Fi Q vs American Bass HD

[JoshC 10+ year member]

So as ive been looking for a beefyer 12 ive pretty much decided on an Fi Q or SSA Icon. Which ever i find at a good price in the next month or so. But i came across the american bass HD series and noticed it looks pretty good on paper. Anyone have experience with them? Looking for a little more output across the spectrum then im getting from my Obsidian while retaining good quality. Will be giving the woofer 1200wrms or so in a 2.2cu^ft box @ 33Hz. Also have end flares for my ports so i may drop it to 30.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated, looking to spend 200-250

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[Julian 10+ year member]

With the American Bass stuff you will have to get it from an authorized dealer localy.. The Q/Icon will do you good both get extremely low and loud especially in a good enclosure.. I am about to make the American bass jump in a few weeks with 8 10's not sure if I want to go with XFL's or HD's. I've searched and searched on the net for some solid info on both and I can't find much.

 

[Mitch86 5,000+ posts]

Isn't the HD basically the same sub as an AQ HDC3? or maybe I'm thinking of a different AB sub..

 

[xSPLoder 10+ year member]

I currently own both the XFL and HD in 12's. Both of them hit nice and the HD is highly underrated. I'm currently running a VFL 150.1 and they push both subs but the HD can take more with ease. The HD's are well worth the cost compared to the HDC3 and the DD3500 but will take a beating and keep coming back for more like the others. Bob from AB is a great guy and if you don't have a local dealer you can order direct. If you check ebay, I see 3kingsaudio are selling brand new HD 12's for $255.xx each with warranty.

 

[Renzone3 10+ year member]

AB HD subs are pretty nice,heard them for the first time on Saturday on 2 Crescendo 3500d's strapped wired down to .5,and was impressed by the kind of abuse they can take.

 

[BIGJEFF64 10+ year member]

the AB HD is the same as the addictive audio Version 3 subs which from testing that we have done the cones dont hold up. we put 2 in a 4th order blowthrough and watched chunks of cone fly out the port. i think the XFL would be as good if not better than the Q/ICON

i also have a XFL 12 D4 im selling BTW

 

[4OZGLOVES 10+ year member]

The subs really aren't that comparable. The hd's are gonna take more power and get way louder , but you are going to give up a lot of sq compared to the Q. I had a Q 12 in 2 cubes tuned at 29 and it was a low end monster and sounded amazing , but didn't have the punch in the higher hertz range like other subs do.

 

[Fi-brations 10+ year member]

The subs really aren't that comparable. The hd's are gonna take more power and get way louder , but you are going to give up a lot of sq compared to the Q. I had a Q 12 in 2 cubes tuned at 29 and it was a low end monster and sounded amazing , but didn't have the punch in the higher hertz range like other subs do.

This is how I felt about my Q, but I still loved it and honestly I dont care about anything above 40-45 hertz. I had mine upgraded by spl audio to take Mow POWA, which you could always do in the future when you decide you want more.

 

[JoshC 10+ year member]

Thats how my OA is now, Im actaully wanting a 26-50hz monster..... Does anyone make one??? 1500wrms department

 

[Julian 10+ year member]

Well.. your problem here is... you want to tune lower but you still want it to climb high in the FR response.. this is what I would suggest.. make a slightly larger enclosure and tune to 35-36 hz.. with such a large volume you're able to fall way below the tuning of your enclosure. But the double edged sword is that you can EASILY shred your softparts.

I would recommend the ZCON.. they get stupid low and can dig real high If you can find one used, I would recommend it.

 

[BIGJEFF64 10+ year member]

Well.. your problem here is... you want to tune lower but you still want it to climb high in the FR response.. this is what I would suggest.. make a slightly larger enclosure and tune to 35-36 hz.. with such a large volume you're able to fall way below the tuning of your enclosure. But the double edged sword is that you can EASILY shred your softparts.
I would recommend the ZCON.. they get stupid low and can dig real high If you can find one used, I would recommend it.

either that or the sundown Z

 

[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

You can alter the volume, port area, and tuning along with how well the enclosure will work in the application will dictate the response curve.

This is why "basic" designs are normally decent with narrow goals in mind and not when you want max spl or a really nice in car response.

 

[Fi-brations 10+ year member]

You should be more than happy with a Q then if that's what you want, just put it in the right box. What vehicle is this going in?

I'm sure there are a lot of subs out there that fit your requirements too though, there's an 05 XXX in the sub classifieds right now http://www.caraudio.com/forums/subwoofer-classifieds/548473-05-re-xxx-12-subwoofer-dual-2ohm-vc-reconed-teampsi-parts.html

I'm sure you know they are low end monsters

 

[JoshC 10+ year member]

You can alter the volume, port area, and tuning along with how well the enclosure will work in the application will dictate the response curve.
This is why "basic" designs are normally decent with narrow goals in mind and not when you want max spl or a really nice in car response.

Well my box is a little large since we were looking for max spl at low frequency. Which means the box has a lower resident Fq because of its increased size, so from me to get louder with better range. I need to drop my box's volume a bit so it has a higher resident Fq but get a woofer with a lower Fs so i still gain a bit low end, while gaining high end from making the box a bit smaller. Does that sound logical to you? Im just now starting to try and understand the logic behind it lol

Of course im getting a woofer that's twice rms of what im currently running

 

[tc300 10+ year member]

You can alter the volume, port area, and tuning along with how well the enclosure will work in the application will dictate the response curve.
This is why "basic" designs are normally decent with narrow goals in mind and not when you want max spl or a really nice in car response.

Are you talkn bout building/designing a box around the vehicles cabin gain...??