1 Sub vs 2 Subs

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

2008 Civic Sedan. I have about 20 inches of clearance from the trunk, and about 25 through the door.
EDIT: Is it bad if I power a sub that has 700RMS with a 1000W amp?

You should have room to build an enclosure suitable for a single 12 to slide it in,no problem.As for the Power?Its always nice to have a little headroom,especially if its not clipping.I do recommend that you also take and look up the ELD bypass for your Honda, to give your system its power needs.

 

---------- Post added at 08:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:38 PM ----------

 

2008 Civic Sedan. I have about 20 inches of clearance from the trunk, and about 25 through the door.
EDIT: Is it bad if I power a sub that has 700RMS with a 1000W amp?

You should have room to build an enclosure suitable for a single 12 to slide it in,no problem.As for the Power?Its always nice to have a little headroom,especially if its not clipping.I do recommend that you also take and look up the ELD bypass for your Honda, to give your system its power needs.

 

[Ahmed Johnson]

No. As long as you don't use bass boost, your subs will be fine

I'm going with one 12, a 15 was going to need a significantly larger box, which means a significantly larger amount of money spent.
I'm currently looking between 5 amps, and 4/5 amps are 1000W, is that bad for a sub that's 700W?

 

[Arya]

No. As long as you don't use bass boost, your subs will be fine

So if I go with a 1000W amp, I can't use the bass boost.

If I go with one more suitable, like a 750W, I can?

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

For SQ, 12 > 15
12s sound much better than 15s in my opinion for SQ. 15s sound sloppy and slow

2013 and people are still repeating this crap?

OP, you need to decide how much power you plan to use and how much space you have to spare. Space makes bass. Too many people try to use far too small of a box and then think it's the size of the driver that makes things sound like ****.

Ideally you won't want to run 1000W to a "700W" woofer unless you really know what you're doing you're likely to break something.

 

[Arya]

2013 and people are still repeating this crap?

OP, you need to decide how much power you plan to use and how much space you have to spare. Space makes bass. Too many people try to use far too small of a box and then think it's the size of the driver that makes things sound like ****.

Ideally you won't want to run 1000W to a "700W" woofer unless you really know what you're doing you're likely to break something.

Alright, I don't have enough space that I'm willing to give up to run a 15", so I'm going to roll with a 12".

How big of an amp should I be looking for? Would something between 700-800W suffice?

 

[Ahmed Johnson]

I wouldn't use the bass boost at all. As a matter of fact I don't. If you buy an amp with a higher rms rating than sub, than you can put more power behind all the hz the amp is set at. If you buy an amp with less rms and use bass boost, only the hz the bass boost is set at will be amplified. If you play a song that stays inside your bass boost for long periods of time it will blow your sub. A 3db boost is like doubling the power on one frequency.

So if I go with a 1000W amp, I can't use the bass boost.
If I go with one more suitable, like a 750W, I can?

 

[Arya]

You should have room to build an enclosure suitable for a single 12 to slide it in,no problem.As for the Power?Its always nice to have a little headroom,especially if its not clipping.I do recommend that you also take and look up the ELD bypass for your Honda, to give your system its power needs. 

---------- Post added at 08:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:38 PM ----------

 

You should have room to build an enclosure suitable for a single 12 to slide it in,no problem.As for the Power?Its always nice to have a little headroom,especially if its not clipping.I do recommend that you also take and look up the ELD bypass for your Honda, to give your system its power needs.

I'm currently looking into the ELD, how's the difficulty and is the payoff worth it? From what I read it runs your alternator at high speeds all the time.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Alright, I don't have enough space that I'm willing to give up to run a 15", so I'm going to roll with a 12".
How big of an amp should I be looking for? Would something between 700-800W suffice?

Are you sure you have enough space for a 12 even? Typically the "minimum" recommended by manufacturer is sub-optimum. Plenty of good 700W range amps out there. Even a 500W would probably do nicely if you can find a deal on a good one (JL 500/1 is a great one if you can grab one used)

 

[Arya]

I wouldn't use the bass boost at all. As a matter of fact I don't. If you buy an amp with a higher rms rating than sub, than you can put more power behind all the hz the amp is set at. If you buy an amp with less rms and use bass boost, only the hz the bass boost is set at will be amplified. If you play a song that stays inside your bass boost for long periods of time it will blow your sub. A 3db boost is like doubling the power on one frequency.

Alright, so just avoid it completely and I'll be good.

How much power is considered "overpowering", should I try to be as close as possible, maybe 100 +/- off, or go a little higher?

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Alright, I don't have enough space that I'm willing to give up to run a 15", so I'm going to roll with a 12".
How big of an amp should I be looking for? Would something between 700-800W suffice?

This would be a very nice compact amp that should be nice clean power with little draw for the dayton 12 in my opinion

American Bass - VFL 1880 1D

 

[Arya]

Are you sure you have enough space for a 12 even? Typically the "minimum" recommended by manufacturer is sub-optimum. Plenty of good 700W range amps out there. Even a 500W would probably do nicely if you can find a deal on a good one (JL 500/1 is a great one if you can grab one used)

It's not that I don't have enough space, it's more of I don't have enough space I want to give up. A 15" was recommended in a 3^3 foot enclosure, a 12" was only recommended in a 1^3.

I'll check out those amps, I was looking at PPI, Rockford Fosgate, and MB Quart previously.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Alright, so just avoid it completely and I'll be good.
How much power is considered "overpowering", should I try to be as close as possible, maybe 100 +/- off, or go a little higher?

If you have to ask, don't plan to run more power than the sub is rated for. Generally speaking a woofer is running much less efficient the closer to get to it's limits anyway, so the gain from say 500W to 1000W with a 700W rated sub would likely be negligible for significant risk of damage and undue wear and tear.

 

[Ahmed Johnson]

Hispls gave you a reasonable amount too overpower without expecting problems. As long as you don't smell anything burning you will be fine

It's not that I don't have enough space, it's more of I don't have enough space I want to give up. A 15" was recommended in a 3^3 foot enclosure, a 12" was only recommended in a 1^3.
I'll check out those amps, I was looking at PPI, Rockford Fosgate, and MB Quart previously.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

It's not that I don't have enough space, it's more of I don't have enough space I want to give up. A 15" was recommended in a 3^3 foot enclosure, a 12" was only recommended in a 1^3.
I'll check out those amps, I was looking at PPI, Rockford Fosgate, and MB Quart previously.

1 cube is awful small for a 12 IMO. Avoid RF if you don't have the money for their higher end offerings.

 

[Arya]

If you have to ask, don't plan to run more power than the sub is rated for. Generally speaking a woofer is running much less efficient the closer to get to it's limits anyway, so the gain from say 500W to 1000W with a 700W rated sub would likely be negligible for significant risk of damage and undue wear and tear.

So the risk of overpowering isn't even worth it? What range of amps do you suggest I look at?