Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post

ChopsZ · 03-18-2018, 11:42 PM

More from the other forum...

Let's talk performance...

Bazooka tube subs do not get the respect they deserve. People always complain about them being boomy, being flabby, having soft (not tight or punchy) bass, not being detailed, not extending deep.

Even with the little 6.5" Bazooka that I started with, I can easily prove all of the above wrong. In fact, it's been about 20 years since I've listened to a Bazooka tube, and I was once gain shocked at how good these little things can actually sound in a proper system, and when the sub is properly loaded into a corner.

If you do a simple Google search, you will quickly learn that 95% of the people who buy these subs do NOT pay attention to the directions on proper placement. Nor do most of them use, ample, quality amplification. If you feed crap into them, you're going to get crap out of them. And if you're going to do a careless, crap install, you're to get crap performance out of them.

Anyway, after moving up from the single 6.5 to the single 8, I had to reduce the sub output a bit. I ordered both subs at the same time but one arrived a day late. Go figure.

So yes, I had to knock down the output a bit when I swapped out from the 6.5" to the 8", even though I had the 8" wired in series for an 8 ohm load, getting only 300 watts out of the amp vs the 600 watts going into the 6.5.

Once I connected the second 8 the following day, I had to again reduce the output a little. I want the gain to be low enough so that it doesn't overpower the front stage as well as allowing a fair amount of range on the "bass knob" for some of those weaker songs when needed.

After installing both 8's and getting the rest of the flooring back in the car, I then started the tweaking process, so far just by ear, and quite possibly only by ear. And speaking of the installation, the "woofer" end of the subs are roughly 3" from the back wall of the trunk floor. I tried them an inch closer and an inch further away, but the 3" mark seems to be ideal for these subs in the spare tire well of my 370Z.

All crossover duties are taken care of within the head unit as the crossovers in the amp are totally bypassed. Focusing on the subs and mids, I have the subs crossed over at 80 Hz with a -36 dB slope. The mids are crossed at 63 Hz with a -12 dB slope. Gain and time alignment is set accordingly via tape measure and some help from one of my brothers.

These crossover points and slopes are not set in stone, but until I come across some music where it doesn't sound right, they're pretty much staying put for the moment.

I am also happy to say that I still am not using any tone controls or EQ or bass boost. As far as all of that is concerned, it is all either bypassed or left flat.

The integration of the subs and the front stage seem near seamless to me. There are a few older recordings that tend to separate the front stage from the subs a little at times, but the majority of time, it's near seamless. Then again, listening to those older albums on my home system, the upper bass, lower midrange tends to be a little bit on the lean side of neutral, so it stands to reason it would reveal itself this way in the car as well. With that said, 95% of the time, the bass sounds like it's coming from the dash in front of me.

Concerning detail and accuracy, I'm quite amazed at how well the Bazooka subs keep up and blend with the SI mids. Vocals have more lifelike weight to them, cellos have more texture, piano has more scale, electric bass has more dynamics and in-your-face slap.

As far as outright bass is concerned, these subs deliver. They ARE tight, they ARE punchy, they ARE detailed, and they DO extend fairly deep, deeper than their 39 Hz specs, thanks to proper corner loading, cabin gain, tuning and power available on tap.

Classic jazz, new jazz, smooth jazz, fusion jazz, blues, these subs reproduce the bass faithfully with plenty of power, attack and detail. I'm not into all of this new R&B, hip-hop and rap crap that's out there today, but throw on some old school Beastie Boys, Run D.M.C., Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh, etc, etc, and these Bazooka's thump and bump all day long with the best of them. They definitely sound and perform like larger subs in traditional larger boxed enclosures. Luckily though, they don't exactly sound like traditional ported enclosures either. If anything, they could easily be mistaken as sealed subs with the way they reproduce bass.

Playing music that has truly deep, natural bass such as large scale orchestra/symphony music or pipe organ music, the Bazooka's do quite well, but you can definitely tell where they start rolling off, which if I had to guess is somewhere around 30 Hz, not 40 Hz (39 Hz in specs). They dig down pretty deep without effort or strain until the bass just rapidly fades out.

Things like the canons in the Telarc Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, the Bazooka's recreate the canons' blasts with loads of impact, power and slam, though the rumble that comes shortly afterwords is a little on the lean side. Likewise with pipe organ pedal notes that extend down as low as 16 Hz or lower (depending on the organ). There's plenty of body and weight, and thanks to pipe organs having 2nd and 3rd harmonics to play off of, it still sounds great. It's just the very low frequencies from 30 Hz on down just are not present. What is there, it's there with plenty of oomph and naturalness.

And keep in mind, these subs are brand new, are not fully broken in yet, and have not even been pushed yet. I know that the little 6.5" Bazooka started to come alive after about 1.5 weeks of use. I only have about 2 days on these dual 8's so far. So more tuning and tweaking is in my near future as well as these subs only getting better with time.

All in all, I am extremely pleased with this system so far. Everything works together perfectly and the speakers chosen all around well exceed my expectations. I'll have to let some people have a listen and see what they have to say, not telling them any details of the system until after they have a listen.

03-18-2018, 11:42 PM	#68 (permalink)
ChopsZ Track Member Join Date: May 2016 Location: Central Florida Age: 48 Posts: 965 Drives: 2016 370Z GM 6MT Rep Power: 2300	More from the other forum... Let's talk performance... Bazooka tube subs do not get the respect they deserve. People always complain about them being boomy, being flabby, having soft (not tight or punchy) bass, not being detailed, not extending deep. Even with the little 6.5" Bazooka that I started with, I can easily prove all of the above wrong. In fact, it's been about 20 years since I've listened to a Bazooka tube, and I was once gain shocked at how good these little things can actually sound in a proper system, and when the sub is properly loaded into a corner. If you do a simple Google search, you will quickly learn that 95% of the people who buy these subs do NOT pay attention to the directions on proper placement. Nor do most of them use, ample, quality amplification. If you feed crap into them, you're going to get crap out of them. And if you're going to do a careless, crap install, you're to get crap performance out of them. Anyway, after moving up from the single 6.5 to the single 8, I had to reduce the sub output a bit. I ordered both subs at the same time but one arrived a day late. Go figure. So yes, I had to knock down the output a bit when I swapped out from the 6.5" to the 8", even though I had the 8" wired in series for an 8 ohm load, getting only 300 watts out of the amp vs the 600 watts going into the 6.5. Once I connected the second 8 the following day, I had to again reduce the output a little. I want the gain to be low enough so that it doesn't overpower the front stage as well as allowing a fair amount of range on the "bass knob" for some of those weaker songs when needed. After installing both 8's and getting the rest of the flooring back in the car, I then started the tweaking process, so far just by ear, and quite possibly only by ear. And speaking of the installation, the "woofer" end of the subs are roughly 3" from the back wall of the trunk floor. I tried them an inch closer and an inch further away, but the 3" mark seems to be ideal for these subs in the spare tire well of my 370Z. All crossover duties are taken care of within the head unit as the crossovers in the amp are totally bypassed. Focusing on the subs and mids, I have the subs crossed over at 80 Hz with a -36 dB slope. The mids are crossed at 63 Hz with a -12 dB slope. Gain and time alignment is set accordingly via tape measure and some help from one of my brothers. These crossover points and slopes are not set in stone, but until I come across some music where it doesn't sound right, they're pretty much staying put for the moment. I am also happy to say that I still am not using any tone controls or EQ or bass boost. As far as all of that is concerned, it is all either bypassed or left flat. The integration of the subs and the front stage seem near seamless to me. There are a few older recordings that tend to separate the front stage from the subs a little at times, but the majority of time, it's near seamless. Then again, listening to those older albums on my home system, the upper bass, lower midrange tends to be a little bit on the lean side of neutral, so it stands to reason it would reveal itself this way in the car as well. With that said, 95% of the time, the bass sounds like it's coming from the dash in front of me. Concerning detail and accuracy, I'm quite amazed at how well the Bazooka subs keep up and blend with the SI mids. Vocals have more lifelike weight to them, cellos have more texture, piano has more scale, electric bass has more dynamics and in-your-face slap. As far as outright bass is concerned, these subs deliver. They ARE tight, they ARE punchy, they ARE detailed, and they DO extend fairly deep, deeper than their 39 Hz specs, thanks to proper corner loading, cabin gain, tuning and power available on tap. Classic jazz, new jazz, smooth jazz, fusion jazz, blues, these subs reproduce the bass faithfully with plenty of power, attack and detail. I'm not into all of this new R&B, hip-hop and rap crap that's out there today, but throw on some old school Beastie Boys, Run D.M.C., Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh, etc, etc, and these Bazooka's thump and bump all day long with the best of them. They definitely sound and perform like larger subs in traditional larger boxed enclosures. Luckily though, they don't exactly sound like traditional ported enclosures either. If anything, they could easily be mistaken as sealed subs with the way they reproduce bass. Playing music that has truly deep, natural bass such as large scale orchestra/symphony music or pipe organ music, the Bazooka's do quite well, but you can definitely tell where they start rolling off, which if I had to guess is somewhere around 30 Hz, not 40 Hz (39 Hz in specs). They dig down pretty deep without effort or strain until the bass just rapidly fades out. Things like the canons in the Telarc Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, the Bazooka's recreate the canons' blasts with loads of impact, power and slam, though the rumble that comes shortly afterwords is a little on the lean side. Likewise with pipe organ pedal notes that extend down as low as 16 Hz or lower (depending on the organ). There's plenty of body and weight, and thanks to pipe organs having 2nd and 3rd harmonics to play off of, it still sounds great. It's just the very low frequencies from 30 Hz on down just are not present. What is there, it's there with plenty of oomph and naturalness. And keep in mind, these subs are brand new, are not fully broken in yet, and have not even been pushed yet. I know that the little 6.5" Bazooka started to come alive after about 1.5 weeks of use. I only have about 2 days on these dual 8's so far. So more tuning and tweaking is in my near future as well as these subs only getting better with time. All in all, I am extremely pleased with this system so far. Everything works together perfectly and the speakers chosen all around well exceed my expectations. I'll have to let some people have a listen and see what they have to say, not telling them any details of the system until after they have a listen. __________________ She's For Sale! PERFORMANCE: Aero Workz \| Akebono \| BC Racing \| EcuTek \| HKS \| MaxBore \| Motordyne \| Nismo \| RJM \| SPL \| StopTech \| Z1 AUDIO: Arc Audio \| Bazooka \| Helix \| Pioneer \| Stereo Integrity