just some advice when purchasing subs

[lostindasauce]

The truth is most people measure how good their system is by how loud it is. Distortion of a sub in an enclosed trunk is almost impossible to hear. Unless it is played at volumes that introduce more than 50% distortion.

IMO you are much better off going with some good quality, yet inexpensive, subs and amp. personally I like Memphis. The PR series is not expensive and sounds alright. More important though is your head unit. It is by far the most important factor to how good your system sounds.

Know what you are looking for first. If cheap is what you want it is fine if it makes you happy. most people after a while just want a little more bump..... and then a little more.... and then a little more.....ect. Some people want their system to just be louder than everyone else. If this is you then go for as many cheap subs as you can afford. they easiest way to increase volume is to increase the number of speakers.
If you want it to sound good go with one, or two, really nice speakers in a sealed box. DO NOT PUT GOOD SPEAKERS IN PORTED OR VENTED BOX!!!! IT WILL DESTROY YOUR FREQUENCY RESPONSE!!!

All this is coming from someone who has invested over $1500 in a quality sub/amp combo and made a custom sealed enclosure. First I had a Memphis 15" LVS quad voice coil sub and Memphis 1000 watt RMS amp in a sealed box. I hit 131db on a decibel meter with 1 sub!!! After that I wanted it to be louder so I got a 15" MOJO D4 and a vented box. The LVS sub sounded waaaayyyyy better.

I should have just gone with six 12" Memphis PR subs.

[southernjake]

just get a jl w7. nicest subs ever.



ever.

[lostindasauce]

BTW, it is a common misconception that you can under power a speaker.... Not running enough power or running too low ohms hurts your amp by making it work harder. But generally will not kill things. Running too much power will cause physical damage to the speaker by either increasing VMAX (linear travel of the woofer) too much or causing thermal damage (literally cooking the voice coil)

---------- Post added at 02:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:12 AM ----------

JL is good stuff but way too pricey. you pay a lot for the name. They are a larger company and make products primarily sold nationwide... I usually find the better stuff is grown locally....... (not weed) lol!

but again like I said everyone's basis of why a speaker is better is usually determined by a number of factors. the most common being how loud it is. This usually has very little to do with how good it sounds in terms of sound quality. For a good example compare a $120 set of Infinity 6 1/2" to a $700 pair of Boston Acoustics. No comparison at all...... but then again Most people have never heard what Boston Acoustics even sound like.

[super240sx71]

My buddy has boston's in his crv and it is intense lol. Very good speakers.

[lostindasauce]

14937

This is the 15" Memphis sub I used to have. Too bad they stopped production and these things are really hard to find anymore.

[lostindasauce]

My buddy has boston's in his crv and it is intense lol. Very good speakers.


Good choice your buddy made..... I'm not into stereos like I used to be. But I've done a lot of research on the math involved with making a speaker sound good. unfortunately, there are way too many variables inside of a car or truck and this makes tuning virtually impossible. but in short the idea is the find the resonate frequency of your vehicle and match your subs to that. I was able to make my entire roof move about an inch and a half or so in the Maxima I used to own.

[southernjake]

if you can find a louder, more accurate SINGLE sub setup with one amp for cheaper i will definitely look into buying it.

[flip]

I've got two of the JL W6 12's on a JL 1000x1 amp at 4 Ohms and it sounds wonderful :).

[lostindasauce]

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not downing JL Audio at all. Last time I saw their stuff though It was expensive. The Memphis LVS pictures above I bought for $350. Its a $1000 sub. Now they have replaced that with the MOJO 15". It is also only $350. The specs are something like 1500 watts RMS and 3000 peak. But remember that wattage is a term that is subjective to how much current your amp pulls. 100 watts on one amp is not the same as 100 watts on another. a cheap way to tell amperage of your amp is to check the fuses contained on the amp. The more and the higher amperage fuses you have the higher the current you are probably running. Again, unfortunately testing speakers is purely subjective to the person listening. loudness and sound quality are perspectives of the listener. The only way to really test speaker performance is with a spectrometer. and who's got one of those? I do have a DB meter if someone wants to test out how much pressure their system makes........

[Highs on bass]

ok... I have to come in here and stop you......


lostindasauce.... most of what you have stated above is dead wrong..


first off putting a quality sub in a ported box will not inhibit your freq response... thats what a ported box is designed to do... is EXPAND your freq response.... chances are you bought a prefab box..... *(most prefab boxes are tuned around 40 htz and up)

this way they sound loud but do not drop like a ported box should....

also.. if your trying to get loud.. just adding a crap ton of cheap subs isn't the way to go... TRUST ME... tried it.. did a wall with 6 hifonics hfi12d4's... they are 35 dollar subs.... on 1500 rms it didn't do much....

if you wanna get loud, do a single bad ass sub, on adequate power... not only will you generate more pressure, but your going to also have a lot better quality sound.

most of the brands you mentioned as quality, I think of as sub par.... Memphis is ok, the line you like is just ok. also... whats funny is you put a sub designed for a ported box.. in a sealed box... just shows how much of a lack of true knowledge is prevalent.

I to have a db meter... its a Termlab.. the meter that NASA uses... and any quality sanctioning body.

if you wanna test my knowledge go ahead.. i'd ask you sit in my truck first tho... because I'm going to drown you out with my sq... then blast you out of the truck with 155 db's... *( true db's )

also... there are not that many variables in tuning your sub box. Simple math.. and logic.

one what music do you listen to... two what sub, size, quantity, and power, and three what vehicle..

in a truck usually if not walled sub up port up is loudest, with the best freq response.

in a trunk, depending on the power, either sub back port back, OR.... sub and port forward AND seal the front off from the trunk are going to yield the best freq response,

in an suv, Sub up port back is usually the best for being louder, and best freq response.


tuning is varied on music pref. if you love slowed and chopped music, or Deep bass rap songs, 32-35 htz tuning, if you listen to country music 35 htz, if you listen to trance, i'd say around 38 *(with a slightly smaller port opening for a little more cone control.)

there are lots of things that can be done to the box, to better control the driver to make it do what you want. ANYONE WITH QUALITY AUDIO KNOWLEDGE KNOWS THAT....

End thread!

i'm off to work, if you have questions... or concerns please feel free to come to Michaels in Snellville, at the corner of Ronald Regan pkwy, and 124, I'll give you a demo no prob.

:)

[youradumb1]

ma is all i use sub and speaker wise..but alpine and pioneer is the head amp way to go..if your going to skimp..just save alittle longer and get the good shit that lasts,sounds better,and has a good re-sell.
on a side..all my cars and all my parts have been done by audio-trix in east cobb..eric{easy e} has always pointed me in the right direction with price and quality...i have gone in there thinking i knew what i wanted and left there with better for less..and he wired up all my home audio and suround and my 50in at my house,ran all wires in the wall and set it up for an amazing sound and visual masterpeice..

[Highs on bass]

its good that you found a shop that has been successful in giving you equipment, and advice that you felt satisfied with. Its hard for me to find those shops. they are Far and Few between, Simply because most shops, carry "distributor" products... something thats average and run of the mill...

and the ones who have other products are usually HARD pressed to push those products because typically they either have to sell x amount in a month/months, OR.... had to pay a 5000 dollar buy in... or MORE... and are usually trying to move as much as possible of that product to make it worth the purchase.

[Zippy69]

It is called system for a reason. Your "system" is as only as good as your lowest grade component.
people put way too much importance on their sub choice, and not near enough on the amp they will drive it with. Or they spend mega bucks on a sub, and throw it in a crap box and expect it to pound.
JL subs are far from sub par. As is Memphis. Almost every company out there has an entry level line that is usually crap, but lets people buy a JL or Orion or whatever.
Learn what specs are important to performance, and buy equipment that is CEA 2006 compliant. That means it does what it says.
For me, RE subs are my way to go.

[Howard]

In 20 years we'll all be deaf so it won't matter anyway.

[jordan1229]

i run all elf audio in my cars.... they are mid range much like memphis and i really like the way they perform......

i have a degree in sound engineering and so ive seen alot of subs and and power in my day and i feel tat elf does a good job....

head unit wise i have a pioneer indash and a kenwood indash i have had alot of problems with my kenwood and wished i had just simply stuck with pioneer.....

power i used one of the new 2011 sony explods in my s13 for door power and a elf audio sub for my subs.... also look at box size and ports for sub and space size...... anyone in sound business will tell you that the enclosure is equally as important as power and speaker size so hope that helps

[Highs on bass]

i've played with elf audio, very clear and powerful midrange drivers that they have for sure.

sub wise, I thought they were nice for what most ppl want from them, but won't handle the abuse that i put my drivers thru :)

i'm into high spl applications that are capable of playing music on a daily basis.

i've done this for 7 years now :)

and after many many systems that have gone thru my hand, i'm working on honing in the total maximum output, for the truck. i'm working on breaking the 55 sealed barrier in the truck on music. *(hopefully) working now on getting the burp over that, then the music will follow :)

new wall coming soon so... keep posted,

[Totyroby]

Im doing just fine with Alpine's and Polk's.
BTW Rob Ill hit u up soon I wanna do a custom box for the woofer in the trunk.

[Highs on bass]

yeah man just lmk, always welcome to hit me up :)

[lostindasauce]

WOW!! didn't know my thread went on this long. To answer some questions I did go with Memphis because I was personal friends with a dealer and was getting his price. I did not go to a audio shop for the install and the box was custom a custom build by myself. I had a 15" quad voice coil Memphis LVS (loud volume sub) running at 1 ohm on 1500watts RMS and just short of 2600 peak. It was installed in a 97 Maxima and I had the box installed in the trunk with the sub facing the inside of the car by cutting a hole in my back seat. I got all of my info for tuning through Memphis tech support. The LVS is NOT a SPL sub. It is built for a sealed box. I received the most pressure through a range of about 30hz to about 120hz. It sounded awesome and very accurate. The problem was I was only giving it half the power it needed. finally the tensil lead to the voice coil broke and Memphis was no longer repairing the LVS sub as it was not a modular design. So I traded that for a Memphis MOJO. The sub would not fit in my custom box so I had to go ported. and then I got a Chevy Colorado. The box was tuned to 40hz which was supposed to be the subs sweet spot. but that was the only frequency it would like to hit. anything below that I couldn't hear...... only feel. anything above that the box would not reproduce sound. YES THE BOX SUCKED. but in the Maxima 126db with only one half-powered sub and a sealed box that I made was not that bad IMO. I do want to stop by and hear what you've got btw. when would be a good time to stop by?

---------- Post added at 06:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:44 PM ----------

Oh and BTW high on bass. trust me I'm not trying to test your knowledge. I'm not in a position to argue. i'm not a pro audio wizard. but I did a lot of research on my build....... a lot. and I learned a few things after I had bought equipment. I just wanted to share what I learned in all of my amateur experience. But I do wanna hear what you've got

[B-_-RAD]

check out elemental designs.

[Echonova]

I have a 12 year old Aluma-pro 12" and it still sounds good.

[Krazy]

I've always been happy with Infinity Basslinks.