Trying to Decide Between a Few Subwoofers

[planedrop]

Hey everyone, so I have been working on building a new system lately and have determined that a single, high power, 12 inch subwoofer is the way to go for my build. But I am having trouble deciding between a few different subwoofers for this build as I have heard none of them in person.

I will initially be setting up the sub with just 1K RMS and will later bump up to either 2 or 2.5K RMS (using the stock alternator right now so I don't want to push it up higher than 1K and I don't have the money for the system and alternator right now so figured I would use a smaller amp I already have for now until I can afford to up the alternator so I don't have to wait on the bass lol).

Anyway, I am deciding between the Sundown X12 V2, the SoundQubed HDC412, and the SSA ZCON 12, they all seem great. Also, if the SSA is really the best I don't mind waiting for the 21+ day shipping, just trying to determine the best sub in this price range and wattage level.

One last thing is that I will be using the sub for daily listening and not for competition, so SPL is not of importance, but I do like to see a good amount of flex so that will play a part in which one I get. Anyway thanks for any information/recommendations you guys can provide.

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[dbjunior 10+ year member]

Contralto has not been proven long enough for me to spend money on. The x is my style to heavy on the bottom the zv4 would be nice though. The zcon is a great sub. You could also look into the ia death penalty and death row series

 

[planedrop]

What do you think about the SoundQubed HDC412? Seems pretty beefy for a good price and I've seen their stuff perform. I agree about the Contralto I think that's off my list, I'll remove it from the post.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

What do you think about the SoundQubed HDC412? Seems pretty beefy for a good price and I've seen their stuff perform. I agree about the Contralto I think that's off my list, I'll remove it from the post.

Id honestly get an SSA Xcon over HDC4s especially with how little power you will end up running. 3k rms is good for a zcon and 4k rms and up is good for an hdc4. 2.5k is good for an xcon. Reason why SSA over sounqubed is the sound quality capabilities is much greater along with american made coils. Its a much more balanced woofer while the hdc4s are inherently peakier

 

[planedrop]

Alright that makes a lot of sense. So I guess my final question is, can a 240 amp at idle alternator, without extra batteries mind you, handle more than 3K RMS (reason I say 3K is because I'll have another amp for door speakers so 2.5K for the sub)? Everywhere I have seen shows that 3K is about as high as you wanna go with that kind of amperage and I'm not willing to spend extra on batteries, yet...

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Alright that makes a lot of sense. So I guess my final question is, can a 240 amp at idle alternator, without extra batteries mind you, handle more than 3K RMS (reason I say 3K is because I'll have another amp for door speakers so 2.5K for the sub)? Everywhere I have seen shows that 3K is about as high as you wanna go with that kind of amperage and I'm not willing to spend extra on batteries, yet...

you'll need the big 3 upgrade and a good AGM battery under the hood and. You wont see a 3k draw at all after box rise. Wired to 1 ohm, you'll be seeing 2-4 ohm power numbers so its not that bad. Kind of the reason why I said the Xcon will easily handle 2.5k its because of box rise.

 

[planedrop]

Yes I will be doing that for sure, just didn't want the extra weight and cost. Explain more about box rise please as I have never heard that term before. I think SSA is what I'm goona go with, American made is awesome and I'm all for better sound quality as its my daily listener. But you really think XCON over XCON?

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

Zcon is abit more output oriented but they still sound fine. The xcons sounds abit smoother/warmer..

The sundown is very linear and is designed with low distortion in mind. I'm not going to say the X sounds better but they will no doubt sound great..

 

[denim 5,000+ posts]

I really like the SSA Xcon suggestion. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[planedrop]

Zcon is abit more output oriented but they still sound fine. The xcons sounds abit smoother/warmer..The sundown is very linear and is designed with low distortion in mind. I'm not going to say the X sounds better but they will no doubt sound great..

Alright I see, sounds like I might wanna go with XCON then. Pretty much deciding between XCON and ZCON at this point. Leaning towards XCON.

 

---------- Post added at 10:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:44 AM ----------

 

I really like the SSA Xcon suggestion. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Yeah seems everyone is suggesting that. Saves me 100 bucks too which will be nice.

 

---------- Post added at 10:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:44 AM ----------

 

Zcon is abit more output oriented but they still sound fine. The xcons sounds abit smoother/warmer..The sundown is very linear and is designed with low distortion in mind. I'm not going to say the X sounds better but they will no doubt sound great..

Also do you agree that 2.5k isn't too high for an XCON?

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

Alright I see, sounds like I might wanna go with XCON then. Pretty much deciding between XCON and ZCON at this point. Leaning towards XCON. 

---------- Post added at 10:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:44 AM ----------

 

Yeah seems everyone is suggesting that. Saves me 100 bucks too which will be nice.

 

---------- Post added at 10:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:44 AM ----------

 

Also do you agree that 2.5k isn't too high for an XCON?

If you set your gains correctly yes.

 

[planedrop]

If you set your gains correctly yes.

Alright I'll probably go for that then, makes the most sense to me. Thanks for all the help!

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

Your gonna love it.. make sure you get a good box to put him in..

 

[denim 5,000+ posts]

I like saving $100. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

Yes, set gains correctly, pay attention to the sub as it is relative to the enclosure how it will act on power you give it. Not to mention, there is nothing wrong with headroom. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[planedrop]

Your gonna love it.. make sure you get a good box to put him in..

I will definitely be getting a custom made box. There's some on eBay that are built exactly to specification so ill probably get one of those. I have considered making my own but not sure if I wanna go through that and I don't exactly have all the tools.