Blaupunkt VPC 8D, VPC 12D, VPC 15D, VPC 10D User Manual
Profe&ianal Biuatity,
Dual
Subwuufers Pm
Composant de
professionnelle
bobine
6
8 deux voix.
Sistemas
de altavoz de calidad
ssionaf, con componente
e
voz dual.
SubwcmWrs4e
qualidade
issional corn bobina para
M&k&
the U.S.A.
_
New
Ve/ocifyTM
Pro Component features
System design guidelines
Dual Voice Coil advantages
Subwoofer enclosure types
Subwoofer enclosure construction
Installation guidelines
Additional reference information
Limited warranty information
Technical support
VPC8D technical specifications and recommended box designs
VPCl
OD technical specifications and recommended box designs
VPCl2D
technical specifications and recommended box designs
VPCI
5D technical specifications and recommended box designs
Blaupunkt technical support summary sheet (fax sheet)
Other notes
1
2
3,4
485
6,7
8
8
9
9
28,29
30,31
32,33
34,35
36
37
Caracteristiques
des nouveaux
VelocityTM
composants Pro
10
Principes de conception du
systeme
11
Avantages de la bobine mobile a deux voix
12,13
Types d’enceintes de subwoofer
13,14
Construction d’enceintes de subwoofer
15,16
Principes d’installation du
systeme
17
References
17
Garantie
limitee
18
Soutien technique
18
VPC8D
specifications techniques et conception recommandee des enceintes
28,29
VPCl
OD specifications techniques et conception recommandee des enceintes
30,31
VPCl2D
specifications techniques et conception recommandee des enceintes
32,33
VPCl5D
specifications techniques et conception recommandee des enceintes
34,35
Blaupunkt demande de soutien technique
(feuille
de fax) 36
Autres notes
37
TEMAS
Nuevas Caracteristicas
VelocityTM
Pro Component
Principios de
disefio
del sistema
Ventajas de una bobina doble voz
Tipos de
caja
del altavoz
para
bajas frecuencias
Construccidn de la
caja
del altavoz
para
bajas frecuencias
Principios de instalacidn del sistema
Information de referencia adicional
Information de la garantfa
limitada
Apoyo
Tecnico
VPC8D especificaciones tecnicas y
diseiios
recomendados de la saja
VPCIOD
especificaciones tecnicas y
diserios
recomendados de la
caja
VPCl2D
especificaciones tecnicas y diseiios recomendados de la
caja
VPCl5D
especificaciones tecnicas y
disetios
recomendados de la
caja
Blaupunkt hoja de resumen de apoyo
tecnico
(hoja fax)
Otras
notas
PAGINAS
19
20
21,22
22,23
24,25
26
26
27
27
28,
30,
32,
34,35
36
37
_i_
VeiocityTM
”
VPC” Pro Component subwoofers in order to
intrqduce
a series of loudspeakers
offering unparalleled value in the car audio market. The VPC performance standards were
increased yet we were able to drive the speaker costs down using improved manufacturing
techniques and high technology materials.
Unique to the new
Ve/ocityTMwoofers
is the “Dual Voice Coil” Technology. The primary
advantages of this design include the improved loudspeaker configuration flexibility and the
potential performance increases from higher power handling. Best of all, the consumer can
often achieve the performance of two single coil subwoofers with one VPC dual voice coil
speaker.
This manual is composed of several sections and offers brief discussions in each area.
New PRO COMPONENT FEATURES lists technical advancements of the VPC woofers.
SYSTEM DESIGN GUIDELINES addresses system layout, sound quality, and amplifiers.
SUBWOOFER ENCLOSURE TYPES discusses the trade-offs of popular box designs with
SUBWOOFER ENCLOSURE CONSTRUCTION reviewing basic box building techniques.
INSTALLATION GUIDELINES examines additional automotive installation concerns and
ONAL REFERENCE INFORMATION offers additional technical references for those
o learn more about car audio. BLAUPUNKT WARRANTY INFORMATION for the
applicable country is noted. BLAUPUNKT TECHNICAL SUPPORT provides telephone and
fax support numbers and addresses with the BLAUPUNKT TECHNICAL SUPPORT
SUMMARY SHEET formalizes your tech requests so they can be mailed in and/or faxed in
to our technical support people. Finally, in-depth TECHNICAL DATA
fo<
all PC woofers is
provided.
speaking,
95%
of the car audio subwoofer installations made today really don’t need $400
woofers with 100 oz magnets! The VPC series woofers were designed for HIGH POWER
HANDLING LEVELS, HIGH SOUND PRESSURE LEVELS, and FLEXIBLE INSTALLATION
CHOICES.
HIGH POWER HANDLING was achieved
through a new ultra-linear long-throw
suspension with “bottomless” back plate
design allowing for tremendous cone
excursion without voice coil damage. The
new rigid spider design
(Blaupunkt
trademarked as “SPIDERMAX”) renders
spider tears a thing of the past. Double
-
DUSTCAP
thickness compressed foam surrounds
offer linear cone movement without tearing
from over-excursion. New Strontium
Ferrite magnets yield smaller magnet sizes
without reduced magnet strength but
retain their magnetic power far beyond the
expected life of the woofer. Four layers of
p
on
DuPont Kapton Polyamide voice
\, 1 Jobbins
with “Armorcoat” allow for voice coil temperatures exceeding nearly 400”
Fahrenheit without damage.
New basket designs prevent the back of the cone from
slapping the steel frame thus avoiding acoustical distortions and possible cone damage.
Rear vented pole plates allow fresh air to move in from behind the woofer to cool the voice
coil plus help prevent dust cap “popping” at the excursion limits.
-l-
SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS for the new VPC units were strategically
balanced so that low resonant frequencies could be achieved along with high sound
pressure levels.
Cone mass is held to a minimum for high efficiency yet its Acrylic Resin
Laminate
(ARL)
design yields tremendous rigidity. The lighter the cone the easier it is for
the magnet to move it in and out; therefore, higher sound pressure levels for a given
amount of amplifier power input. Additional loudness is achieved through longer cone
travel so we designed the PC units with 0.25 to 0.35 inches (6-8
mm)
of peak-to-peak
excursion which is rarely found in component woofers of this price range.
INCREDIBLY FLEXIBLE INSTALLATION is the real benefit to the new Pro Components. The
PC woofers perform well in sealed, vented, and
bandpass
boxes. Due to the low resonance
values, they also work quite well in infinite baffle installations where the woofer is mounted
on the rear deck of a car and uses the trunk for its enclosure.
The best investment in system design is planning time.
Before building a house an architect
completely draws building plans. Although small modifications are often made throughout
construction, 99% of the home is built as planned. Exactly the same attitude must be
followed in the design of a car audio system and we therefore refer to it as “System
Architecture”.
MULTI-WAY SYSTEMS
Although a simple head-unit with four
speakers will provide reasonable sound, a
really good system almost always requires
some kind of subwoofer. In order to
include the subwoofer speakers a dividing
network must be installed that keeps the
low frequencies out of the midrange
speakers.
“Two-way
”
“crossovers” have a
crossover point set of 80 to 100 Hz for
example. You can go crazy with additional
crossover points and amplifiers (three-way,
five-way, etc.) but these should be left to
the better retail installers or high-end
hobbyists.
HMbuNrr
ELEclRoNlc
CROSSOVER
SCHANNEL
AMPlJflER
SUBwooFER
SOUND QUALITY VS. SPL
A well designed sound system can provide good sound quality and still play loud. Above
about 120 dB (decibels) the sound isn’t perceived as getting much louder due to the
non-
linearities of the human ear. A loudspeaker with reference value of 90 d8 1 watt/l meter
will usually offer about 11 O-l 15 dB inside a car if driven by an amplifier of about 100 watts
(more than enough for most listeners).
Good sound quality is achieved when a system offers several sonic attributes. IMAGING is
the accurate rendition of instrument placement which can only be achieved with proper
loudspeaker placement. STAGING is an extension of imaging where a perceived listening
event is recreated with well defined height, width, and depth as with an actual sound
stage. Correct FREQUENCY RESPONSE implies that all frequencies within the range of
human hearing
(20-20 kHz)
are audible and balanced in relation to one another.
TIMBR
(pronounced Tam-bur’) is the system’s ability to reproduce the sound signature of a tru
so that it doesn’t sound like a trombone. LINEARITY is the systems ability to provide
consistent frequency response regardless of volume setting. Some systems sound “shrill”
at high levels if the tweeters are over driven. They may also sound weak at low volumes
due to our psychoacoustic hearing effects which we perceive bass loss at low levels.
-2-
SYSTEM PLANNING
1
The largest possible impact on any audio
system (home or car) is the quality of
loudspeakers used and their placement.
EFFICIENCY defines how loud a speaker
will play for a given input power and is
often quoted at 1 watt input and measured
at a 1 meter distance. When designing a
system you want to keep the component
efficiencies as close as possible. Always
match components for efficiency and
complementing frequency response to
.i.
.
.i
+ ...
:
.i_
j. ..
ensure smooth transition from low
::
_ _ _
::
s
.
. . .
I
i P
:
4g
8
trequencles to hrgher ones for accurate
performance. Remember that for every 3
FREQUENCY &I ‘.
”
dB
of increased efficiency
ISPL)
a speaker has over another, the end performance is as if
the amplifier has doubled it’s power output.
SPEAKER CONFIGURATIONS can become a problem in autosound installations. We would
hieve
a sound field in front of us (like a live concert) as compared to sound partly
front and partly behind us. This virtually dictates good midrange and tweeter
in front, usually mounted in the doors for good left/right balance, with high-pass
crossovers set greater than 80-100 Hz. For deep bass a subwoofer is required but is nearly
always located behind us in a rear trunk or hatch area. If the subwoofer crossover is too
high in frequency male voices can be heard “gurgling” out of the subwoofer speaker and
therefore pulls the sound-stage to the rear of the car, which is undesirable.
AMPLIFIER POWER is important but should be of lesser importance compared to speaker
choice and placement. Matching the rms (continuous) power levels to that of the speaker
is important but it should be noted that under-powering a system can often cause more
damage than slightly overpowering it. If the speakers are rated for 50 watts rms, you can
often drive them with a 100 watt power amp without concern. IMPEDANCE is the electrical
resistance to AC current flow and is typically 4 ohms for most car speakers. Impedance
loads for a speaker configuration shouldn’t fall below 2-4 ohms for most installations to
avoid amplifier overheating, regardless of manufacturer (Impedance = D.C. resistance of
the voice coil wire + A.C. resistance due to the coil of wire formed).
The Dual Voice Coil woofer is actually quite old in the home audio industry but still
relatively new to the car audio world. The largest advantage of the DVC woofer is in the
flexibility in installation. In order to raise the sound pressure level (loudness) in a car, you
can either add more speakers or add more amplifier power to drive a single speaker. Many
cars cannot fit two subwoofers and their necessary enclosure volumes but can easily fit
larger power amplifiers and a single woofer. Simply speaking, the DVC woofer allows you
to make up for speaker deficiencies with additional amplifier power.
There are basically four types of DVC installation: the ECONOMY MODE simply ties the
two voice coils together to yield more SPL; the LIMITED SPACE MODE uses higher
amplifier power to offset the need for a separate subwoofer and its enclosure; the
FLEXI-AMP MODE allows you to add a subwoofer to either a factory speaker installation or
channel amp in a “Tri-Mode” configuration; the HI-SPL MODE increases the perceived
Pressure Level in the car’s bass by loading down the output impedance of the
amplifiers thus‘achieving higher output power from the amplifiers. For any speaker loading
mode, care must
be taken to avoid loading the amplifier’s output below it minimum
impedance value
(e.g., 2 ohms).
-3-
Economy Mode
Flexi-Amp Mode
Limited Space Mode
HI-SPL Mode
e movement 0
e woofer cone back and forth. If a woofer cone
moves forward creating a positive pressure wave, this same motion creates a negative
pressure at the back of the woofer. If these two waves combine due to the lack of a wall
separating the front of the speaker sound from the back, the output from the woofer is
effectively canceled thus substantially reducing the bass output of the speaker. This wall is
absolutely necessary and is referred to as an acoustical “baffle”. It can be accomplished
using a box of some kind or simply the rear package shelf of an automobile to isolate the
front and back waves of the speaker.
THIELE-SMALL PARAMETERS
Every woofer has its own electromechanical characteristics which are called THIELE-SMALL
parameters. The three most important parameters include RESONANT FREQUENCY
(”
the frequency where the speaker moves with the least mechanical resistance), TOTAL
(“Qts” -
the “magnification” of the cone movement at its resonant frequency), and
VOLUMETRIC COMPLIANCE
(“Vas”
-
the equivalent volume of air that the woofer cone can
displace for a given power input). Using these parameters we can then calculate an
optimum box volume for a particular woofer and reasonably predict its frequency response.
-4-
COMMON ENCLOSURE TYPES
In the car audio world there are 5 types of subwoofer enclosures commonly used; INFINITE
BAFFLE, SEALED BOX (closed box), VENTED BOX (bass reflex), SINGLE-VENTED
BANDPASS (often incorrectly referred to as “5th” order), and DUAL-VENTED BANDPASS
(often incorrectly referred to as “7th” order). No single design is superior because each has
its own compromise in performance, power handling, and design complexity. The
bandpass
name implies a “built-in” acoustical response which has a natural
highpass
response (@ 30
Hz for example) but also a
lowpass
response suppressing high frequencies (e.g.,
>80
Hz).
INFINITE BAFFLE designs simply use the trunk of the car
for its acoustical enclosure and the rear deck to isolate the
front and rear sound paths. Advantages include simple
installation and adequate performance for most systems.
Disadvantanes include poor power handling capability and
substandard transient response.
ED boxes offer one of the best compromises in
handling and performance. Because of the “air
”
provided by the box the advantaqes include simple
box construction, high power handling, excellent transient
response, and smooth low frequency roll-off.
Disadvantaqes include only moderate efficiencies at low
frequencies and the need for large box volumes.
VENTED boxes extend the low frequency response below
that of the sealed box by using a port tube. Advantaqes
include extended low frequency response, lower distortion
due to smaller cone movements in its passband, good
efficiency, good transient response, moderate size boxes,
and high power capacity. Disadvantages include increased
complexity in box design and possible woofer damage due
to over-excursion of the woofer cone below the cut-off
frequency of the vented box.
SINGLE-VENTED BANDPASS boxes are relatively new
(about 5 years in the
car)
but offer some advantages of
both the sealed and vented designs. Advantaqes include
reasonable efficiency, small box volumes, good transient
response, extended low frequency performance, and can
be used with very high power amplifiers. Disadvantaqes
include slightly lower efficiency compared to a vented box
and increased complexity in box design and construction.
DUAL-VENTED BANDPASS boxes vent the sound from the
front and back of the woofer through individually tuned
p
osure on the front and rear of the woofer. The
i
antaqe of this design is its high efficiency over a
narrow frequency band. Disadvantaaes include complex
design and construction, large box volumes, poor transient
response, and susceptibilities to cone over-excursions
(damage) for sound outside its primary frequency band.
-5-
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