1st post! Advice on hatchback sub with good extension/sonic accuracy/SQ/compact size

[Monologuist 10+ year member]

Hey there, this is my first post...

I'm a professional DJ and producer and I work mostly with house and techno music. I need help putting together a sub that will give me good bass and sub-bass frequency extension and tight focused fast-transient bass but not boominess. High-SQ, balance with the rest of my system, and accuracy is the priority here as I will be checking my mixes on this system. I will be listening at "reasonably loud" SPL's; in other words, loud enough to feel the SP hitting my body, but just below the level where I'm damaging my hearing. My ears see plenty of SP working in clubs and sitting in front of studio monitors all day! Definitely not looking to rattle things in my car or outside of it....

I'd also like to keep enclosure size as compact as possible, as I fold my seats down and transport stuff quite often; so 2-12's is out of the question. I had an Infinity Basslink II before and it was actually pretty good for the size, but it didn't go quite as low in extension as I would have liked and power-wise, there was very little headroom (I had it cranked to 80-90% max volume to approach the SPL's I wanted). The hatchback design of my car is very subwoofer friendly though; so I'm thinking I'll probably be able to put together something of pretty reasonable dimensions and still achieve the above goals with some time spent tuning.

OK here is what I am working with:

CAR : '01 Saab 9-3 Viggen Hatchback

-Raammat and Ensolite in rear hatch and front doors.

Front : Polk SR-6500 6.5" components

Rear: Boston Acoustics S-95.3 6x/9" 3-way (mainly on only for passengers)

Power : Alpine PDX-4.100 driving front and rear-stage

I have a Boston Acoustics GT-22 which is bridgeable for around 400-450W @ 2-ohms, that I can use to power the sub. In terms of budget, I'd like to stay under 400$ if possible, but I have a little leeway.

Look forward to hearing your ideas!

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[bose301s 5,000+ posts]

10" or 12" Stereo Integrity BM.

 

[CRAZYCORNUTS18 10+ year member]

welcome! and hey i just moved from bakersfield

 

[CrazedCat 10+ year member]

SoundSplinter RL-p 12" or ID Max 12" in a 1.35 cu. ft. sealed enclosure (or ported if you have the room)

 

[CrazedCat 10+ year member]

How much room do you have exactly? I saw an Adire Brahma 15" for $250 in the classifieds forum yesterday. GREAT sub and if you upgrade to more power down the road it'll take it.

 

[neonrt 10+ year member]

My vote on that budget is an idmax 10, or a w6 v2 10. both are great in the sq dept, and will work well on that power having heard both a 12" max, and 12" w6, they both to me sounded great. and can reach down to the lows that rumble given a proper box.

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

How about taking that $400 and getting a sub and an amp?

BXi1606D - $265

RSd12D - $129

Those RSd's are very accurate and do great in smaller sealed enclosures. Plus they can take a lot of power - it's not rare to hear of people running a clean 800-1500W RMS to one of them daily, so the 1000ish W RMS from the 1606D would be a great match for it.

 

[Ninteens 10+ year member]

Single Soundsplinter RL-P 12, in a 2cu ported box.

They have great accuracy and low end extension.

http://www.soundsplinter.com/rlp12_subwoofer_information.html

 

[Monologuist 10+ year member]

I don't have a specific dimension limit; I would just like to build something as small as possible that would still give me frequency extension down to subsonic limits.

Would I be able to get away with a single 10"? Will a single 12" extend much deeper? Or is it more enclosure dependent?

What about 2-10" ers, or a single 10" plus passive radiator? Would that require a much bigger box than a single 12"?

BTW, I am willing to upgrade my amp as well, I'm not tied to it. It is rated at 500w@2ohms (14.4v).

 

[jflash 10+ year member]

i also have a hatch (mazda3) and i ran an 11kv.2 off 400w and it sounded great. it gets loud while still having good sq. they are made to run in small boxes also.

http://www.edesignaudio.com/edv2/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=30