Help with 13.5in w7s

[PrjKane]

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm pushing 2 13.5 w7s with a 1200 1v3 slash and a stinger 2 farrad cap. In a 2012 buick enclave. Bought a box from sonix enclousre stage 3 for the pair of w7s tuned at like 34hz. Do I need to upgrade my electrical? And what else can I do to make these bad boys shine?

Click to read more...

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

And what else can I do to make these bad boys shine?

Have you done the Big3 on the truck? I am currently using an 12w7 with an hd750/1 in a sealed box. It flexes the roof and dash when pushed. Now, 2 13.5s with a 1200/1v3 in an SUV would be nuts. You should have no problem making that amp shine, for they are designed to work with even mediocre electrical. Your alternator outputs around 170a, so I think you should be fine. If you get high dimming after the Big3, I would upgrade the battery. Some are offput by capacitors, but I have noticed that my vehicles run smoother when I use them. It makes sense, since capacitors are used as electrical conditioners in highend home audio.

 

[PrjKane]

Have you done the Big3 on the truck? I am currently using an 12w7 with an hd750/1 in a sealed box. It flexes the roof and dash when pushed. Now, 2 13.5s with a 1200/1v3 in an SUV would be nuts. You should have no problem making that amp shine, for they are designed to work with even mediocre electrical. Your alternator outputs around 170a, so I think you should be fine. If you get high dimming after the Big3, I would upgrade the battery. Some are offput by capacitors, but I have noticed that my vehicles run smoother when I use them. It makes sense, since capacitors are used as electrical conditioners in highend home audio.

I did not do the big3 its a little hard to do since the battery in the enclave is in the cabin under the passenger seat. My headlights don't dim at all they must be regulated or something because all other lights dim like crazy brake lights running lights interior lights etc.

 

[1aespinoza 10+ year member]

R

at

Big3 is important for battery health as well. You can do it yourself by Youtubing it.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

If you don't like your box, let me know haha. Been designing and building JL boxes for a long time.

 

[Kickstand Premium Member]

I did not do the big3 its a little hard to do since the battery in the enclave is in the cabin under the passenger seat. My headlights don't dim at all they must be regulated or something because all other lights dim like crazy brake lights running lights interior lights etc.

HID's don't dim because they are regulated

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

HID's don't dim because they are regulated

Mine did. Input voltage still changes output voltage, I’m pretty sure. Maybe new ones are actively regulated.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

And what else can I do to make these bad boys shine?

You may have shot yourself in the foot buying prefab box. W7 likes a large-ish low tuned box. W7 is very capable of getting loud and they're pretty well indestructible up to about 1000W

 

[PrjKane]

Mine did. Input voltage still changes output voltage, I’m pretty sure. Maybe new ones are actively regulated.

You may have shot yourself in the foot buying prefab box. W7 likes a large-ish low tuned box. W7 is very capable of getting loud and they're pretty well indestructible up to about 1000W

You may have shot yourself in the foot buying prefab box. W7 likes a large-ish low tuned box. W7 is very capable of getting loud and they're pretty well indestructible up to about 1000W

This is my box

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

This is my box

Looks well built, but I'd feel better with 3.5 cube per sub or perhaps more. The last box I built for 12W7 was very close to 3 cube and tuned around 28hz which modeled very nicely.

Tuning should be OK but W7s can tune down a bit more to play very flat.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

Looks well built, but I'd feel better with 3.5 cube per sub or perhaps more. The last box I built for 12W7 was very close to 3 cube and tuned around 28hz which modeled very nicely.

Tuning should be OK but W7s can tune down a bit more to play very flat.

I've designed a lot for JL, and there's some truth to this for sure. JL's can do big boxes. The issue is around power and what people expect, and then there's also warranty type issues, as well. I've done 2-2.25 cubes safely for the 12's and I've done 2.5-2.75 cubes for the 13w7 before, that works well for those woofers, seemingly maybe better than JL's recommendations. I think JL recommends a more old school type box, such as maybe a sub box for higher pounding bass, punch bass, vs heavy rap or droning bass. If I was running JL, I'd probably do a hair over recommended and I would tune those fairly low, and try to get a lot of range out of them with the tuning and port design, make them flat.

I actually really really like w7's in 4th orders. They will do well in those, at least they have in the past.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

Issue with oversized boxes is electrical. A lot of subs will still resonate fine away from a low tuning frequency, but when you have a big box and the subs start moving a lot, then that's when you get electrical issues for sure, all of the woofer movement can really strain the amp, away from tuning frequency.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

This is my box
View attachment 29231

That box looks fine to me. Idk I don't like JL's higher tunings, that box may be at 36 hz or whatever. I don't like that type of bracing either, personally, at all. To me, that's like the worst way to brace a box, the flow of that just doesn't look good to me, but I'm sure it works fine. I also don't like the port splitter, that's just wasted space and usually the port will perform better, the closer the height and width are to 1:1 ratio. Having that splitter makes the 2 ports really skinny, instead of having 1 fat port.

With all of that said, that's still a fairly nice box. I custom design, I get a lot of info from you and I'm designing the enclosure based around your ears, the subs (and total system dynamic), plus the location of the box in the vehicle. So I put more thought into it than just meeting the requirements of the manufacturer. So just let me know, no worries

 

[PrjKane]

That box looks fine to me. Idk I don't like JL's higher tunings, that box may be at 36 hz or whatever. I don't like that type of bracing either, personally, at all. To me, that's like the worst way to brace a box, the flow of that just doesn't look good to me, but I'm sure it works fine. I also don't like the port splitter, that's just wasted space and usually the port will perform better, the closer the height and width are to 1:1 ratio. Having that splitter makes the 2 ports really skinny, instead of having 1 fat port.

With all of that said, that's still a fairly nice box. I custom design, I get a lot of info from you and I'm designing the enclosure based around your ears, the subs (and total system dynamic), plus the location of the box in the vehicle. So I put more thought into it than just meeting the requirements of the manufacturer. So just let me know, no worries

If and when I get a new box I definitely want it to be custom. I want that sleek custom look with a nice amp rack and everything. I will definitely keep you in mind.

 

[Firewalker]

Always better with the amplifiers mounted away from the subwoofer box with the vibrations and what not. Buck does awesome designs and he is worth every penny and tbh I think he could charge more and get it for the kind of work he does with the time & effort he puts into every persons design. He does each one like he would his own. He did it professionally for a long time and has thousands of hours put into his designs.