What to get : Subwoofer(s)

What to get : Subwoofer(s)

What to get.. I'm wanting deep bass, but something that sounds good. I want others to be able to hear it, but not from miles away.. maybe just a few cars.

I'd like to buy locally, so it's pretty much Kicker, Memphis Audio, JL Audio, Infinity, Alphasonik, or Audiobahn. If I can't do it locally, I'd like to shop from either Crutchfield or Sounddomain.

Any suggestions on what to get?

I'm thinking maybe 2 10"s or maybe only 1 10". Possibly a 12". I really don't know..

1 12 inch sub in a bandpass box... do A Rockford Fosgate HE2 12 running off a Fosgate Power 351M amp... dont ask questions just do it. It will sound good. If you want more bass do 2 HE2 12s and a fosgate Power BD501 amp.

How about this... Kicker CompVR 12" w/ box. I could power it with the RF Punch 401S... two channel amp... 400w x 1 @ 4ohms. Think it would sound pretty good? I don't need perfect, but I want something that won't sound bad if I turn it up loud.. but can handle lower listening levels with good enough SQ too.

I'll have to look at those HE2s, haven't heard many people talking about them, but it might be a good deal.

Both the VR's and the HE2's hit!!! 8)

Trust me when I tell you what to buy... You may think im just a troll on here but I do know my stuff very well. A bright idea would be go to a retail store to purchase this stuff so you have a return policy and can swap it out. The sub you want is this one -
http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/...c=10&g=65600&I=575RFP4212&o=m&a=0&cc=01&avf=N

With this box
http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/...0&c=10&g=842&I=044H1712SE&o=m&a=0&cc=01&avf=N

And this amp
http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/...p?s=0&c=3&g=130&I=575351M&o=m&a=0&cc=01&avf=N

If im wrong, drive out to AZ and I will personally install the system of your choice and get every part for you at cost... But when it comes to stereos or alarms im never wrong

About the box... it's sealed to start with, leave it sealed or port it?

For a trunk the ported box will give off a lot more bass. I run sealed in anything with a hatch back or some sort of opening where the sub is exposed to the driver. In applications with trunks I use ported enclosures because they tend to use the Trunk as an "enclosure" and get what is called "cabin gain" which makes the sub seem louder. It is not quite as clean as the sealed setup, but produces more sound and uses less power. I dont really like that particular Q-Logic enclosure that much and think there are better ones offered. I really like the Vented enclosures that most stores carry, but I did not see any on crutchfield.

You're close to convincing me

Anyways, yeah... porting. I have no idea about that. What would I port it to.. how do you port, etc etc.

Do you have MSN/Yahoo Messenger? It might be a little easier than checking on the forum everytime...

Each subwoofer comes with a spec sheet on it... most will say "use a 8 inch deep port, 3 inches in diameter" then give a location to put it. This is best left to a stereo shop or place that can fabricate. If you lived in AZ I would just build you a square box and vent it accordingly. Venting is much harder than porting and is left more to the professionals. The upside to venting is less port noise and cleaner sound.... Which is what I would personally do.

Another option would be a little less bass, but GREAT sound -

This is also a vented design using Alpine instead of Fosgate... the Type R speakers are about the same quality and take similar power... and I have yet to hear either of these speakers sound bad that I have personally installed. Stick a BD500 to this one and it will POUND!

Or

Is much cheaper and still makes good sound. I put one of these in a Mustang GT with a Fosgate 400S and it sounded INCREDIBLE!

Go Bandpass.. that is, if you want to wake up and see a dead woofer.

A bandpass (hence the name "band" "pass") filters specific frequencies out and leaves a certain frequency range audible. A Bandpass enclosure has to be custom made for a particular driver. PERIOD. If you buy a prefab bandpass box and you slap a driver with a different Fs (resonant frequency) other than what the bandpass is tuned to, it will sound like SHIT.

......and since you won't hear specific frequencies with it, your driver could be Clipping (bottoming out) and you still hear it's fine. Lo and behold, you see a magic smoke :mrgreen:

I suggest auditioning ALL kinds of enclosures before deciding. Ask around the shop and give them a listen because each enclosure has PROs and CONs. For more info, go to this site for a good tutorial on enclosures: (good read) http://www.jlaudio.com/tutorials/magic/index.html

He is correct to a degree... The bandpass setups I go with are prefabbed and include woofers already spec'd to the box... Same story with ported enclosures though, you can purchse a box that is set for 50 hz and a sub meant for 30 hz and pretty much offset the sound you were looking for... However For the most part if a company sells vented or bandpass enclosures a lot of times they purchase them for their larger line of woofers. IE Ultimate Electronics boxes are meant mostly for Xtant, Fosgate and Alpine... Circuit City for MTX, Best buy for Fosgate... check the specs on the subs spec chart and they match up pretty well.
Listening to subs on the wall will tell you nothing as 99.9% sound different once they get into your car. Circuit city used to have a program called "taste of bass" where they would actually put a sub in your car with a 50 foot extension then tune the radio frequencies to the same station so you get an idea of how it sounds! My personal preferance in you car is vented though, followed by ported. You cant lose with either of the Alpine setups, or go with a good vented enclosure and a Fosgate driver...

Ok, from SoundDomain.. I can get the HE2 with a 1.25 cubic ft box.. (sealed) for only about $50 more than the CompVR would be. Same amp, same wires, etc. Right now they have a promotion on the HE2, so it's about the same price, but when that is over.. it will cost about $50 more.

Both boxes are sealed though. I still don't know about porting, from what the JL Audio site said... sealed would be fine for me. I'm not going to do any competitions, I just want it to sound good and hit hard.

Amp: RF Punch 401S (bridged 400W x 1 @ 4ohms)
Wiring: Lightning Audio

400 watts is a little low for a HE2 in a sealed box... plus the downside being the HE2 is going to be at 2 ohms or 8 ohms... the 400S isnt capable of powering it at 2 ohms and wont make any power at 8 ohms... so you will need a mono amp like the 351M to power it... that would be the best bet. But remember you cant just port a sealed box, has to be exact spec of whatever the directions with the sub say!

Would this not work?

It would be 4 ohms, which that amp can send 400 watts @ 4 ohms..

Is the package a preloaded sub or separate sub and enclosure? I was under the impression it was just a preloaded box which usually comes with the dual 4 ohm sub... but if your buying it separately then by all means get the dual 2 ohm! then you can go 1 ohm with a bad ass amp or 4 ohm with a stereo amp bridged

haha language filters own

Nope, just an HE2 with a Q-Logic box.

http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/...=0&cc=01&g=842&id=essential_info&i=044H1212SE

Just do that in the dual 2 ohm configuration then...