Is This Upgrade Worth It?

[Maury McCown]

Hey all

I'm currently running a Rockford Fosgate T110D2 at 4 ohms in a .75cu ft sealed box in my 4-door Jeep JK, powered by a Rockford Fosgate Prime R1000-1D amp at 500 watts.

The T110D2 is rated at 600w RMS with a peak of 1200w, so I know I'm under-powering the speaker.

I'm considering replacing the amp with a Kenwood Excelon X1200M, which will run at 800w RMS at 4 ohms. That's slightly over-powering the speaker, but I'm assuming that since I listen to metal and rock, I won't be hitting the full gain as I'll end up turning the amp down a bit to better balance in the mix.

My issue with my current amp is that the bass is just not quite loud enough. Good or bad, I have the gain set via DMM and a 50Hz test tone, as well — and I have it close to maxed.

All that said, I'm wondering if the amp upgrade will make a noticeable difference in sub volume...? I don't have room to add more subs, and I like the bass tightness I get with my sealed box, anyway.

Will the 800w amp give me more bass than the 500w? Should I go for it?

Thanks!

Maury

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[350zspl 10+ year member]

i would keep the amp you have

throw the sub in a new box ported 37 hertz

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

I'd be willing to bet the difference between amps on that sub would be

Porting the box (I'd tune to 40) should gain you closer to 3DB as would adding a second sub. Upgrading to a better/larger sub would also probably give you a good gain.

Sealed box = tight or SQ is a total myth largely propagated by drivers being used in the wrong application or improperly designed ported enclosures. You can build a ported box for a single 12 for 50$ worth of materials...much less of a gamble if you don't like it than a new amp.

 

[Maury McCown]

I guess moving to a 12" in a 1.25cu ft sealed box would be louder than a 10" in a sealed box, right?

The reason I've been sticking with sealed boxes is because of cargo space. Like I said, I'm in a Jeep JK, and I need the trunk area for toting my guitars and other band crap. Ported boxes that I have seen all seem to be quite a bit wider, which kills my already tight space.

Louder is what I want, but I don't like the idea of pushing the gain too much more on the amp. I have it set to about 50 V.

 

[350zspl 10+ year member]

your 10" t1 is good

keep it

don't spend money on a 12" sub and a new sealed box for a 12"

you can place that 10" t1 ported at 37 hertz will be loud, sound good on rock & rap, and a ported box will be 1.75 net roughly and your amp is perfect for that

go for a ported box build it yourself for $50 or pay $150 and a box builder like Vitveet on this forum can build it, ship it to you fast , and it will not take up to much room

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

I guess moving to a 12" in a 1.25cu ft sealed box would be louder than a 10" in a sealed box, right?
The reason I've been sticking with sealed boxes is because of cargo space. Like I said, I'm in a Jeep JK, and I need the trunk area for toting my guitars and other band crap. Ported boxes that I have seen all seem to be quite a bit wider, which kills my already tight space.

Louder is what I want, but I don't like the idea of pushing the gain too much more on the amp. I have it set to about 50 V.

Indeed a ported box does eat up more volume. A possible fix is using passive radiators, but from where you are, you can probably get more bang for your buck going up to a 12 sealed. ID-Max is one that a lot of people reccomend for small-ish sealed, DIYMA 12 is also a good choice for that alignment (if you can find one used somewhere). I'm sure others have more suggestions.

There's a 15 that ppl around here talk about a lot that works in a small sealed, but I forget what brand (it's inexpensive and a mainstream brand) I want to say MB-Quart, but I'm not 100% on that. I know old school round Kicker Solo-baric 15 sounds awesome on 500W in only a couple cube sealed, I know they made a re-issue of it, but IDK what the price is?

 

[Maury McCown]

I don't know if buying a whole new setup — a new sub, amp, and sub box — will actually give me enough of a decibel increase.

That's my main issue...

 

[mclerico83 5,000+ posts]

if done correctly yes or go with a bigger sub

MB QUART PWE 354 NEW 15" SUB DVC 4 PREMIUM SUBWOOFER - eBay (item 120599843980 end time Aug-22-10 18:32:40 PDT)

15 that only requires a 1.5 cube sealed recomended might be your best bet to get louder and it sounds amazing

 

[mclerico83 5,000+ posts]

you weill then be running the amp at 2 ohms doubling your power also you will gain a lot more db's this way

 

[Maury McCown]

your 10" t1 is good keep it

don't spend money on a 12" sub and a new sealed box for a 12"

you can place that 10" t1 ported at 37 hertz will be loud, sound good on rock & rap, and a ported box will be 1.75 net roughly and your amp is perfect for that

go for a ported box build it yourself for $50 or pay $150 and a box builder like Vitveet on this forum can build it, ship it to you fast , and it will not take up to much room

I can't seem to find any posts about any of Vitveet's boxes...

 

[350zspl 10+ year member]

go to the feedback section and look for my feedback thread 350zspl great seller

in those pages his left feedback

click on his screen name

send him a pm

he will foward you pics of his work & quote you on a custom enclosure shipped

it is not a waste of time

i put 1 each rf t1 10" in one of my customers impala with a rf 1000 on it ported at 37 hertz roughly 1.5 - 1.75 net

it slams and is very musical

 

[Maury McCown]

Thanks! I'll shoot him a message!

 

[Maury McCown]

Slight update...

1. I pulled my sub out of the box, and it's actually in a .65 cu ft Q-Logix box. Because I'm anal-retentive, I have a .78 cu ft box on its way, so after the sub displacement, I will be right at the .75 cu ft Rockford Fosgate recommends.

2. I replaced my 500w Prime amp with a RF T1500-1BDCP, so I have up to 1000w going to my sub.

3. Running the gain at only 5 is giving me all the bass volume I need in my Jeep, and MUCH more than I was getting out of my 500 w amp.

4. I know I have 400w more RMS on-tap since my sub is 600w, but the gain is low and the sub peak will handle transients.

Anyway, there you have it. I'm curious to see if the larger box will make much difference...