Help with amp, sub and box q's please

[comftblynumb]

I recently purchased a 10" MTX thunder 9500 single 4-ohm and was given an RT vented box free. This box seems pretty small compared to the massive size of the sub and has a lot of port noise.

The first amp i had hooked up to this sub was a rather old low-power kenwood, then i bought a kicker kx450.2 and did not like the way it made the sub sound so i went back to the store and ended up returning it and getting a kenwood KAC-x521.

While i was there one of the guys told me that the box was my problem and that the kicker amp was plenty of power and would sound better than the kenwood amp. I was still leaning towards the kenwood amp since i liked the way my first one sounded even at a lower power. The guy then proceeded to tell me that i would burn up my voice coil if i used the kenwood amp because i would underpower the sub. The kenwood amp is rated at 505 watts RMS at 4-ohms while the kicker is rated at 450 watts RMS...after i brought this up his reply was "The kicker will clean it up more." Now i dont know a whole lot but this sounded completely stupid to me and at that point i quit talking to him and proceeded to get the kenwood amp.

After reading a few threads on this site i realize how important the box is and i would like to ask for some opinions and information from you all.

First off, Do you think that the kenwood amp is adequate for this sub? (wich is rated at 100-750 watts RMS) And more importantly do i need a new box? Im pretty sure i do as the sub still doesnt sound very good. I did seem to get a better overall sound after switching but it still sounds a little sloppy/punchy and mechanical. If i do need a new box can you reccomend a box or give me some dimensions and details on how i could build my own? What about the sledgehammer box that MTX makes for this sub? Would it be worth the money and can you tell me where i could buy one? I have only found a couple of online retailers that sell them and only with subs in them. Oh and i am limited on space, I have an 02 Ranger ext. cab.

Also how should i set my amp, I currently have the bass centered at 60 Hz (lowest setting) and the crossover frequency set at about 110 HZ, the Q-factor is set at 1.25 and the low frequency extend is off.

Thanks in advance for your help.

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[comftblynumb]

I have done more reading and i adjusted the amp a little. The crossover is now set to 70Hz and i put the q-factor to the original setting of 1.00, it goes up to 2.00 but i cant really hear any difference. Could somebody explain what that setting is for? Lowering the crossover improved the sound a lot but im still not satisfied with the box. I talked with MTX and was told that they do not sell those boxes empty so i guess i will need to have a box built, would any of you be able to design and build a good box for me? (someone with references) I have no idea about my vehicles resonant frequency or anything like that so i need lots of help.

Is there any truth to what the salesman told me about frying my voice coil by underpowering this sub?

 

[TrlcKed_OuT 10+ year member]

whats the point in that sub if ur only gunna send in 100-750watts....try a bigger amp and maybe a bigger box and im sure you will like...

 

[comftblynumb]

im sending the sub 505 watts (if that is really what the amp is putting out). I have heard that these subs start sounding like s**t when they are fed a lot of power and i dont currently have any plans to do any comps so i want to focus more on sound quality, and the 505 watts will get it bangin.

Its a mistake that i even have this sub to begin with. When i went shopping i wanted to get just one sub that would hit hard and not take up a lot of space, the salesman led me to this sub and told me that they win comps with this series and showed me a printout of the head to head with W7. Me being ignorant; i bought it right then, if i would have known more at the time i probably would have went down the street and bought a W7 for the sound quality. Now im just trying to make the best out of what im stuck with.