Enclosure for Two 10"s and One 12"

[dnlpnd]

So, you guys are saying something like the following would be disastrous (port tubes not shown)? Since I have all this equipment and I am spending no money (other than box construction and time), that even with perhaps a tiny bit of cancellation going on, wouldn't the sum of the bass output still be greater than with dual 10's or single 12" without any fancy DSP or crossovers?

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[iLL Ridge 10+ year member]

Try it. It could be done, but not ideal to run different type of subs in one vehicle.

Hell it should bump hard enough. You wouldn't be the first person.

 

[ashren315]

So, you guys are saying something like the following would be disastrous (port tubes not shown)? Since I have all this equipment and I am spending no money (other than box construction and time), that even with perhaps a tiny bit of cancellation going on, wouldn't the sum of the bass output still be greater than with dual 10's or single 12" without any fancy DSP or crossovers?
View attachment 26555812

Do it if you want to but it will be a big waste of time and effort. You would be much better off using only the two identical subs. Just trust those of us who have been around car audio for years when we say it's a bad idea. Or if you don't believe us and want a full technical reason why it's bad. Google search it.

 

[dnlpnd]

Do it if you want to but it will be a big waste of time and effort. You would be much better off using only the two identical subs. Just trust those of us who have been around car audio for years when we say it's a bad idea. Or if you don't believe us and want a full technical reason why it's bad. Google search it.

I am not doubting you guys at all. Everything everyone has said on here makes sense and if I were starting from scratch, I would definitely not contemplate such a thing.

However, with all the equipment lying around and goal to get the most bang for the buck, it really comes down to my last question...

Even with some probable cancellation occurring, wouldn't the tendency be for the sum of three mis-matched drivers to be greater than two 10s or a single 12?

"To make sound, you must move air." ~ Mark Gander of JBL

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

How's this. I'll say what you want to hear.

It will be amazing.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

I am not doubting you guys at all. Everything everyone has said on here makes sense and if I were starting from scratch, I would definitely not contemplate such a thing.
However, with all the equipment lying around and goal to get the most bang for the buck, it really comes down to my last question...

Even with some probable cancellation occurring, wouldn't the tendency be for the sum of three mis-matched drivers to be greater than two 10s or a single 12?

"To make sound, you must move air." ~ Mark Gander of JBL

Not necessarily. Mix matching subs/enclosures will mean it will be impossible for all subs to see equal power and they will not necessarily work in sympathy with each other. Short of crossing them over and using each set to play different frequencies they will "fight" each other as likely as help each other.

Even if it's louder within a small bandwidth it will overall almost definitely sound bad.

If you're that good with woodworking you'd do far better to maximize your performance by building a proper box for one or the other. Aperiodic Bi-chamber or t-line could be done with either the single 12 or pair of 10s and give you something that sounds good and will be a fun project.

 

[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

Heh this person sounds doubtful.

It was probably cool in the 90's to run a few 12's and a single 15 or a couple 8's and a single 10....because people may/may not have known better, but it was awesome to have and the thought of it happened. Years later, it never happens. People run 1 or more of the same sub(s) and never look back. Hell I've even seen 2 12's and 2 15's.

But I def wouldn't do any of that now.

 

[ashren315]

I am not doubting you guys at all. Everything everyone has said on here makes sense and if I were starting from scratch, I would definitely not contemplate such a thing.
However, with all the equipment lying around and goal to get the most bang for the buck, it really comes down to my last question...

Even with some probable cancellation occurring, wouldn't the tendency be for the sum of three mis-matched drivers to be greater than two 10s or a single 12?

"To make sound, you must move air." ~ Mark Gander of JBL

People run multiple subs of the same type and size and while this "works" they would actually be better off using a bigger single sub with the same surface area. I'm not going to do the math for surface area but if you had a wall of 12s they would get loud if everything was tuned well with power and air space being equal, but you would still be better off (and louder) with a single sub (that equaled your surface area of all the 12s) in a proper box with enough power because one sub is always going to work in unison with itself and there is less chance for something (even minor) changing the output of the different subs causing them to even slightly be fighting against each other. However, extremely large subs are not currently that great because of the materials they are made of. When you get that large, it's hard to keep a cone that is rigid enough not to flex and still remain light enough to move efficiently.