Need Box Advice For Kicker CVX 15"

[rash69]

Hi. I've been out of car audio since the mid 90's and what I had back then was crap compared to what is available today. I finally couldn't take just looking anymore and saved up the $$$ and bought a system. What I have is detailed below. What I need is some advice on designing the best sub box for what I have. I listen mostly to rock and metal but will throw in some bass music every now and then to show off my new system. This setup will be in a 2002 Ford Escape SUV and I don't care if the box takes up the whole cargo area so size isn't really a concern. Is sealed or ported better for the type of music I'd mostly be listening to? Also Kicker says that in the biggest sealed box (5.2 cu ft) and the smallest vented box (3.0 cu ft) the max rms power handling of this woofer is only 500 watts. Should I have gotten 2??? I don't want to blow this sub and would like for it to last a long time. Any advice for this re-newbie will be greatly appreciated!!!! Thanks!

My setup:

HU: Kenwood KDC-X891

Amp: Rockford Fosgate 25th Anv Power 1000 5 ch (birth cert 945 rms watts @1ohm sub channel + 154rms watts X 4 @ 2ohms for Highs and Mids)

Sub: 1 Kicker CVX 15" Dual 2ohm VC- 1000 watts RMS

Highs and Mids: 4 Infinity Kappa 682.7cf 6x8"s 100 watts RMS (2ohm)

Power: POWER ACOUSTIK PCNC-2.0F 3 FARAD CAPACITOR

Click to read more...

 

[Trixter 10+ year member]

first thing i would do is ditch the cap. the rf amp will draw some power, but you need to upgrade your big 3 first and see about a better battery and alt before you ever add a cap.

that sub is 1000w rms, 500w/coil. its a good match for that amp. if you have the room, do about 5cu' and about 80sq" of port. tuning to 32-34hz will be nice for what your looking for.

BTW: welcome //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[rash69]

Thanks Trixter! Any other opinions would be appreciated. I was thinking of a sealed box because I heard sound quality was better and that's what I'm looking for. But everyone I've talked to has said ported. I've already bought the capacitor and I've dropped a load of $ on everything else so I probably will have to wait for a new battery and alt. I guess I'll just have to see what goes wrong first....

 

[bloodhound50 10+ year member]

for rock and metal I would do a sealed box. it will have the best sq but be slightly less loud. I mean if you want it to be really loud do ported and it will be fun to show off but for everyday normal listening sealed would probably be better. you can build the box for like 22 bucks yourself. and a sealed box really isnt hard 2 build so you could experiment if you wanted for not to much cash.

 

[bloodhound50 10+ year member]

We have the same cap.

 

[rash69]

Thanks bloodhound 50! Yeah I noticed we have the same cap. Sounds like I'm gonna have the same fried alternator too! Should I really wait to put the cap in like Trixter said? The only reason I bought the thing was to take the strain off my battery and alt. Isn't that the main point of a cap? Also I was thinking the same thing about building a sealed box first and just seeing how I like it because they are simpler and cheap to build. Anyone have any suggestions as far as how many cubic feet for a sealed? Kicker suggets between 1.8 and 5.2 but again the 5.2 brings the RMS down to 500 watts.

 

[rash69]

One last thing. If I did a ported box, I was thinking of using the box plans that Moe Lester posted. Here they are:

Would this be a good design? It doesn't look too much harder than doing a sealed box. It's kind of hard to see I guess but it is 5 cu ft tuned at 32 hz. I'm gonna try to build it this weekend and I'm really torn about which kind of box to build so anymore "last minute" advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!!!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Trixter 10+ year member]

kickers love ported boxes.....

as for the cap, you can hook it up and see, but do a search on here, i know there are a few post of the pros and cons....very good ones too.

 

[rash69]

Thanks Trixter! Yeah I dug around some after I posted that and found out what the heck you meant by upgrading my big 3. (God I HATE being a newbie but this site is an awsome resource! And so are people like you!) That is something I could most likely do right now and throw in the cap and see how my electrical system does after that. I'm still torn about the box though. I'm leaning towards doing a sealed one first and seeing how that sounds. Can always go back later and build another. Probably split the difference between the min (1.8) and max (5.2) and go for 3.5 cu ft. I want to mount the amp and cap on the box so it has to be decent sized because the amp is HUGE! Thank you again and thanks bloodhound50!

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

come over here to Jax, and we can build a box //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

BTW, I've owned 10" and 12" Comps, 10" and 12" CVRs, and a 15" L7.... all have far preferred a ported box to a sealed box. Kickers just love ported boxes. I'd put it in 4-5cf @ 32-34hz. A CVX will sound excellent and get loud in a ported box.

 

[05gliguy 10+ year member]

I'd put it in 4-5cf @ 32-34hz. A CVX will sound excellent and get loud in a ported box.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/yumyum.gif.0556df42231b304b9c995aefd13928a8.gif

 

[rash69]

Decided on sealed. Around 3.5 cu ft. Friend of mine is building it for me. Gonna see how it sounds and if I don't like it will just build another. Will post pics when finished....