Getting a new sub, need help in my decision! Also, is my box good enough?

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

That's fair. It's the 1 brand I used a friend that lives out of state as the source opposed to hearing them myself as I have with the others listed.

Don't like to knock Kicker. Founder is from my home state & had some great experience with a few of their products in late 90's. In my opinion it's just not the same

quality company as it was before 2009 when they didn't make a dollar leading to what I described above. Hearing the new 12's less than a month ago confirmed my beliefs.

Don't get me wrong. I despise kicker, orion(bought out again), and fosgate.

 

[tannerdavis3]

Would 800 watts be pushing it, then?

I have a single cab truck, all's I want is something powerful enough to flex the rear view mirrors and to be felt.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Would 800 watts be pushing it, then?
I have a single cab truck, all's I want is something powerful enough to flex the rear view mirrors and to be felt.

how powerful you hit will be how good your install is. What that means is Does your subs have enough airspace? proper enclosure? proper electricals, Proper LOADING* bass needs to reflect off something so it'll get loud. For a truck, why not just have 2 10s or a pair of 8s under the seats, you'll hit waay harder then a 12 crammed in a tiny box.

 

[tannerdavis3]

There is not space under the seats, All's i have is my space behind them which is 10" by 13 (passenger side). And I only have room for one, I use some of the space to carry all of my miscellaneous items.

A 10 is an option, but it would still only be one and I don't know if that would be better than a 12 or not..

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

A 8 in proper space is better than a cramped 12..

Oh and the thing you said about amp companies and lawsuits.. There is no regulation on this stuff. Companies like boss rate 10 times over what they do and they make a fortune doing it.

 

[tannerdavis3]

I feel like my local shop told me a smaller sub would be better... They did hook up a 12" and 10" DB drive sub, each about 1000 watts and the 10 sounded just as good. They said in my single cab, the 10 would move more air actually.

I would go to a 10, not an 8

 

[tannerdavis3]

Actually, now on the subject of DB drive.

they have two tens i found, both 4 ohm DVC. One says 1000 watts, another is 700. Very reasonably priced, and i take this to be a good brand as I have heard these before. Would these be a good idea to look into?

Also, these are RMS ratings on them correct?

And finally, since my dreams of my amplifier putting out 1000rms have been shot down, the 700 should be perfect?

Edit - i found these are actually the MAX ratings of the subs. It does not actually tell me the RMS. I found a 1500 watt MAX db drive, im guesstimating this would be close to my amps rms?

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Db drive is ok but I'm sure we can find you better. And some of the 8s out now will surprise you.

 

[tannerdavis3]

K5-10D4v2 | DB Drive

This has captured my attention the most as of now. Mainly because my shop is huge on these, they have a room with a wall of 16 12 db drives set up and it is loud to the point of discomfort.

AND it is 750rms, perfect for this amp i take it.

I'm not sure what I could get that would be much better

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

db drive is meh to be honest. Before buying anything man, go hit up a few competitions. Of course a wall of 16 12" subs will be loud but can a single 10 of theirs be loud in a truck? Not much competitors run DB drive nowadays. Digital designs is the woofer company holding most of the loudness titles out there at the moment.

 

[los33]

K5-10D4v2 | DB DriveThis has captured my attention the most as of now. Mainly because my shop is huge on these, they have a room with a wall of 16 12 db drives set up and it is loud to the point of discomfort.

AND it is 750rms, perfect for this amp i take it.

I'm not sure what I could get that would be much better

If you are looking to have a beast of a sub and have db drive stick to the wdx 5k or better.

The k series or wdx 3k and lower will only be good if you have 2 or more and in the 12' size or bigger.

Other then that you might as well look else where.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

sundown SA 10 would walk all over that db drive. Thats just the K5. I've heard a pair of K9 okurs and they are easily outblasted by a single sundown setup on similar power.

 

[Alex81 10+ year member]

Apologies on novel fellas. Type fast & got interrupted a few times.

Seems like you are over thinking this. I do it at times hoping the first option meets all expectations. Rarely this is the case. You reach a point in doing research (I do) when you're wasting your time continuing to look. My home theater is a good example, at a certain point I couldn't learn anymore or hear anymore advice which varied from everyone I spoke to. Needed to get some gear in the house to learn what I liked, what I needed. The 45 day return policy at best buy as a something member was very beneficial.

Side note on home audio: While speaking on HT, KEF is what I ended up going with but the best deal I've ever encountered (available to masses) is the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR bookshelves. Good Lord. You won't believe with the price, or size of drivers as I didn't before. At 120 a pair those can hang with anything 3-4 times the price easily. The towers in the same Pioneer line designed by Andrew Jones along with the bookshelves are the only 2 speakers the DIY guys admit they can't make a better one for even twice the price. Everything else they claim they can make better at half the cost which is true in a lot of cases. Markup is typically 300-400% on HT gear. Amazon does a sale where they let them go at $60/pair & towers for $99/pair. Grabbed 8 of the bookshelves because that's all that was left. If you have an amp in the house and 120$ take my advice and try them. Take them back if you're not satisfied you have 30 days. Just don't let in store display fool you. It's funny how they use blockers so that they the lowest priced appear to output least & slightly increases as u go up to each model that costs more. I digress too much, yet solid info

Go with a 12. Forget the 8' nonsense. Yes there are good 8' yet forget that. How much depth do you have in the area? What are the dimensions on what area you want to put it?

A law from the 70's allows the manufacturers a loophole in using those ridiculous wattage ratings. On receivers in the home they do the same but it's not as egregious as car audio. e.g. ALL AVR's do it with the only exception being Emotiva which makes very good quality power amplifiers, wouldn't want an AVR from them though. The XPA 2 & XPA 5, digress again the quality of music in home audio is just a level you can't reach in the car. Anyways know of a authorized retailer online with prices usually 50% of any other store if anyone is interested in getting into home audio/theater. Wouldn't of mentioned a few months back as I was still completing my setup.

The AVR will be rated at 135 watts per channel. This is only with 2 channels driven, and they don't put that in any description. So 135 per channel is 110 with 5 channels driven, 81 with 7 channels, and so on. If an amp like Boss says 1000 watts it's usually 20% of that.

Aside from the sub you choose the best advice I could give you is to pay the extra 50-100$ for a JL Audio amp. Specifically a Slash or HD, but the XD series is very good as well. The slash was revolutionary when it came out, correct me if I'm wrong but it was the 1st amp that supplied continuous RMS watts. Rated at 500, it always delivered that as long as your voltage remained the same. It usually does unless you have a 600 horse muscle car. They've been at the forefront of the majority of advancements in car audio amps & subs. The JL Fathom that's in the house delivers a quality/level u have to experience. 5-10 acres on each side of the house is required to truly use it though.

If you don't want to spend what a 12w6v2 costs, get a 12' Alpine R series. Then get a JL mono 500 or 1000. When in doubt get more power, in car audio and home audio the manufacturers reps I've spoken with say that the drivers perform best, meaning they are leat likely to be damaged when powered a little over the recommended rating. On a speaker with amp requirements of 20-150 providing 170 watts is where it's least likely to damage opposed to 50 watts where damage occurring is significantly increased. Also, your amp should be strong enough so you don't have to go above 75% gain. People do it all the time, but you shouldn't push you gear that hard. It's your gear, do as u please, you're just shortening the life span when you do.

If u quote me the dimensions and what you're wanting to spend, I'll give you my advice tomorrow. U should have a good idea on what u want. Also want to give u guys a link to a site that's very helpful. Has calculators from correct Wire Gauge to designing box based on driver specs, but it's bookmarked on the laptop.

Alright then fellas. Have a good one

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

tldr too much off topic tangents.

 

[tannerdavis3]

Alex, my dimensions are 10 inches wide and 13 inches long, minus 3/4 inch for the width of the wood on the box. The depth may be as high as it needs to be, I think 16 inches would look good but it could really go up to about three feet. (but then the sub would probably be blasting right in my passengers ear).

I've gathered that my amp is rated at 1000, but im subtracting about 200 due to hifonics being terrible as you all have put it. Sooo, Im supposing i have an 800 watt amp at two ohms maybe?

My price range goes up to $250 for a subwoofer. 200 would be ideal, as i would need the wiring and what not as well.

I would like to order a sub by tomorrow if possible, so I have gathered from everyone that Sundown seems to be the best.

Also Jeff, they did hook up a 10" 1500 watt DB drive in my truck before. They have this demo thing, they just take a box with a sub and have long cables to an amp inside so they can place it inside your truck and let you hear it. It was loud, trust me lol, made my parking pass want to fall off my mirror.