question for subwoofer experts
 

hey, im going for sq, and mild spl.. i want it to bump pretty loud, but i want it to be clean, i want 2 subwoofers.. and i listen to rap music

lol after all that.. my q is.. what is the best stuff to go with? i want 2 subs.. should they be 10's or 12's, or even 15's? how many watts would be good.. i dont wanna break my glass or anything so not too loud, im thinkin in the area of 400 watts per sub... any ideas?

go with 10" and buy my sub!!

go with sum memphis sound! its one of the best and also do it with 2 10s. not too loud but loud enuff to hear from a distance without paying too much

and don't just go by watts.. also look at ohms... like get a amp that has 6 ohms and two subs with 3 ohms... something like that... My electronics teacher touched a little on that... saying that would give you really good sound quality or something...

the higher the ohms the better the sound quality and lower the ohms the louder they will be.

Exactly. Also if your planning on playing rap through them I'd say get a couple good 12". My favorite middle of the road brand is phoenix gold. Good bang for the buck.

^absolutely....the best 3 brands from what I have heard are Phoenix Gold, Memphis, JL...ive heard some Memphis subs and wow were they clean and crisp on rap music. Only problem with memphis is they are not retailed, so you have to pay the shop price unless you find someone dumping their own set on ebay or somethign that have been used

I bought this lightning audio sub and amp and they weren't too bad...

lol

Your looking for SQL my friend. Thats where most people are at. I want it loud, but I want it to sound good.

People, its all in the box!

I got some no name black subs that are crazy cheap, and they work just fine. Actually everyone who has heard it (SPL junkies/competitors) was so very impressed with the sub- of course in the box it was in ;)

Your box plays such a vital role. Take a JL W7, put it in a poopty box= crap sound...

And for what you want. A set of 12's will do ya well. Trouble is, you can kiss most of your trunk goodbye if you want it really loud. A good portion gone if you want it decently loud. Or you can go sealed and have from the spare tire card to the tail lights.

As for wattage, thats all dependent on what subs you do get. A 100 wrms sub with all things equal will be just as loud as a 1000 wrms sub with all things equal outside of thermal handling.

The rms rating is a thermal rating, not some magical number that has to be hit or surpassed...

My advice, pick out some subs first run it by the group then go from there.

Heres some brands I would sugguest looking into and I have contacts for:
www.elevationaudio.com
www.reaudio.com
www.arcaudio.com

I know Ryan is going to hate me for saying this....but I really like Audiobahn. I have had 4 different systems now and I am very pleased with my subs and amp now. I am running two ohms and the box is crap but they are loud enough. My mirror rattles and it falls down (not off) when I really run the hell out of them. Only thing is your not going to get good mids and high's, but very few rap songs have mids and highs. I think Audiobahn is good for the money.

I'm going to go with a couple pioneers I saw at Wal-Mart....

I might end up just getting one and doing something kinda different from normal sub setups.

i was thinking infinity...
2-12" infinity reference 1252w subs: 300w rms
amp.. infinity referenct 1600a: 600w rms..
so thats 2- 300w subs at 300w a piece.. box is a q-logic 1.2512DS.. 12" dual sub box..
links:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-554utG3...p?I=044H1212DS
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-554utG3...sp?I=108R1600A
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-554utG3...asp?I=1081252W

tell me what you think.. specially about the box

id do a sealed for those subs(since it looks like you're going prefab) myself, but thats me.

I'd go for a more powerful amp. Just one thing I noticed is that the amp is a 1 channel. So hooking up the two speakers in serial will mean you can't get your ohms lower than 4, meaning your amp can only output 400W RMS while the subs are 600W RMS. If you go in parallel it'll drop it down to 1 ohm; however the amp doesn't state it supports running at 1 ohm; which means you could potentially have it cut out or damage itself when you crank it up.

So I would either get a beefier amp, or go with single voice coil versions of the same subs. The SVC will be cheaper, and hooked up in serial will give you 8 ohms, or 2 ohms in parallel; which is what the amp is rated for.

I would also go with a sealed box. Ported boxes ARE better, but ONLY when they're tuned for your set-up. Also, if you're listening to rap/hip hop music it tends to have quicker hitting bass notes. Sealed boxes are better for that kind of result. If you're dead set on getting a ported box get it custom made for your subs.

Well ok were getting somewhere.

As mentioned, the amp isnt the best choice for that sub in particular. Here is the one that you need to get the most from that amp:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-R5MtfXR...520&I=1081250W


The amp... Im going to shoot that its under rated marginally. Looking at the fuses and the fact its Class D, should give it around an 80-85% efficency factor. If it truly needs 75 amps of pertection, figuring 85% come sup to about 880 WRMS... Maybe it is one Ohm stable. If it is, it explains the power breakdown -> 400wrms/4 Ohms, 600wrms/2 Ohms, 800wrms/ 1 Ohms.


Hey, I forgot to mention TC Sounds. www.tcsounds.com They got some really nice subs for around the same price.

The box is vital...

amp is NOT 1 ohm stable, and i wouldnt suggest running it at 1 ohm. And I'd say that amp is underrated at all. 600rms at 2 ohms sounds right on par, possibly even higher than what it put out. Just speaking from experience working with that amp a lot.

but is it a good amp? and would that system bump, given i had the right box.. and is that box a good box? because you can have it sealed or bandpass from what i can tell.. may be wrong tho.. and how much would it be to make my own box.. and what wood is good? 3/4 mdf? and is it silicone to seal them?

3/4 MDF. Silicone works well, so does the about any caulk. Its got one thing it needs to do, seal the air.

I havent had the pleasure of having to mess with one of them infinity amps. Since Joel has, I would take his word on it.

Personally, i would shoot for a JBL amp if your set on Harmon Kardon.

i guess you could get that box, and put the sealed port cover in

I wouldn't seal a ported box. To me it just sounds like a recipe for a rattling box.

But I'd definitely look at a different box. Even with the amp your looking at it'll still bump pretty good.

If you want to have a bit of a learning session I would recommend ordering the speakers, use a program called winISD (just google it) and you can enter the specs of your speakers. The spec sheet should either be on crutchfield or on infinity's web-site. What you want to look at is the frequency response, remember 0dB is without any boost; 60Hz is most of your rap bass. Find a configuration that works for ya and either order a box to that spec or just build one yourself.

Also, if you're looking at ports... make sure you check the delay... the less the delay the quicker the bass!