Hollywood - Import Tuner Magazine

Whether you want it clean and defined or long and boomy, Hollywood Digital has the ticket with its Excursion series.

The first subwoofer candidate to explore Auto Sound & Security's large-trunked Taurus is one that doesn't need much enclosure space, Hollywood Digital's 12-in. X2-1280D, from its Excursion series.

Based on a black painted, punched steel frame, the sub features an 80-oz stack of magnets, 5.2 in. in diameter. Cooling is aided by a 0.7-in. diameter vent in the pole. The cone is a hard-pressed, flat-profile affair with added Kevlar, and a glossy PVA coating keeps moving mass to a modest 210 grams. The 5.3-in. dustcap adds some stiffness. Inside the 1280D is a 2-in. voice coil with dual 4-ohm windings, while the 6.25-in. spider offers potential for excellent cone motion. Good grade tinsel leads and two pairs of binding-post terminals complete the presentation of this functional driver.

After measuring the characteristics of the driver and predicting its performance in a few different enclosures, we rigged up our reference enclosures, sandbagged them to get appropriate airspace and took them for a spin. With an EBP (energy bandwidth product) of about 75, the Excursion 12 works in either ported or sealed enclosures. We tried it in both types.

Computer modeling suggested that the ideal enclosure was vented, with 1.1 cu ft of airspace and a 4-in. diameter port tube, 18-in. long, which we put together using standard PVC drain pipe and elbows. Since this port tube is rather long, it must be bent to fit into the enclosure, which is quite easy to do using standard PVC drain pipe and elbows. After adding 0.15 cu ft for driver displacement, and the same again for the port, the actual enclosed volume became a very manageable 1.4 cu ft.

For fans of sealed enclosures, we also ran the 1280D in a 0.9-cu-ft sealed system, which was the best compromise between extended low-frequency output and mid-bass level. On the bench, the sealed system showed the classic soft curve profile. Once in the car, it was very solid, with more deep bass than the response curves had suggested.

Comparing the SQ of each system, the sealed configuration definitely played smoother, with excellent definition. The ported system, on the other hand, carried a fatter, larger-than-life beat on our test tracks. Moby was magic, Oakenfold perfect. Ported gave us the fat bottom-end that makes dance tracks move, without needing any additional bass boost. And although the ported system looked better on paper, we liked it for everything except spoken word and orchestral music. The smaller, sealed system was definitely flatter and more accurate in this area, although not as exciting.

We ran our tests with a Genesis Dual Mono power amp driving one voice coil per channel and our crossover set at 80Hz. Since harmonic distortion was fairly low, higher crossover frequencies were possible and we had excellent results with the Excursion crossed over as high as 120Hz. Sensitivity was better than average at almost 90dB for 1 watt. Distortion remained low at normal listening levels, and reached our six-percent limit at 216 watts RMS, a respectable result. With more power, output continued to increase and we managed to extract 127dB in the test car with 588 watts applied before power compression made further power increases irrelevant.

Overall, the 1280D proved itself a versatile sub, with plenty of clean output, solid low bass, and two distinct sonic signatures, depending on the route you want to go, sealed or vented.

JBLP80.4On-board active crossovers, high-level inputs and a good shred of power make the P80.4 ideal for any single-amp system setup and worthy of carrying the JBL name.

Already a monster in the pro audio world, JBL has focused its reputation and talents in that arena to the less demanding, just as passionate, world of autosound. Back in the day in the U.K., we used to power JBL's 1500 and 1800Gti series subs with the company's "tunnel" fan-cooled amps. These big beasts powered our rides like the inside of any club.

Curious to see if the Power Series amps had some of that spirit and innovation behind them or whether they were metal shells simply flossin' the logo, we wrapped our paws round a Power Series P80.4. Rated to deliver 40x4 at 4 ohms stereo and 160x2 bridged at 4 ohms, the P80.4 accepts a full 4.8 volts before the inputs clip, a slight increase on its 250mV-4V range.

We set up the P80.4 in three-channel mode by bridging the third and fourth channels, a configuration we think many installers would opt for if using this in a single-amp system. After dialing in the outputs, we added 5dB of gain overlap to account for the average levels of music and measured the following:

The P80.4 meets and exceeds spec on these counts, and performed without appreciable audible distortion during measurements. It's fair to say these levels could be achieved in just about any similar install. The amp is not a hog in the power department either, proving itself 66-percent efficient, a good thing for those wanting some bump but not ready to start swapping batteries and alternators. At a standstill with no signal input, the amp draws a mere 0.2 amperes.

Although the P80.4 has only modest on-board features, the accuracy of the crossovers was very good. The range of crossover points is a well-positioned 32-320Hz, which allows two types of configurations. One would be a standard low- or high-pass function for a subwoofer (in low-pass mode) or a midrange driver of various diameters (in high-pass mode).

The other use could be as a protection feature for a subwoofer that's already using a low-pass filter from a signal source upstream, perhaps the "sub out" from the head unit. The protection feature would come from using that 32Hz crossover point in a high-pass configuration so that the lows get filtered out. This may be ideal for smaller subs, but also for larger drivers in vented boxes.

The only noticeable drawback of the filter and input controls is the lack of multiple markings around the dials (a pet peeve of ours, if you hadn't noticed). A small selection of 80-, 150- and 220Hz markings would be nice to help with initial set up. Also absent are any markings on input sensitivity except for the lowest and highest ranges. If you had a head unit with only one volt of output, it'd be helpful to match the gain with some guideline prior to final tweaking.

The P80.4 is an easy install with screw terminal power and speaker connections and signal inputs-either low level RCA or high level speaker wire-all located on the opposite side. On-board fuses mean that the only extra accessories required include a fuse at the battery and your own 8-gauge power/ground, and 18-gauge remote turn-on wires.

Unlike larger, more powerful amps that require capacitors and distribution accessories, the P80.4 will be just fine with one of the pre-packaged install kits out there, primarily because the high-level inputs allow the use of speaker level connections if needed.

The JBL P80.4 measures a tidy 12 9/16 in. x 9 1/16 in. x 2 11/16 in.(LWH), so it's going to fit under most seats, and definitely in an unintrusive spot in the trunk. The flat heatsink has a minimum of sharp edges, good to keep in mind if you got kids or clumsy friends.

Setup is really very simple. After the gain is set and the crossover has been adjusted during a short listening evaluation, you're ready to go. One small detail not to overlook is that the amp has a stereo/mono operation selector switch, so make sure that's set correctly before heading off. Another minor detail is that the RCA input must be connected independently for each pair of channels. Since there is no signal steering input switch, a head unit with just one pair of preamp outputs will need a "Y" adapter or use a combination of RCA and high-level inputs to feed signal to both pairs of channels.

The P80.4 owner's manual is pretty basic, a simple but effective guide with good info about pre-installation cautions, a handy first order passive crossover chart and basic suggestions on setting up the amp.

Overall the P80.4 is a good little amp that manages heat effectively. Its small footprint makes it easy to install in just about any practical place in a vehicle where enough room exists and the high level inputs mean that it's going to work with a wide range of factory sound systems. Power is moderate, but certainly enough to drive a good front stage with some bump in back.