spl and for the drive by we need to agree to play one song. so it just makes it fair for everyone who competes. the biggest problem that i see is the sub location. yes that malibu pounded but measured bad because the most of the woofers were in the rear. we should have a regular spl and then have a outlaw class. the outlaw class would let you place the mic anywhere in the boat.

You know what songs makes your system sound the best, I think you should be able to pick your own song for the drive by. I think it's fair as long as the mics in the same spot for everyone. For the spl I think the Bass Sweep is always louder than a song. I think the outlaw idea is good for the guys with big systems. In the end I think it's all for fun (Message edited by jv210 on May 06, 2008)

We thought about hanging the mic from the towers, but you still run into problems as far as some towers being farther forward and some are farther back. Maybe a tripod that sits dead center of the boat. Shoot us some ideas and we will see what we can come up with. <a href="mailto:jim@teamneptunes.com">jim@teamneptune s.com</a> <a href="mailto:charles@teamneptunes.net">charles@tea mneptunes.net</a>

Chas the tripod in the center of the boat sounds like an awesome idea. That would really level out the playing field.

This was the first time I entered a sound contest with my boat, but I understand how sound pressure waves travel. After I found out that the mic would be on the front seat I made the decision to unplug the subwoofer in the back of my boat so my measurements were done with only my single 12 facing the driver playing. I also put towels between around the driver's seat to trap the air coming from the sub as well as moving an ice chest to block the left side of the driver's seat. Before the test I went out in the lake and played three different test tracks to set the maximum clean levels, a 200-20hz sweep, and two different "warble" tracks. The warble tracks are good because you get four or five sweeps through the range in the 30 second test period, this allows you to make adjustments on the fly and see how things react. In my first test period I made a few adjustments including cranking my sub into distortion. I only pushed 125db before my amp started distorting, having plenty of gain remaining I pushed it hard into distortion and got a 136db during the first test. At that point I decided that I could afford another Wetsound XS12 and I need a good excuse to replace the old HiFonics boat anchor driving my bass, so I pushed all the gains to the limit. This pushed the sub into serious distortion, I am talking square wave territory during the 200-20hz sweep tone. After 30 seconds it also smelled like I was burning toast under my driver's seat. There was a nice new ring of discoloration behind the plastic woofer cone where the voice coil attaches to the cone. Before the tower test I asked Mike (the test manager) what frequencies would be sampled for the tower test. Mike looked a bit perplexed with my question then offered two answers: "all of them" or "I don't know" and to just let it rip. At that point he said that he would just leave the mic on the edge of the patio boat for the tower test. When I explained that the mic was beyond the cutoff angle for my tower speakers we decided it might work better if I swung the nose of my boat around so my tower faced the mic, I also plugged my rear subs back in. For the tower test I planned to play a track with lots of range but heavily biased toward the mid/high frequencies where my tower speakers are happiest. During the first 30 second test I tweaked my EQ only to discover the mic responded more to bass adjustments than it did to mid/high frequency adjustments. This told me that the tower test was more of a rear subwoofer test than a tower test. This explains the results shown for the tower test below. DRIVE BY 1 139.0 Donald Graham 2 133.5 Scott Bilyou 3 132.0 Joe Mitchell 4 131.0 E's Boat 5 129.7 Shawn Hammond 6 127.8 Brian Mitchell 7 126.6 Mike Jolley Ken Holmgren 8 125.3 David Eckhardt If we continue to test using this protocal I predict a boat will catch on fire pretty soon. Overdriven high-power electronics mounted in fiberglass and plastic is a great recipe for a fire. I would like to see a SQ requirement to keep guys like me from pushing their equipment waay past the reasonable level in a crazy attempt to make the meter jump. There should also be some rules so somebody like me doesn't show with some appartus like the one show below aimed right at the mic... (allowing me to get a real/reproducable reading in the 150db range) <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/577325.jpg" alt="Upload"> (Message edited by mikeski on May 06, 2008) (Message edited by mikeski on May 06, 2008)