$500 Substage Suggestions

[Wattser93 10+ year member]

I sold my Blazer and used to have 350W on a D4 Type-ARRGH in a sealed box. It was better than nothing but now I'm ready for something a bit better.

I have an '01 Denali and would like to get it loud(er), I'm not expecting huge numbers, but I need to be able to easily remove the box when I need to load up my dogs and take them to the lake, or put in the third row when needing to take more than 5 people with me at a time. I'd rather ditch the third row completely and just build a box to take up the entire cargo area, but that isn't an option at this point in time. I think I've figured out how to get it in as a quick change box, but if there's any suggestions I'm open to them.

I'm budgeting out about $500 for strictly amp/subs, of course I'm sure I'll end up spending more, but that's about what I'd like to pay. Wire and everything else isn't part of the budget, just the amps/subs.

Basically, I'd like to get loud for about $500-600. I have about 6 ft^3 available for a box, and would probably port it around 32Hz or so. I think with my airspace, I can do 2 12's ported, or a single 15" ported, but not much bigger than that. And for the cost of two subs, I'm leaning towards going with a single 15".

Any suggestions would be appreciated, and I'm willing to go used here on the forums for equipment. $500-600 new wouldn't get me much, but I think I should be able to get something here on the forums for that.

I listen to rap, dubstep, etc... in addition to some alternative and metal, so I'd like a sub that's more than a one note wonder, and can hit clean notes across the board. Aside from that, fire away.

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[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

ONe of these: ICON-15 D2

one of these: Audiopipe AP15001D 1500W Mono Class D Amp w/Remote Bass Control

use the remaining for wiring and to build (or have built) a properly designed ported box

the box is the most important item when it comes to designing the sub stage

 

[Wattser93 10+ year member]

ONe of these: ICON-15 D2
one of these: Audiopipe AP15001D 1500W Mono Class D Amp w/Remote Bass Control

use the remaining for wiring and to build (or have built) a properly designed ported box

the box is the most important item when it comes to designing the sub stage

Most definitely. I should have mentioned that I will build a good box. I'll probably grab some of the free box plans or have somebody design one here and pay them. I think there's a guy here that does box plans for $5 or something like that. I have the proper tools to build one myself and am decently experienced with wood working.

How do you think my stock alternator would hold up to 1500W though? I guess I could always just turn down the gain with the bass knob a bit if it can't keep up.

Thanks for the suggestion.

I will probably use 1/0 welding cable for the wire. I only used 4 gauge the last time around because it was only 350W and was a shorter run, and I don't think 4 gauge wouldn't be big enough to feed 1500W from the battery to the amp. I'd rather be safe than sorry and just go with 1/0.

 

[pimpnyou204 10+ year member]

Custom spl made tc 3000 3hp motor 15?

 

[Wattser93 10+ year member]

So I was looking at that AP1500, and it seems too good to be true. Do they do clean power at 1500RMS?

For how cheap they are new, I get nervous about the quality. I also noticed that sub isn't available right now, what are some alternatives at that price point or even a bit lower. Is there something else in that price range that you guys would recommend over that Icon? From the little I remember, guys liked DC and Sundowns but said they were more geared to SPL than SQL.

 

[PhishHead 10+ year member]

Any interest in a 15'' Sound Integrity Mag 15 d2 for 200 plus shipping. It's minty fresh.

 

[Wattser93 10+ year member]

I'm not buying yet. I'll probably be ordering and doing this stuff in a month or two.

I'm just putting together some plans before I go in and buy the stuff.

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

Audiopipe amps do rated power. Some argue it isnt all that clean but no one can back it up with a measurement from an oscope. There are a lot of Audiopipe amp owners on here that are very satisfied with the product. PM Denim about whats going on with the SSA Icon, he works for SSA if im not mistaken.

 

[Wattser93 10+ year member]

I'm getting ready to purchase and install my stuff soon. I was going to wait, but I have the money right now so I might as well go for it.

I'm looking to get LOW with this. My Type-R in a 1.5ft^3 sealed got down to about 50Hz pretty good, 40Hz alright, and 35Hz and below was non existant. I know that a lot of that had to do with the box and sub not being optimized for low notes. It was a gift so I accepted the prefab and enjoyed it but this time I'm going ported. But the roll off drove me nuts with the improper box.

This time, I'd like to get down a more even frequency response. I'll probably be crossing it over at 60-80Hz, and would like it to be consistent from 80Hz down to 30Hz. I'd like 30Hz to hit with some authority, low bass notes that are hit with authority are much more impressive than a peaky response with roll off like I had before.

Are there any other sub recommendations in the 15" range? I'd like to look at more than just that SSA. I'd like a sub geared towards SQL, with good low end extension, that'll take about 1500W daily. I have the space for about a 5ft^3 box, but don't have to build one that big. It seems like 3.5-4ft^3 at about 32-34Hz is the norm for an average 15" ported with SQL in mind. My budget is about $300. I appreciate the guys offering custom subs, but I don't know near enough to judge if it's a good sub for my application so I don't really know what a good deal is or not on those custom subs.

 

[FtheNutHuggers]

I would look for a used DD 3515 or even a 3518. The 3518 would be my first choice. You won't get one new for near that price, but you may find one used on here or elsewhere. The 3518 is a very capable SQL sub. If you have the 6 cubic feet you first talked about, that leaves enough room for a wide bandwidth alignment. To have a VERY strong 30Hz performance AND extend up to 80Hz with any volume is asking quite a bit. A single octave is normally easy to produce, but asking your sub system to do 1.5 octaves with a big emphasis on the lower extremity of the passband is a very tall order. It's easy to shave off a bit of the top end if you have capable midbass drivers. 30 through 60Hz is much more easily done.

 

[TheUnderFighter 10+ year member]

The sub that PhishHead offered above is a beast of a sub with phenomenal SQ, I was looking for one when I was shopping too. Read a bit on it, and then buy it, cus that's a killer deal.

 

[Wattser93 10+ year member]

Right now I'm sitting on stock midbass. For a factory amp'd Bose unit, it's actually respectable. The midbass is clean and extends down to about 60Hz before sounding sloppy at my listening levels.

So a box optimized for 30Hz to 60Hz is my goal. I understand that 30Hz to 80Hz is asking for a lot, but it might be doable, or at least get close. I don't listen to things extremely loud, a 15" ported is overkill, but my plan is to go overkill to get and even frequency response, rather than abusing a smaller sub on less power to get the volume I want, and in turn trading volume for SQ. I plan to keep the Bose for now, it's good enough for the time being, and then put in some comps in a few months once I can make some more money. College is racking up the bills, so I'm being careful when buying this stuff so I don't bury myself financially.

 

[TheUnderFighter 10+ year member]

I think Buck's enclosure it tuned in the low-mid twenties, and he plays up to 58hz no problem. So I'm certain you could get 30-60hz with ease.