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A well built subwoofer will not have cabinet vibration.
A well built subwoofer will not have cabinet vibration.
What about the vibration of the walls and the floor then?
Yeah, my sub doesn't vibrate at all. It's as solid as a tank. My wall vibrates more than the sub itself. If the sub is vibrating that means it is transfering force to the air. I figure the magnestism isn't an issue except for the hard drives. But inside of a typical hard drive is a very small but very, very powerful magnet. So, I figure the magnetic field of the sub affect will be minimal at most.
I can seem to find anyone ever actually seeing a problem accept for misaligning optics in DVD drives over time, which isn't reall an issue.
I will probably support the receiver and htpc on risers with dampening foam. That will increase ventilation, reduce any possible vibration and create distance from the magnetic field of the sub.
I figure if cars can survive all the subwoofer action, than house-hold electronics can handle it as well within reason
Different materials, different construction, different resonances. A properly constructed subwoofer cabinet is inert from just over DC to 80+hz.
If you guys can't feel vibration from your subwoofers when you sit on them, your subwoofers are junk... Even if it's 200Lbs, it's still going to vibrate enough that you shouldn't put a PC on it. Enough that the PC would immediately die? Likely not. But enough to make it a bad idea over time.
Not a single one of you could come up with a cabinet that my AV15X + O-Audio 500W amp couldn't make vibrate. Even if you use concrete. It doesn't vibrate enough that it's audible (at least not notably so), but if you sit on your sub, you will feel it. As would a PC.
My horn bass isn't even a sub but the tools fall off the window lids in my garage if I turn it up.
That's not factually accurate. The cabinet should not vibrate, you're likely just feeling the sound waves. If the cabinet itself suffers from mechanical vibration, it was not constructed properly.
You can never fully stop the vibration. Only keep it within acceptable limits. Go sit on your subwoofer and crank it up. You WILL feel it (even if you're sitting backwards so the subwoofer driver isn't behind your legs). Period. You can talk about what causes that as much as you want (a discussion that doesn't interest me in the slightest), but it doesn't change the facts. If you put a PC on top of a subwoofer, the PC WILL experience significantly more vibration than if it were not on a subwoofer. PCs with mechanical HDDs are very sensitive to vibration.
If you can't feel it, your subwoofer is weak.
You can never fully stop the vibration. Only keep it within acceptable limits. Go sit on your subwoofer and crank it up. You WILL feel it (even if you're sitting backwards so the subwoofer driver isn't behind your legs). Period. You can talk about what causes that as much as you want (a discussion that doesn't interest me in the slightest), but it doesn't change the facts. If you put a PC on top of a subwoofer, the PC WILL experience significantly more vibration than if it were not on a subwoofer. PCs with mechanical HDDs are very sensitive to vibration.
If you can't feel it, your subwoofer is weak.
lol *whoosh* that went completely over your head didn't it?
to counter your argument, especially the last line,
If you CAN feel it, your subwoofer is shit.
I can leave a thumb tack on top of cabinet in my room and when I play the sub loud if will rattle all over the place because of the vibrations, but if I leave the thumb tack on top of the subwoofer it doesn't rattle at all. Yet, if I put my hand on the sub I can feel the sonic vibrations.
That's the point Leningola was trying to make. Your sub shouldn't be vibrating mechanically.
*EDIT* just want to add, that in case you think my subwoofer is weak, well, I need a seperate 300W amplifier to drive it
Like I said, I didn't make any claims as to why it happens, nor am I interested in discussing that... it happens. Regardless of how. I've made enough subwoofers and I've made cabinets of 2 3/4" sheets of MDF bonded together, which is VERY heavy. You can sit there and try and nitpick "well it's not a mechanical vibration," or whatever, I don't care. Fact is I've sat on almost every subwoofer I ever made at some point or another, and with every single one I can feel it.
If unbraced, or improperly braced, the thickness of your MDF can't make up for it.
Like I said, I didn't make any claims as to why it happens, nor am I interested in discussing that... it happens. Regardless of how. I've made enough subwoofers and I've made cabinets of 2 3/4" sheets of MDF bonded together, which is VERY heavy. You can sit there and try and nitpick "well it's not a mechanical vibration," or whatever, I don't care. Fact is I've sat on almost every subwoofer I ever made at some point or another, and with every single one I can feel it. Yet it's not audible vibration on any of them. You can discuss what causes what to vibrate, but the fact is subwoofers cause things to vibrate. Discussing why it happens is just a waste of time here. The reason why doesn't matter. That's why I ignored it in my last reply, and will continue to do so.
HDDs are just very sensitive to vibration in general, far more than we are. I've put plenty of things on top of a subwoofer. I just wouldn't make a HDD one of those things. We're talking about sub-millimeter clearances in some of the mechanical parts. My point is not that there's a lot of vibration, but that it barely takes any to potentially cause a drive to fail. Enclosures are not ideal. Yes, when build properly they are sturdy. I'm not claiming subwoofers hop around on my floor from vibration. I'm saying the world isn't perfect and you can never stop 100% of the vibration.
lol... just stop assuming how I make my enclosures man. Your assumption that I don't use bracing is unfounded and incorrect. My enclosures are sturdy and the vibration felt is not strong and yes some degree of it is indirect such as from sound waves. But my enclosures, like all enclosures, are not ideal/perfect. There is always going to be some small amount of vibration. It's not something I ever notice, but I still wouldn't put a computer on it. My subwoofer is 15", has about an inch of peak (so about 2" peak-peak) of excursion, and is being driven by a quality 500w amp. It SLAMS. HARD. Not sure what you have experience with, but I doubt it's anything as beefy as this.
I've heard plenty of poorly built subs that have some serious vibration due to bad drivers and/or cabinets. That's not the claim I'm making. It doesn't take that much vibration to harm a HDD.
I'm done with this thread. Go put your computers on your subwoofers. I don't care.
I'm not assuming your sub is unbraced, nor am I making any assumptions about the way you build your subs. I'm pointing out that bracing makes a massive difference.
This isn't a pissing match. I'm offering scientifically verified facts for the OP.
Interesting video you posted earlier in this thread. I tried the coins balanced on edge on top of my sub, it's from XTZ, and they didn't fall
But if I put them on top of my computer case and play the music loud, they fall nearly straight way
So, back to the meat of the matter.
Mechanical vibration will harm your electronics. Your subs is unlikely to be creating mechanical vibration (as confirmed by the OP as well). Sound waves should not harm your electronics, unless you are pushing incredible SPL (think 130dB++). Otherwise, your amplifier would be damaged in the process.
I'd think about switching to solid state drives, though. Subwoofer magnets can be very strong.
lol *whoosh* that went completely over your head didn't it?
to counter your argument, especially the last line,
If you CAN feel it, your subwoofer is shit.
So when my walls vibrate hard enough for tools to drop, the subwoofer is shit if it's not somehow magically locked steady and only the rest of the universe vibrates?
By the way I have a 2500W amp and 100+db/2,83V sensitivity if you're wondering.
The closer you are to a subwoofer playing loud, the more chance you have of damaging your hearing.
Common sense and my own accident.What is the basis of this statement?
Human hearing is most sensitive around the vocal frequencies.
This is why OSHA lists all of it's noise exposure guidelines using A-weighting measurments
Someone screaming in your ear, for example, would be more likely to cause hearing damage than just about any subwoofer.
You cite an example of the response of other frequencies as a reason why bass cant cause damage.