Mixing Low QTS and High QTS subs in the same box

[blazian87 10+ year member]

So I had a passive radiator box made for me with 3 12" holes. I originally got the 12" Fi Q with the regular low QTS option. I put it in with 2 Tc Sounds VMP passives in the same box. One of the passives ended up being defective and blew the very same day. The rubber surrounded separated from the passive cone so there was an air leak in the box which made it sound even worse. Even when I heard it when it was working, it didn't really sound that great to me. Before this, I had 2 12" Diamond D6's in a sealed box closed chambers and it knocked way harder and it sounded way more tighter. I do like the sound of the Fi Q though, very smooth and has a lot of potential for sure. I decided to return the passives and bought 2 more Fi Q's to make it a sealed box. I chose the High QTS option and I Heat Ring for the 2 new subs. All 3 subs will be in a shared chamber about 2.5 cubic ft. My question is do you think it'll sound good with the setup I have? I don't really want to sell the sub to buy another one of the same sub. Maybe they'll blend in well together, I don't know really. What do you guys think will happen?

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[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

sounds awful

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

ask buck or someone to design you a decent ported box.... why do you want to use radiators or 2x of them at that. if your after volume, go ported.

 

[blazian87 10+ year member]

I'm not after loudness, I just want it to be tight and accurate. I listen to a wide range of music and ported doesn't go well with some of it. Like fast tight beat trance for example. I've owned plenty of nice ported box. I'm after pure SQ this time around, maybe SQL if I could achieve it. @Slo_Ride; what do you mean by awful? Have you ever heard it used together in a sealed box?

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

ohhh okay then.... fair enough..... might be worth trying to seal one of the passive holes and run one sub and one passive... see how that sounds, will also increase the volume of the box

 

[av83 10+ year member]

[quote name='blazian87']I'm not after loudness, I just want it to be tight and accurate. I listen to a wide range of music and ported doesn't go well with some of it. Like fast tight beat trance for example. I've owned plenty of nice ported box. I'm after pure SQ this time around, maybe SQL if I could achieve it. @Slo_Ride; what do you mean by awful? Have you ever heard it used together in a sealed box?[/QUOTE]

Don't mix em.

And you absolutely can have a ported enclosure that has tight, punchy, bass. Mine has excellent "punch" and accuracy. Even at low volume. Keep the box on the small side and tune in the mid/upper 30's and you're usually golden.

 

[blazian87 10+ year member]

From what I hear, you don't wanna run 1:1 ratio as they'll blow. Either a 12" sub and a 15 PR. Or 12" sub and 2 12" PRs.. Which is why people are usually turned off by them. and they're not as loud as a ported box either. I'm done with it. I actually bought everything in 15" version first but the box ended up not fitting in my trunk by 1". FML lol. I'm currently using the 15" passive box as a house for my dog. Passives are usually done in Home Theater and I can see why now after hearing it. It just doesn't work well with my car. Not enough open space. The thing that irritated me the most was the steeper curve than usual and the fact that the TC VMP's didn't match the sound of the Fi Q.. They were in a way fighting with each other if that makes any sense.

 

[blazian87 10+ year member]

@av83; well I didn't really intend to but it just turned out this way. I have to wait till Ficaraudio finishes building my subs in a few weeks or so and see how it turns out. This custom box was pretty expensive, plus the equipment I already bought before that is still in their boxes brand new. Of course I know you're supposed to use high qts in sealed and low qts in ported but money is really tight now and I just want to get things on a roll. I've waited soo long to hear this setup and I've been having more and more bad luck with my system. Do you think mixing the subs is gonna be like horrible sounding? I mean I could always just buy ONE more Fi Q with high QTS but I would rather not.

 

[bbeljefe]

There was no fighting amongst drone cones. The setup wasn't tuned properly or there was some other problem. PRs can sound great in any environment just as ported boxes can. The key is to build the box around the sub and to do that, you have to start buy doing some due diligence and finding out how much space you actually have to work with while still allowing the driver(s) and ports/PRs to do their job acoustically withing their environment.

If you like the sound of sealed boxes, find a sub with a high EBP and low compliance and put it in a box that's made for it and that fits your environment. You'll be amazed at the performance.

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

really no 1:1 ratio..... I thort that's what they were built for lol

 

[SounDrive Pro Seller]

The more PR to sub ratio the better...

 

[blazian87 10+ year member]

[quote name='bbeljefe']There was no fighting amongst drone cones. The setup wasn't tuned properly or there was some other problem. PRs can sound great in any environment just as ported boxes can. The key is to build the box around the sub and to do that, you have to start buy doing some due diligence and finding out how much space you actually have to work with while still allowing the driver(s) and ports/PRs to do their job acoustically withing their environment.

If you like the sound of sealed boxes, find a sub with a high EBP and low compliance and put it in a box that's made for it and that fits your environment. You'll be amazed at the performance.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the advice @bbeljefe; Honestly, I just really like the sound of sealed boxes. I already have 2 12" diamond D6's in a sealed box and I've enjoyed it over the years. It pounded more than enough for me but just isn't as SQ oriented as I would like. I've just read so many good things about Fi Q that I really wanted to try them. Hearing them for the first time, I actually quite liked the sound but it wasn't even broken in at the time so hard to judge. I have the AQ2200 now and upgraded electrical so I have more power to use this time. I really don't want to get a new box and new sub. I'm pretty set on what I want to do but if I can get away with still using the low qts in the mix, then that would be the best choice, money wise. Even if the PR box wasn't turned properly, the Diamonds were way louder than 1 Fi Q. I didn't want to lose that output at least. If the 3 12's in a sealed ends up turning out successful for me, then I might even consider upgrading to a 3500w amp in the future to get full potential.

 

[blazian87 10+ year member]

@Tenacious; I actually wanted to do a 12" sub with 2 15" PR's but my trunk opening is just too small for it.

 

[bbeljefe]

[quote name='blazian87']Thanks for the advice @bbeljefe; Honestly, I just really like the sound of sealed boxes. I already have 2 12" diamond D6's in a sealed box and I've enjoyed it over the years. It pounded more than enough for me but just isn't as SQ oriented as I would like. I've just read so many good things about Fi Q that I really wanted to try them. Hearing them for the first time, I actually quite liked the sound but it wasn't even broken in at the time so hard to judge. I have the AQ2200 now and upgraded electrical so I have more power to use this time. I really don't want to get a new box and new sub. I'm pretty set on what I want to do but if I can get away with still using the low qts in the mix, then that would be the best choice, money wise. Even if the PR box wasn't turned properly, the Diamonds were way louder than 1 Fi Q. I didn't want to lose that output at least. If the 3 12's in a sealed ends up turning out successful for me, then I might even consider upgrading to a 3500w amp in the future to get full potential.[/QUOTE]

Well frankly, it doesn't matter if they sound good to you or not. If there is enough difference in how the subs react to their environment the long term affects will be either one blown sub or two... with the remaining unblown subs not in good shape. And if that difference is enough to cause a long term problem... adding power will shorten the limit of that term.

 

[blazian87 10+ year member]

Well frankly, it doesn't matter if they sound good to you or not. If there is enough difference in how the subs react to their environment the long term affects will be either one blown sub or two... with the remaining unblown subs not in good shape. And if that difference is enough to cause a long term problem... adding power will shorten the limit of that term.

Okay, that is what I wanted to know. Thank you for your insight. That is something I need to consider as well. I might have to contact Fi and see if they can somehow convert my sub to a high qts.. or I might have to end up buying another fi Q //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif