HDC3 vs. BL vs. Q

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

Looking into the 18" models of all of these. I'm attracted to the BL and the Q because of being U.S. made, but at the same time the CF on the HDC3 looks awesome and I've heard a lot of good about them. I'd be pushing 2500w to a pair so roughly 1,250w to each. Trying to stay around $600 for the pair. For summer I plan on doing a loud daily that can get low, but dropping down into the lows isn't my main priority. I'm thinking of tuning it to roughly 30Hz.

Basically, which of these would be my best option? Depending on if I decide to remove the back seats or not, I would have 12 cubes net to work with, or 14 cubes if I take out the seats.

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[UMWDawg92 10+ year member]

If you're tuning low and wanting it to sound good go with the Q... I can't comment on the BL because I've never heard one

 

---------- Post added at 06:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:42 AM ----------

 

AQ will get louder than the Q though

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

AQ are pretty notorious for bad suspensions. They're a lot of sub for the money, though. (cones do look nice).

Fi makes a good product as well. Probably don't get as much bang for your buck, but I'd take them in reliability out of the two if you've narrowed it down that much.

Also expect some SSA X-cons to come up FS used in the near future as SSA users upgrade to Z-cons.

IDK what the price on the LMS-r is in a 15", but those will really crush some lows and would handle 1200W pretty well.

What part of Maine are you in? I'm heading up to my farm next week and will be in Maine for a little bit and have a couple 15's here you could audition. Could get a good value by saving shipping.

Were you at the Sanford show 2 weeks ago?

***EDIT***

Just noticed you said 18's. Dunno if you can get any pair of 18's for

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

My suv has been at the shop for what feels like a month now. Nissan put out a recall and they are still deciding whether or not they are going to bother fixing it. personally I hope they don't that way I'll get $3,500 for it (I paid $1,500 for the vehicle). As a result I missed the sanford show, but hopefully I can make the bikini show in august //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/boobiez.gif.bcca53c4e1c9539300cad4d7d1b9dd4d.gif

I'm right outside the lewiston/auburn area

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

i would go with the HDC3's. with 1250wrms they are gonna pound and not hurt the sub at all. i run about 2500wrms through 1 HDC3 daily and ive never even smell it

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

the BL is pretty loud to but my friend had one on like a 1500wrms and he blew it like 3 or 4 times

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

I was thinking about the xcon but i feel like they would be a more SQ oriented sub, which I don't have any problems with I just don't see a huge need for SQ when running 2 18's lol.

I thought AQ fixed their suspension issues? Regardless if they did or not, I would be buying new so I'd have the warranty, and I'd barely be pushing over it's RMS so I don't think i'd run into many issues such as that.

 

---------- Post added at 08:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:48 AM ----------

 

the BL is pretty loud to but my friend had one on like a 1500wrms and he blew it like 3 or 4 times

Hmm...sounds like he either was dropping below tuning too much or his amp was crap. I doubt Fi would put out a faulty product like that.

 

[mast240 10+ year member]

you can get a pair of hdc3's for AROUND 600 shipped... but it will prolly cost you a lil more new... used, would be right around that figure. i personally would go with AQ for what your wanting. not nuthugging or anything, but they really are the best bang for the buck... and as far as the bad suspensions go, they had one batch that had a defective part... but they were all taken care of, and replaced... they really are beasts, and can handle alot more than rated.... but just make sure if you buy them new to break them in properly

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

you can get a pair of hdc3's for AROUND 600 shipped... but it will prolly cost you a lil more new... used, would be right around that figure. i personally would go with AQ for what your wanting. not nuthugging or anything, but they really are the best bang for the buck... and as far as the bad suspensions go, they had one batch that had a defective part... but they were all taken care of, and replaced... they really are beasts, and can handle alot more than rated.... but just make sure if you buy them new to break them in properly

i was counting in the subs themselves. pair of AQ 18's currently cost roughly $550 because of the sale, $650 after shipping costs. Fi is more about $700.

Do you think a break in would be necessary if only pushing around 1k each? On the other hand though, I may need to break them in, I don't think i can handle going from 1 15 to 2 18's right away lol

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

he had a sundown 1500d

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

well and he has set voltage at like 14.6. so he was probly getting like 1800rms out the amp

 

[mast240 10+ year member]

yea, even at 1k each, i would still let them break in a lil bit... just to let the suspension loosen up a lil bit before you go full tilt... it wont take a month or anything crazy like that... mainly just about 6-8 hours of play before going to full tilt

 

[sacsking916 5,000+ posts]

From what I've heard very recently aq is still having suspension issues. The new hdc4 are coming out soon aren't they?

 

[bgowdy 5,000+ posts]

what do you all mean by suspension problems?

 

[mast240 10+ year member]

you've heard wrong... alot of people are just talking ish about AQ now, because they had one bad batch of suspensions from a company they had contracted to build... they have since addressed the issue, and are back up and running. thats the reason that alot of their subs were on back order for a while.. so they could address the issue.

bottom line is, the guys over at AQ do everything they can to put out a quality product... but when your running a buisness, sometimes there are things you just cant for see... not trying to nuthug here... just sick of everyone bashing on a good company because of one little hiccup