Anyone tried Infinity Kappa subs? (not Perfect)

[zako 10+ year member]

I am interested in a new sub for SQ application. Has anyone tried these? I want a subwoofer that works well in a 1 to 1.5 cu ft sealed box. I want deep lows, but I also want the sub to play loud and without distortions any content in the 50-80Hz range. (Lots of car subs lose composure there). I loaded Kappa 120.9W into WinISD and it seems like it will achieve perfect Qtc in a reasonably small sealed box of around 1.1cu ft. Sensitivity is high enough for me. Good xmax. They can be found for under $150. In other words, it looks good on paper. How does it sound?

I have also experimented with the 10inch version in 0.85cu ft box (with dual sub application in mid). It models well, but has sharper rolloff than the 12 inch sub.

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[09civic 5,000+ posts]

well i dont see you hitting deep lows with a sealed box. but the dayton HO is a good choice

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

Kappas are older, the kappa perfects are better.

 

[zako 10+ year member]

Kappas are older, the kappa perfects are better.

My understanding is that Kappa Perfects had been discontinued. 100.9W and 120.9W Kappas are what you can buy right now and they're fairly recent. I have found maybe 2-3 reviews on car audio forums, all being positive. Nonetheless, this seems like a small sample.

 

[zako 10+ year member]

well i dont see you hitting deep lows with a sealed box. but the dayton HO is a good choice

Actually, I have looked at HOs but decided to skip that. They're designed for very small boxes and they're fairly low efficiency drivers. I am going to have about 500watts RMS available, but I want the amp run as relaxed as possible rather than flog it all the time. I am sure HOs would work fine for me, but I found a similar driver at Parts Express that's very much in the same league with Daytons, but has much better efficiency. It's called Peerless XXLS. It's specs look kind of whimpy (200watts RMS, 12mm xmax), but many people have already reviewed and measured it, and their claim is that those specs are highly underrated. The 10 inch version will take 500watts RMS before bottoming out. It seems like everyone who has reviewed XXLS and I.D. IDQ also seems to like XXLS more, and that's something.. Maybe I will change my mind about Daytons HO if I decide to go with ported box, but right now I am a sealed box guy.

I'd disagree about lows of a sealed box. I have a fairly modest sub right now, and playing test tones it sounds like an earthquake in 35-55Hz region; it sound ok but with less authority below 35Hz, and only so so at 60Hz or above. Maybe cabin gain has something to do with it.

So anyways, I was thinking about buying one of Peerless XXLS, JBL Power 1222, RE SE/X 12, ID IDQ, or one of these Kappas. In the end, I will drop the "12 inch" JBL Power series from this list, because their outter diameter is ginormous (I want to put 12 inch sub in a box with 13 inch height), and the RE SE/x, because it's probably not sufficiently different from my current RE SR/x 12 and I want to try something very different. Both are supposedly sloppy in upper sub bass. When it comes to XXLS vs IDQ, I would probably pick XXLS due to good reviews and its high sensitivity. So right now, I am effectively trying to find out if anything in this price range (under $200) would possibly work better for me than Peerless XXLS.

 

[gpgtp]

well i dont see you hitting deep lows with a sealed box. but the dayton HO is a good choice

Huh?? Sealed will drop lower than ported...

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Ported setups tend to have a steeper roll off on the bottom end than their sealed counterparts do. Mated to the transfer function of the average vehicle means this usually results in higher output until that roll off occurs. So people tend to think the ported setup is playing lower than the sealed, when it is not. Its simply producing more output before the roll off. But sealed enclosures do not unload the sub below tuning like a ported box does, so generally speaking, sealed systems have lower extension.

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

My CVXs play pretty low in their sealed box. I've never played any tones so I can't say exactly how low, but they'll play notes that you don't really year, you just feel them. They're in a sealed box (2.5 cubes net for 2 12s, single chamber). I'm not saying they're the choice you should make, but they do blend rather well at normal output and they get loud when I want them to.

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

Just to clarify, I'm not inferring they're SQ subs.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Your sealed setup will play 1hz notes. A ported setup, even a high tuned one, can play 1hz also (contrary to popular belief). The difference is, the ported setup's enclosure and tuning will mean its unloading the sub at 1hz (a lot), so the output level will have to be relatively low to allow this to occur safely. Sealed systems dont unload, but you do still have to watch excursion when playing very low frequency notes like that.

There is no simple answer to this type of question.

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

My understanding is that Kappa Perfects had been discontinued. 100.9W and 120.9W Kappas are what you can buy right now and they're fairly recent. I have found maybe 2-3 reviews on car audio forums, all being positive. Nonetheless, this seems like a small sample.

Yep, you're right. The place I was looking at had them mislabeled, I remember the removeable q inserts on the perfect now that I went back and looked.

 

[Drag Street 10+ year member]

Bump, I would like to know too, I have the 10's to go in my thunderform ram truck box and all Kappa stuff for rest..