Sundown Audio SAZ-3500D Testing

 

Bronze Member
Username: Sundownz

Mooresville, NC USA

Post Number: 11
Registered: Nov-06
I did the 16v testing myself, Derrick on Team Sundown did some 12v testing, and Raymond Farmer (well known from dB Drag) also did some 12v testing.

My testing and Derrick's was done using my Extech True Power meter - it reads out a power figure a full ~6 seconds into the burp so there are no artificial peak numbers.

http://www.extech.com/instrument/products/310_399/380976.html

Ray's testing was done with his own equipment.

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My HIGH VOLTAGE TESTING:

6x Powermaster D1000s used for testing
17.9 volts rest - did not measure voltage drop.

10,320 watts from the pair @ 1.5 ohms each after rise starting at 0.5 DCR
5160 each

11,470 watts from the pair @ 1.3 ohms each after rise starting at 0.5 DCR
5735 per amp

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Derrick's 12v SYSTEM TESTING:

Starting battery + 2x Powermaster D3100s used for testing

3980 @ 0.25 rising to 0.65 @ 11.2v (engine on)

2050 @ 1 rising to 2.44 @ 12.2v (engine off)

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Ray Farmer's 12v Testing:

Okay, I have done my SAZ3000D 12volt power test. I would like to say, WOW!!

My nominal ohm load was 0.5 ohms. I did plenty of test but I got the amp to do its power at the proper settings and did 3 test and took the average.

I used 2 x NSB-g3100 to power the amp, Starting voltage 13.2

Test 1
75.1 volts
39.9 amps
2996.5
box rise 1.88
voltage drop 12.2

Test 2
75.1 volts
37.7 amps
2827.5 watts
box rise 1.99
voltage drop 12.1

Test 3
76.0 volts
39.5 amps
3002.0 watts
box rise 1.9
voltage drop 12.1

Average of 3 test
75.4 volts
39.03 amps
2942.86 watts
box rise 1.92 approximately 2 ohms

So 2942.86 watts @ 2ohms @ 12.1 volts

That is some power!!!

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Original thread link here :

http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=28412

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The whole first run of these sold out already but I figured I'd share some testing anyway :-)

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Platinum Member
Username: Nd4spd18

Philadelphia, PA

Post Number: 10480
Registered: Jul-06
Sounds like you used speakers as the load no?

In which case all those results go right out the window.... show me a real test with a resistive load and I'll be interested.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Sundownz

Mooresville, NC USA

Post Number: 12
Registered: Nov-06
I realize that you have power factors, etc on an inductive speaker load - but you should realize that 99% of testing done by SPL competitors is done with clamps on woofers and not on a test load. I don't know many people with 5-10 kw load resistors in their garage or a bench power supply capable of handling that.

The factory tested them for me on a resistive load and figures are not far off from my testing - eg: 5800 @ 2% THD on a resistive 1 ohm load on 18v from their testing.

I use amps on speakers and not resistors so I like to post my measurements accordingly. I got ~5700 @ 1.3 without measuring THD, so we'll assume it was more than 2% -- that is pretty close to the resistive testing.

For another comparison... at 1 ohm on 12v Derrick was 1 dB louder with the SAZ-3500D than the SAZ-3000D -- which means ~33% more power.
 

Platinum Member
Username: Nd4spd18

Philadelphia, PA

Post Number: 10487
Registered: Jul-06
So how can you qualify any of these readings then..... if you didnt use a scope to monitor the wave or measure THD.... how could you know how much clean power you were getting? It could be clipped and you wouldn't know it.

Reactive load, no o-scope just a reading from a clamp meter.... sorry but this all sounds rather useless to me.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Sundownz

Mooresville, NC USA

Post Number: 15
Registered: Nov-06
Honestly - I think you are simply trying to create an argument here for the sake of argument. I just told you above that the clamp results are quite close to the factory resistive tests so, to me, this indicates that they are not useless or out the window.

If you want to pick one up and do your own resistive testing you are more than welcome to do it - I guarantee you will get results very close to what you see here.

I'd say most people buying a 3500+ watt amp are more interested in SPL results and testing that they can compare to their own testing -- which 99.9% likely if they have done any at all it is with clamp meters.

I've tested plenty of samples that clamp less than Audio Precision resistive test measurements say they should do as the amp was made to measure well and not necessarily to perform when hooked up to a real speaker. So... that type of testing isn't the end-all-be-all either
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