four t39 did the prom

[horst]

Yeh power compression will come into it but from what I hear of the punisher there are still noticeable improvements to be had when driven with over 500W.
Its also power compression at the drivers maximum thermal rating that is the issue and from looking at the beyma site where a few drivers have PC charts, it seems to stay relatively constant (-5dB) at max rated thermal power be it a 1600W or 500W driver. So it seems likely the two drivers will have the similar amounts of compression at 450W and 1kW respectively.

I have been thinking about doing a test of the two drivers when I've completed the t39 enclosures, if I'm building 6 or 8 its probably worthwhile to take the small hit i'll suffer from having to resell one of the drivers as used. If I end up doing this I'll report my findings here.

have you seen this?
http://sound.westhost.com/articles/pwr-vs-eff.htm

the "improvement" between 500 and a 1000W is harmonic distortion

theoretically you're only going to get 3dB more by doubling the power anyway
you're going to get the most bang for your buck by using more drivers not by torturing too few.


but yeah try them both, empirical evidence always trumps theory

[thomas]

Gotta disagree, if im running the subs above 40Hz upto 100Hz, harmonic distortion should stay fairly low and I'd certainly hope it would only account for a small percentage of any volume increases that may be had from increased power. I don't think its correct to say an increase from 500w to 1kw will yield more volume, just thru increased harmonic distortion.

1kw into the ciare isn't what I'd call ragging it (again tho this just from what I've heard of it in the punisher), and on my recent performances I definitely know not to push drivers to beyond their limits . It comes down how much you want/need those final couple dB's that are still within the drivers limits. A huge stack of subs being gently tickled would be nice but I dont have the space or the money to do that.

Like you say tho real life tests where my ears and a mic will judge are more important than any computer sim, and thinking ahead it would be foolish not to test each of what are probably two of the best drivers for the t39.