Recent content by zako

I value practicality above the alleged SQ benefits, so I wouldn't buy subwoofers that don't cooperate well with reasonably sized sealed boxes. However, if I already had those subs, I'd just use 1cu ft per chamber, or maybe 1.4cu ft at best. It takes too much space otherwise. In the end, you...

I normally think that there is no free lunch IMHO. Sometimes I see C5 comps for like $300 online, so they're not that expensive, but once you look at speakers that cost like $200 or less, there are a lot really crappy ones among then. If you want to make more or less a lateral move, consider...

Getting the sealed box size off by 10-20% is not a big deal. Besides the box volume, you want to get a box with thicker MDF material. For prefab boxes, the best you can have is usually 3/4 inch MDF, but there are a lot using cheaper thinner MDF. However, I must say that Alpine's sealed box...

Infinity Kappa is a good all-around subwoofer. It sounds tight and deep. It looks great. It works well in a 1cu ft sealed box. 1.2 or so is optimal for perfect qtc, but 0.2cu ft shouldn't spoil the sound. But the design is supposedly "medium q" implying that they work well in either sealed or...

Those Polks are coaxials right? You could improve upon them with a component set. One popular speaker has been JBL MS-62C components. Supposedly they have pretty natural sounding tweeters and sound good with their stock passive crossovers. As for DSP, is this head unit compatible with Alpine's...

The PPI P900.5/Soundstream TN5.950D family are excellent for the money. Very compact, clean power, and they run cool. The Polk D5000.5 and an NVX class d are a similar design. Kicker and RF products should be good, but more pricey. Ideally, get the sub that can be wired for 2ohm.

If the guy listens music with windows open on highway, the SQ has already gone out of window. The sound deadening will not help with that. At this point, SPL is the only thing you can optimize, so I'd say add the rear speakers. Hybrid Audio Mirus should be a good choice, specially if the OP...

Coaxial front stage + rear comps? Never heard of that before... Considering the front stage already sounds like a mess involving coaxes and additional tweeters, I wouldn't have put so much thought into tweaking rears.

Was that the old or the new Alpine Type-S? The latest edition has power handling rating up to 500watt RMS. The RE Audio SEX12D should be a good subwoofer for its price. Some guys on forums hate the company for having "sold out" to Chinese, but for the price $150 it's well built, honest...

Kappa has more linear excursion potential, so the SPL potential will be higher, if that matters. All in all, it's a very nice sounding subwoofer. It depends on how you install it.

With this budget, it could be better to get one really nice 12 inch subwoofer, maybe a used one, like an Image Dynamics IDMAX or a JL W7. With displaced air volume (xmax times the cone area) matching that of two $150 10 inch subs in most cases, but SQ will be a lot better.

Set it at 0 unless you have a good reason to believe otherwise. I have tested the pre-out voltage at 0 bass setting on a Kenwood and Pioneer head unit, and in both cases I got exactly the rated pre-amp voltage on the RCAs when playing a 0db test tone. The bottom line here is that if you refuse...

Leave it at 0, plus or minus. For most head units, 0 is the setting where they don't clip the pre-amp setting at full volume. I tested this with a Kenwood and Pioneer. Also setting the amplifier gain at the 0 level, still leaves you some room at actually increase bass level on recordings with...

You can't have a perfect sounding speaker in this price range. Usually something will be lacking. If you want to reverse the speaker properties, check out the Morel Maximo. They have excellent reviews, with bass being the strength of the package, but some people say that the tweeters are too...

Just because there is a space for 3.5 inch speaker, you don't have to install a speaker of that size. If you want to go with Focal comps, make a bracket from plywood or similar and install the tweeter you like in the 3.5 space.