Well I am totally and irretrievably addicted to bass now. I installed my first "real" substage a couple weeks ago and I'm loving it... but I want more and better.
So right now I have a 15" TC-3000k in 3.1 sealed on a Sundown @ 1.4ohms, forward firing in my trunk.
Next paycheck I am thinking about upgrading. A couple words about the TC3k first though. It has very good tonal clarity and hits great in the 30hz range. Has decent to good authority at 20hz, but could be a lot better. It sounds pretty good tone-wise but it is a bit sluggish and muddy on drums. It is loud (I think), but not loud enough. I have never been to a comp or heard SPL setups so I can't compare how loud it really is.
Anyway I'm looking for three things in this order: Better sound quality with emphasis on very sharp accuracy, speed and control for kickdrums and electronic music, more volume, and more powerful lows in the 20hz range!
So there are 3 setups I am considering but I am also taking suggestions of course (I have about 5.5 cubes max to work with), whichever I decide on I will be adding a Sundown to strap for +/- 3500 watts:
1 x 18" LMS-5400 in about 4.5 cubes ported tuned to 22-26hz
1 x 18" TC-5200 ported OR with passive radiator box (concerned about SQ???)
2 x 12" Mag D2 ported in about 4.2 cubes tuned to 25-30hz
I was also thinking about a 15" 06 XXX but I have heard some not so great things about them, heating up, breaking boxes, etc.
Regardless of which of these I choose I will also be getting another Sundown to strap for roughly 3500 watts.
I guess my question is, which of these will do you think will suit my needs the best? It is absolutely necessary for the upgrade to have great sound quality and faster response, but I also want it to be loud as shit.
Figured I would throw this out there a good 2 weeks or so before I buy anything, to give me time to think it over and all that. Sorry for typing so much... I'm long winded, can't help it.
Thanks guys.
The TC-3000's low Qts will make hungry for EQ around 20Hz in a sealed box. It will have almost no bass there unless you EQ it or use it in a ported box as it is really intended for. Lower BL drivers tend to fair better in sealed boxes because they require less EQ and lower voltage sources to achieve displacement
I would add as much EQ as your amp can give out at 20Hz or until the driver bottoms out. This is a simple game of displacement and if your driver is not moving enough, your not getting everything out of it. If you have no eq boost on the driver, then this should not even be a debate, go EQ it as much as your amp can give and see what happens.
Ported boxes can make a difference because at tuning, you're going to have added SPL from the port resonator. The TC-3000 works very good in a ported box because of its high BL However it the box is too large, you may see a decrees in SPL in the mid bass from the low Q alignment, same problem in the seal box (needs EQ), but with the port resonator you cant just EQ the SPL from the driver and not the port so making a linear response because much more tricky and hence requires modeling. Secondly, making a ported box small can compromise the port displacement so you’re fighting an uphill battle getting linear response out of a very low Q driver even in a ported box. In theory, you want a small box for the driver, but a large box for the resonator. This is why we commonly use passive radiators, it gets rid of the port length / area problem and makes linear response much easier to achieve.
If you want some specific advice, shoot me an email, and i'll show you want i mean as far as various alignments. Much of the time in car audio, Poor SQ is a result of non-linear frequency response. There is no reason the TC-3000 can’t sound very articulate in the right system.
The SI and or TC-2000 would need less EQ in a sealed box, but you would still need some. Their higher Q makes them both a bit tamer and possibly easier to implement correctly. The 18” LMS-5400 may be a good choice for around 4.5 cubic feet ported at around 25Hz. It is dead flat at that alignment and will give you plenty of very deep bass. This driver requires lots of resonator displacement so its best to use it with passive radiators which don't compress fast as ports and can be tuned lower without displacement comprise.
The TC-5200 is not what you want. It’s more of what the TC-3000 offers which I think its giving you the response problems. You'll need almost 20dB of EQ at 20Hz for linear response in a sealed box. This is really an SPL driver.
The 06 XXX comes from the other spectrum, very high Qts, so it will sound nice and low in a sealed box probably with almost no EQ. This would be the best driver to stick with if you want a larger sealed box with a very nice response with deep bass.
