12" Fi Car Audio Q vs 12" Stereo Integrity Mag D2 Review

[DeuceLee 10+ year member]

well heres what I know so far..
neither pair of woofers likes 2 strapped sundownz

running 1 of each woofer in the same box didn't do so hot

Q's dont sound as good as mags above 45hz

mags sound ever so slightly better under 45hz

both woofers have bottom end emphasis

both woofers pound hella wang in my box

mags look better

q's are cheaper

Lemmons is a tiny bit more sexy than Atwell

Atwell is a better kisser

Both will call you the day after and see how things are going

das all I know

Loyd L.

unless you're inverting the sub, you're not gonna see the mag's bling bling anyways //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[B_Campbell 10+ year member]

unless you're inverting the sub, you're not gonna see the mag's bling bling anyways //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

but its nice to know its there //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/yumyum.gif.0556df42231b304b9c995aefd13928a8.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[xluben 10+ year member]

Lemmons is a tiny bit more sexy than Atwell

Atwell is a better kisser

Both will call you the day after and see how things are going

i think loyd may have been mislead on the meaning of the term 'forum boner' //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

at least they're nice enough to call the day after //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[Wkbdkid 10+ year member]

great review, a lot if info. glad to see that a solid review has been written on the Q now.

 

[dB Dom 10+ year member]

Lemmons is a tiny bit more sexy than Atwell

Atwell is a better kisser

That made me lol....//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[sway01]

Well, first off let me say, this review is my personal subjective evaluation.
It is a direct swap comparison of the Fi Q 12 and the SI Mag 12. My car is a 4 door midsize sedan. The subs were powered by my Incriminator 20.1, Mag wired in parallel to 1.3 DCR, Q wired parallel to .7 DCR. Both drivers were in a snail shell(horn/tl) facing the rear.

Various test material used, ranging from some new ludacris, yung joc, outkast, lil jon, snoop dogg, do or die, a tribe called quest, three 6 mafia, ying yang twins all the way to metallica, eagles, the doors, johhny cash, euphoric midnite bass and bass mekanik and some jazz.

Now let me start off by saying that the obvious power difference of several hundred potential watts is something to consider. However, I found the mag to be more efficient and wouldnt neccessarily benefit from much more power than it was getting. The Q on the other hand loves the extra power, while not as loud as the Mag on low volume the sub came alive at higher volume.

Eagles - Hotel California live, the first bass drum the Q scared the shit out of me, while the mag sounded a bit "hollow" the Q was more full and natural sounding. The Q was also much louder, shook my car pretty good.

Some metallica and it was obvious what everyone likes about the mag, very very quick response, the Q slouched a little bit on the "quickness" but defenitely made up for it with volume.

Smooth Jazz is where I really liked the sound of the Q again, the instruments sounded very natural and full, the bass produced by the mag seemed like it had less presence.

Hip Hop like A Tribe Called Quest, the mag kinda took over. Upper bass is really impressive with the Mag (55-80hz), this is really the boundary of where mids should take over, and the Mag blends beautifully with the front stage. Now I tend to cross my sub a little lower like 60-65 hz, so the Q was a little better for what I need it to do in this deparment. But if you like the upper bass more than the Mag would suit your needs.

With stuff that has alot of kicks and quicker bass like linkin park the mag would take the cake, don't get me wrong the Q is very "quick" but the Mag is simply the "fastest" sub I have heard yet. The mag never skipped a beat, and every beat was very easily distinguished from the next. Something I would expect with lower power levels.

Movng onto the fun stuff, rap and bass music.

First thing I popped in was EMNB, and I was amazed with the loudness of the Q compared to the mag. The mag once again, sounded a little hollow, and a little dissapointing on the sub 25 hz stuff. The Q on the other hand, was simply amazing. Rich full bass, like pure resonance. Dropped lower than the mag, the first track where they do the 10-80 hz steps 20 hz is rediculous with the Q. The other tracks showed off the low end even more.

Next I popped in a new cd with some Rap, and once again the Q proved the victor in this category. It seems like every track was a song I never heard before. It even revelaed some hidden low bass the mag seemed to miss. Lil jon - throw it up was sick, the bass made my scalp tickle, with the mag, it was rather dissapointing. The Q had much better transient response. I could defenitely feel it more than I could hear it like with the mag.

Overall, in my application the Q was the clear winner. I was able to get more power out of my amp and the low end that I was missing quite a bit.

The Q - Much better 20-50 hz, with awesome low end and great transient response. It benefits from more power, but you need good midbass to keep up.

The Mag - Rules over the 40-80 hz region. It is very efficient and does not neccassarily need gobs of power. Great response and it blends very well. I dont have an RTA but the mag seemed a bit flatter than the Q.

I really have to say that both are terrific drivers, as far a build quality and everything else.

Now the price point is a big difference with these subs. The mag was originally 350 shipped direct and the Q is 260 shipped direct. With this price point it would be a hard decision, but I would go with the Q everytime(it just fits my tastes for bass better).

Now that the price on the Mag skyrocketed, you can almost get 2 Qs for the price of one mag. I think the choice is obvious with these prices.

I would say the Q is better for rap and music with heavy bass where you really want to feel the low bass.

The Mag on the other hand, is better for a SQ system where you listen to alot of Rock, and defenitely dont mind sacrificing output for sound quality.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Thanks for that review. I've been scanning the web for a complete SQ system and I'm a bit overwhelm because of all the choices out there. Someone recommended me to get SI Mag for accuracy and power handling. But now after your review, it's more of a accurate sub. I was hoping it was more well rounded where it could handle an array of music genres. What I really want is an accurate, tight bass without the BOOMY sound. But of course if needed, I would like the sub to cover it's range and be able to handle all types of music. Is there a sub that can do that? I was looking into the MOREL Elate SW, hopefully for those qualities.

 

[Jep772 10+ year member]

i read 1/2 this thread thinking it was new

 

[Kfra315 10+ year member]

i read 1/2 this thread thinking it was new

x2

 

[DeuceLee 10+ year member]

lol, i knew this was old cus i had like 5 replies to it...hahaha

 

[King Alpha 10+ year member]

i read 1/2 this thread thinking it was new

No kidding. But I am glad it got bumped because I'm actually considering getting a Q, Mag, or BM for my new car(I already own a Mag in my other car).

It helps with the research considering I have no fricking clue how to use the search on "Fi Q" "BM" or "Mag".

Question about the review. It says the Mag is more efficient. So he's saying the Mag can wang using less power then the Q. In this review the Q got more power. And in this review the Q wanged harder then the Mag. My Mag is powered with 880 Watts, and if I get the Q, that will also be powered with 880 Watts (Massive P1000.1). So will the Q still wang as hard with less then recommended power?

Or is the efficiency of the Mag make it a better choice with 880 Watts.