Completely Sub jective sound Q review.. 12w7, IDmax,mx,Oz and MORE!!... LONG thread

[teamquakecelica 10+ year member]

Subs in the test:

12w7

12" ID max v.3

12" RE Mx

12" Si Mag

12" Oz audio power matrix

12" Sound stream Davinci

Amp used in test:

Phoenix Gold Xenon 1200.1

-1200 RMS from 1-4ohm so all subs receive equal power

-birth sheet at 1327w //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eek.gif.771b7a90cf45cabdc554ff1121c21c4a.gif

-Lp crossover set at 70hz

-subsonic filter at 20hz

Headunit used:

Eclipse 8053

-8v pre-out

-all settings at 0

Mid/high speakers used

Front- CDT Carbon Fiber Euroframe 6.5" components

-1" silk tweeters

Rear- CDT classic 6.5" coax (fill only)

Mid/high amp

Massive audio 400.4

-100x4 @ 4ohm RMS

Charging system

-big 3 in 4ga

-stock 120a alt.

-2 SVR 80 batteries

Boxes used:

1" MDF 1.25cuft Sealed 100% air tight

1" MDF 2.25cuft Ported tuned to 30hz

Car: 2001 Celica

-2 full rolls of E-dead v.2

-all subs located in the hatch with the sub towards the glass and the port towars the rear bumper

Material used

-Fear factory-Obsolete

-Ludacris- Blueberry Yum Yum

-Rusted Root- When I woke

-Smashing Pumpkins- Siamese Dream

REVIEWS in the next 2 posts

Ryan

Special thanks to:

Kyle for the use of his Si Mag

Brian for the batteries

Click to read more...

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

Booo.. another sound quality review using different alignments for different subs... Horrible scientific method.

 

[t-money 10+ year member]

i've been seeing a lot of comparisons between these subs you're testing. I would like to see the results of anothers subjective tests. Of course be prepared for some to tell you its not a fair comparison in some ways. Awaiting your results.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif

 

[teamquakecelica 10+ year member]

Review Sealed box:

ID Max:

-amazing upper extension on the Smashing pumpkins tracks

-strong punch on the double kickdrum on Fearfactory

-can be blended quite well with mids/highs

-good low extension on the Ludacris but not the most powerful...

-bottomed out on Ludacris when pushed hard

-light airy sound that is hard to explain other than "transparent"

-staged VERY well on the rock tracks

-strong drum beat on track 12 of Rusted root actually had the timbre of a drum not just a loud "thud"

-Very good ear SPL

Rating sealed 9.0 of 10

12w7

-good upper extension but sounded a little heavy compared to the ID Max

-strong bone jarring punch with quick recovery on the fear factory kick drum

-easily blended with t

he mids/highs had a very natural sound

-STRONG low end extension onLudicris while not sounding bloated

-at no time did the driver make any mechanical noises

-a little bottom heavy but good extension sound is very "beefy" and full

-staged better than average but didn't compare to the ID Max

-EXCELLENT timbre match with the kettle drum on rusted root... BEST I've ever heard

-GREAT ear SPL.. loudest of the group

Rating sealed 9.5 of 10

Re Mx

-Good upper extension, not as smooth as the max or w7...seemed more "bitey"

-Best "punch" of the group very taught but not real natural sounding

-Blended well with the mids/highs but tended to overpower them

-Good low end extension really dropped on the Ludacris track.. sounded a tad bloated though

-there were no mechanical noises noted

-driver was VERY aggressive sound overpowered the mids/highs quite often

-moderately difficult to stage but when set properly it did match well but had to be set at a very low volume

-Good timbre match sounded pretty natural but had that indistinguishable "thud"

-2nd loudest overall ear SPL

Rating 8.0 of 10

Si Mag

-Good upper end extension though unnatural sounding

-Good punch but sounded muddy at points with the double kick drum.. still VERY competent

-Blended VERY well with the mids/highs sounded very natural although it did at times over power the components

-GREAT lowend extension as good as the w7 sounded VERY natural with NO lag at all

-no mechanical noises noted

-easy to stage and blended well although a bit bottom heavy

-Good timbre match to the kettle drum sounded VERY natural

-Great ear SPL was very loud!

Rating 8.75 of 10

Soundstream Davinci

-OK upper end extension although VERY agressive and unnatural sounding

-VERY punchy but again unnatural sounding and overpowering

-VERY hard to blend with the mids/highs overpowered them easily and it was OBVIOUS

-Good low end extension but had little athority, played all the notes on the ludicris track but dropped off quickly and sounded hollow

-slight mechanical noise but nothing bad

-BAD timbre match with the kettle drum sounded like a big "boom" not a drum

-Good ear SPL overall... was quite loud in the upper frequencies

Rating 6.0 of 10

Oz Audio Power Matrix

-POOR upper extesion sounded muddy and strained

-absolutely no punch.. had a VERY weak "woosh" sound on kick drums

-Easy to blend with the mids/highs although it left a gap in the upper sub freq. range

-POWERFUL low end extension very full sound although unnatural realy destroyed the lows was the loudest on the Ludacris track

-no mechanical noises noted

-OK timbre match with the kettle drum sounded like a drum although a bloated one

-OK overall ear SPL destroyed the lows but 50hz and up was a dead fish

Rating 5.0 of 10 WHY Oz Why did you do this?... lol

Sealed rankings

1 w7

2 IDmax

3 Si Mag

4 Re Mx

5 SS Davinci

6 Oz Audio Power Matrix

Ported review to come... I'm tired of typing!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wow.gif.23d729408e9177caa2a0ed6a2ba6588e.gif

Ryan

 

[teamquakecelica 10+ year member]

Booo.. another sound quality review using different alignments for different subs... Horrible scientific method.

Each sub was tested in each boxs so each sub had its chance ported and sealed

These boxes were chosen because they represent reasonable real world applications that people would be likely to use

Its not a scientific test but it could be a fun read

Ryan

 

[Grinder1989 5,000+ posts]

But in order to qualify for caraudio.com, it must be scientific //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

Each sub was tested in each boxs so each sub had its chance ported and sealed
These boxes were chosen because they represent reasonable real world applications that people would be likely to use

Its not a scientific test but it could be a fun read

Ryan

It's a good read but not really a good way to see which sub is a better sound quality sub in your opinion. It's more of a "Which sub sounds better in this application to my ear" test which fits a very small crowd.

The differences in low frequency extension, punch, and the "muddy" sound can all be characteristics of the alignment and not the sub. It could be the sub but we can't be sure unless multiple alignments are used for each sub and each alignment is compared against each other.

 

[Buick3800power 10+ year member]

Excellent review, I'm eager to see who finishes first in the ported box comparo.

You know people are going to give you alot of **** because the W7 is first.

How about pricing for each sub too? That could also be a very subjective category.

 

[mike dressure 10+ year member]

davinci is not a sealed box sub. they are monsterous in a ported enclosure

 

[teamquakecelica 10+ year member]

It's a good read but not really a good way to see which sub is a better sound quality sub in your opinion. It's more of a "Which sub sounds better in this application to my ear" test which fits a very small crowd.
The differences in low frequency extension, punch, and the "muddy" sound can all be characteristics of the alignment and not the sub. It could be the sub but we can't be sure unless multiple alignments are used for each sub and each alignment is compared against each other.

Agreed.. and the day that I get a GRANT to test all subs in the proper alignments I DEFFINETLY will but... this was unsponsored and was all my own $ and I am a Grad student at U.A. and work at an Advertising firm so I have neither the time nor the resources to build all the proper enclosures

Sorry you don't approve

Ryan

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Review Sealed box:
ID Max:

-amazing upper extension on the Smashing pumpkins tracks

-strong punch on the double kickdrum on Fearfactory

-can be blended quite well with mids/highs

-good low extension on the Ludacris but not the most powerful...

-bottomed out on Ludacris when pushed hard

-light airy sound that is hard to explain other than "transparent"

-staged VERY well on the rock tracks

-strong drum beat on track 12 of Rusted root actually had the timbre of a drum not just a loud "thud"

-Very good ear SPL

Rating sealed 9.0 of 10

12w7

-good upper extension but sounded a little heavy compared to the ID Max

-strong bone jarring punch with quick recovery on the fear factory kick drum

-easily blended with t

he mids/highs had a very natural sound

-STRONG low end extension onLudicris while not sounding bloated

-at no time did the driver make any mechanical noises

-a little bottom heavy but good extension sound is very "beefy" and full

-staged better than average but didn't compare to the ID Max

-EXCELLENT timbre match with the kettle drum on rusted root... BEST I've ever heard

-GREAT ear SPL.. loudest of the group

Rating sealed 9.5 of 10

Im confused. What I dont get is, you seem to have given the IDMax a better review in everything but output over the W7 (including mentioning more than once where the W7 was inferior to the Max), yet the W7 received a higher score. Is output that critical in this 'SQ review'?
As said above, many of your observations are highly dependant on the box size/type/alignment. A grain of salt must be taken with this info.

Thankyou for posting it.

 

[60ndown 10+ year member]

w7=best sub eva

 

[Hundreth 10+ year member]

Why do you have the Oz Power Matrix (SPL woofer) in a SQ review and not the Oz Matrix Elite?

 

[Hundreth 10+ year member]

Booo.. another sound quality review using different alignments for different subs... Horrible scientific method.

For the sealed test, all those subs recc. box sizes are about 1.25 cu ft. I'd say because of that and the fact that sealed boxes are pretty forgiving, its a pretty good way of reviewing the subs. Not 100% perfect, but **** good.

 

[mike dressure 10+ year member]

i think you did great! especialy with what you had to work with