How much abuse can a STF-2 take?

[Hawkson101]

I play my music pretty loudly and when i play hip hop, or rap or any music with significant base(the kind where when i put my hand on the cone i feel as though its maxing out) and i was worried about breaking it.

What kind of abuse can this sub take? If i max it out(i can here it sometimes too) is that rreally bad?

[Matt_Smi]

I am also curious about the durability of the driver as well. I would certainly not say I abuse mine at all however, but a few times when listening to bass heavy music too loud or playing a loud bass heavy scene in a movie. I have heard it distorting and could tell it was being pushed to the limits, this just told me that I needed to turn the level down. I am pretty sure I have not bottomed it out though, which is good, but I really don’t know what a sub bottoming out sounds like. Anyway I need to calibrate my system, but I feel for movies the level is going to come out set right between 10-11 o clock. Right now I listen to movies with the level on about 11 o clock, but sometime feel that is a bit hot, so I am guessing that 10:30 will be the sweet spot but we will see after calibration. But for music I listen to some rap as well and like the bass to be a bit more overpowering, so I put the level between 12 and 1 o clock, but I don’t play music very loud with the level at 1 o clock because I don’t want to push it too hard. But I feel that it sounds better with the level higher when listening to music at lower volumes. I am not really too concerned about it however, as I am sure HSU designed the driver to take some moderate punishment, and there is a 7 year warranty on the driver, but if I am not mistaken it does not cover abuse. Anyway running any sub too hard for too long and I would assume reduces the life of it.

[Matt_Smi]

I am still wondering about this, I do not abuse my sub, but sometimes I like to listen to bass heavy music fairly loud with the level of the sub up quite a bit, and while the sub does not distort or sound strained at all, I wonder if playing music like that for extended periods of time can damage the driver? I would hope not because I used to run my old Sony sub very hot all the time and play it loudly, and it still works fine and sounds the same as it always has. I also sometimes worry about the sub when watching a new movie, I keep the level at around 11 o clock, but I never know if something is going to be really loud and bass heavy and cause the sub to be overdriven, so to prevent this from happing I usually do not listen to movies too loud. Maybe I worry about it a bit too much, but I just don’t want to damage the sub at all.

[tdekany]

I play my music pretty loudly and when i play hip hop, or rap or any music with significant base(the kind where when i put my hand on the cone i feel as though its maxing out) and i was worried about breaking it.

What kind of abuse can this sub take? If i max it out(i can here it sometimes too) is that rreally bad?

if properly calibrated, i'd say you will be fine. Even if you have it a liitle too hot they wiil be ok. If you set it by ears you will damage them eventually.

You are pempering yours compared to what I do to my 2 12" Hsu subs in my car. :D

[Matt_Smi]

You are pempering yours compared to what I do to my 2 12" Hsu subs in my car. :D
How is the HSU car sub? And what amp are you using to power them? I was considering getting one as I want a car sub that is not boomy and hits more than one note. Right now I have a 300 watt JBL amp (that would work nice with the HSU sub) and a 10” JL audio W0. I got the sub for free so I really cannot complain, but after getting used to my STF-2, it sounds pretty bad to me now. I am assuming they sound very nice since they are made my HSU.

[tdekany]

the sub is like the home subs - AWESOME. You can't go wrong with it. The amp you have will be fine.

I have a JL Audio 500/1 driving them.

Get one! it is very accurate, goes low and is very tight.

[tdekany]

as many of the members will often say - when you get use to accurate bass after calibrating your system, you will not want to keep changing the level. I don't know you, but I really doubt that you like bass more then I.

Find the best spot for your sub (right behind your seating position) and calibrate.

Now get use to the sound. Takes only a couple of days. That is the way it should sound. play some dvds to speed up the process.

TURN UP THE VOLUME!!!!!! :D

[Dudley]

I will have some sort of answer about durability fairly soon. I volunteered my system (with an STF-2) for "movie night" in a 40' x 60' x 12' room. I will calibrate carefully, and will not turn it up all the way, but I suspect it will do fine. It won't be earbleading volume in that size room, but it will certainly be loud enough to get the point accross.

Won't be for a couple of weeks, but I will report back.

[Matt_Smi]

the sub is like the home subs - AWESOME. You can't go wrong with it. The amp you have will be fine.

I have a JL Audio 500/1 driving them.

Get one! it is very accurate, goes low and is very tight.

Sounds good, only problem is are they 4 ohm dual voice coil, or single voice coil? Because my amp puts out 300 watts in 2 ohms, in 4 ohms it only puts out 150 watts. If it is a 4 ohm DVC I will defiantly consider ordering one. Also how many cubic inches does each sub have in the box? What size box is recommended?

[Ddavidson]

SVC at 4 ohms (nominal)

Ddavidson

[Matt_Smi]

Damn looks like I would need a new amp if I wanted to get the sub then http://www.hsuresearch.com/forum/images/smilies/frown.gif Thanks for the info though.