Best sounding sub @500w RMS???

[bose301s 5,000+ posts]

ahh the choices the choices. So yesterday at work i was talking to a guy i work with and it turns out he had a Rockford T1000.1 bd that he didnt want so he sold it to me for $100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so i mean thats the power i have but im still not looking to spend more than 150$ on a sub cause i have a little BMW that cant handle anything to crazy.

i may take up the offer on the DD 1512. What you guys think about these subs?

and how do the SI BMs sound?

Well, the BMs sound great, I love them, and they get fairly loud, mid to upper 130s with one. The Mag V4 definitely sounds better and isn't much quieter though.

 

[Unholysavage 10+ year member]

Stereo Integrity Mag v4...really no question, now.
I don't know what else can touch it for that price //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Tempest-X and CSS SDX15 can both be had for close to that price.

 

[bose301s 5,000+ posts]

Tempest-X and CSS SDX15 can both be had for close to that price.

The Mag will sound better.

 

[Unholysavage 10+ year member]

The Mag will sound better.

proof?

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

performance, as it relates to box size could be an issue also. some are better in larger boxes, some perform in smaller boxes.

 

[bose301s 5,000+ posts]

proof?

The reviews speak for themselves.

 

[Electrodynamic 10+ year member]

I've heard a Mag before and I liked the sound of the Sonance better :hides:
Okay now the list is for sure here:

Boston G5

RD Sonance

Mag V4

12w6v1/v2

RE SE

Fi Q

IDMAX(needs a tad more power, but will do fine anyways)

Mach 5 IXL possibly

Sealed MJ18?

Diamond Audio makes some nice sounding woofers

Maybe you could get lucky and find a JBL GTI but it needs more powa

Sorry, I'm just rambling now. Best of luck

Unless you heard one in the past 2 months you probably heard a v3. The v4's are a completely different beast when it comes to SQ. Ask Jim...they are considerably improved in that regard over the v3.

IMO, there are still a LOT of things to consider. The OP mentioned 500 watts, sq, but he wants it to 'pound' as well. The OP needs to ask himself wether he's looking for something that pounds more than sounds good, or something that sounds GREAT and still gets pretty loud.

There's also box size and type to consider. The BM v1 12" will need a ported enclosure to sound really good. I don't recommend them for sealed applications anymore because they perform so well when ported. Not only SPL performance, but they actually sound a LOT better when ported. I don't think Jim heard it sealed, and I'm glad he didn't because his opinion on the sub would be completely different.

Other drivers (Q,IXL,GTi) will perform really well with more power, but with 500 watts I advise against big drivers like those due to what they were designed for...which is more power. It all boils down to actual performance out of the sub/enclosure/amp combo. Throwing a driver that was meant to handle 1200+ all day long into a tiny sealed box with only 500 watts isn't going to return the best results. Choosing a driver that was designed for a sealed box (hell, the OP might be going ported for all I know) and lower power would benefit him better.

Just things to consider.

 

[Electrodynamic 10+ year member]

performance, as it relates to box size could be an issue also. some are better in larger boxes, some perform in smaller boxes.

+1

The other drivers mentioned just up the page a little bit require a MUCH larger box. If you want an enclosure 3x as large, then there's really no problem. But when you're comparing a 12" driver designed for car audio in 1 ft^3 sealed to two home theater / home audio 15" drivers designed for medium-sized sealed and ported (2.5 ft^3'ish sealed and larger ported) it's not really a fair comparisson IMO.

 

[scoob8000 10+ year member]

OP, What are the specs on your box?

I'm in a very similar boat, I'll be confining myself to a small sealed box.

I've heard very good things about the IA Lethal Injection line, but can't find anything for box specs

 

[James Bang 5,000+ posts]

did the OP even post what alignment the sub will be installed in. sealed? ported? ib?

for $250, i'd find a used idmax. ported, sealed, or ib'd, it'll do well with 500w or even less.

 

[MisterGrubbs 5,000+ posts]

I dont remember OP relating which type of box he would be using.

The Q, IXL, and GTI do all need more power - but if I'm reading correctly OP has a Fosgate 1000.1 to use

And the box does play a huge roll, a few of the woofers I chose needed more power but I was just coming off the top of my head with whatever came to mind at the time.

 

[James Bang 5,000+ posts]

The reviews speak for themselves.

after a while, you learn that reviews don't mean shit, as they are written by humans.

just like this post.

 

[bass-aholic 10+ year member]

FI Q and teh 1000.1bd is ***.

 

[Electrodynamic 10+ year member]

after a while, you learn that reviews don't mean shit, as they are written by humans.

just like this post.

But if all we did was look at the #'s, a lot of people wouldn't know what to choose. Even then, #'s aren't everything. We are human and we commonly consider other human's opinions and/or experiences to help make our own choices.

And as others pointed out (I failed to actually say this exact phrase in my above post), what size and type of enclosure are you using? ...the OP, that is.

 

[James Bang 5,000+ posts]

But if all we did was look at the #'s, a lot of people wouldn't know what to choose. Even then, #'s aren't everything. We are human and we commonly consider other human's opinions and/or experiences to help make our own choices.
And as others pointed out (I failed to actually say this exact phrase in my above post), what size and type of enclosure are you using? ...the OP, that is.

it could or could not work on paper, or it could or could not work for others. The best way to find out if it works for you, is to try for your damn self //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

If people would understand that, then we probably would have all of these annoying product comparison threads