Need help deciding on single 12 inch ported or single 15 inch sealed in existing box.

[thejet95]

Hello, brand new to this forum. Hope to get some opinions. I already have a custom build box for my Subaru Hatch that is a 2.5 cubic foot Wedge (before Sub or port displacement). I am interested in putting in either a single 12 inch DCON or Sundown ported to specs, or just going with a Single 15 inch sealed. I probably would prefer SQ over SPL, but would love to get LOW 30hz range if possible. Any thoughts on either the DCON vs Sundown, or ported vs sealed? BTW, this Single sub would be run off an Old School MTX Blue Thunder amp, putting out 300 Watt Bridged at 2 ohms, so I wanted a dual voice coil 4ohm Sub. Thanks!

Click to read more...

 

[zako 10+ year member]

Jim Walter, the Alpine engineer who posts on DIYMA, mentioned that he thinks that the new underhung Alpine Type-S 15 has amazing SQ and it's one of his favorite subs now. The sub has 500watt RMS power rating and 15 inch xmax. This should be a good match for your amp, specially with a 15 inch cone. Set the gains with DMM so you don't overdrive the amp.

 

[thejet95]

Hadn't been considering an Alpine. That might be a good choice, thanks. What about the 2.5 cf enclosure size? Would a 15 inch Sub do okay in that small a box?

 

[OmegaBunny 10+ year member]

@pro\-rabbit

He'll help you out!

 

[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

I would run the SSA 12 in a nice ported enclosure built more for efficiency.

---------- Post added at 05:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:53 PM ----------

[quote name='OmegaBunny']@pro\-rabbit ;[/QUOTE]

lol I was just replying to this...

 

[OmegaBunny 10+ year member]

See I knew it lol.

I would go ported 12 over sealed 15

 

[thejet95]

Would the ported 12 give me lower sub frequency extension over the 15 then? Maybe tune the port for 32 hz or so?

 

[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

The enclosure will dictate the response curve. The correct enclosure would be designed around the application, product, and goals of the setup.

Remember, to get "low" you don't always have to tune "low".

 

[thevic24 5,000+ posts]

Jim Walter, the Alpine engineer who posts on DIYMA, mentioned that he thinks that the new underhung Alpine Type-S 15 has amazing SQ and it's one of his favorite subs now. The sub has 500watt RMS power rating and 15 inch xmax. This should be a good match for your amp, specially with a 15 inch cone. Set the gains with DMM so you don't overdrive the amp.

15 inch xmax??//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wow.gif.23d729408e9177caa2a0ed6a2ba6588e.gif

 

[OmegaBunny 10+ year member]

Thats a whole lot of xmax!

OP save your self some time and go with a ported 18! When I first started this hobby I was always concerned with saving space, now my next build will allow me to haul a half gallon of milk and a bag of lemons....maybe

 

[thejet95]

Thats a whole lot of xmax!
OP save your self some time and go with a ported 18! When I first started this hobby I was always concerned with saving space, now my next build will allow me to haul a half gallon of milk and a bag of lemons....maybe

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[Villeza1 10+ year member]

15 inch xmax??//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wow.gif.23d729408e9177caa2a0ed6a2ba6588e.gif

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[thejet95]

I did some plotting in Win ISD on a 12 inch DCON, and noticed the sealed enclosure has a lot smoother response from 20hz and up, but the ported design has a large bump around 30 to 40hz.

Did the Alpine 15 inch in a sealed enclosure, and it plots almost identical to the 12 inch DCON sealed, except it showed an average of 4-6 db higher along the plotted curve. So, not sure what would actually Sound the best.....//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[quackhead 10+ year member]

what type of music do you listen to?..I mean, if you listen to actual music made by actual instruments, then the subs mentioned may not be the best choice for your application if true SQ is the design priority. And this has absolutely nothing to do with the Companies themselves, just their overall driver design. Another question is, what does your front stage consist of as far as drivers and power?

 

[thejet95]

I listen to a lot of different styles music, including some occasional hip hop, but mostly top 40 stuff. I do appreciate a lot of detail in my music, but occasionally like to hear some powerful sub bass. When I was in my teens had a pair of 15inch RF Punch in a 8 cubic foot box, and I wouldn't mind re-living my youth once in awhile. My front stage consists of a nice Kenwood deck and 6 inch component speakers, powered by another old school amp, a precision power 2050m. I also have an old soundstream reference 405 (5 channel amp) that I considered running the whole system on, but the sub channel only puts out 200 watts rms. So not a high powered system, but a clean one. I had been using a JL audio 10inch sub for several years (it recently blew out), but wasn't every really that happy with the amount of low end it puts out in a 0.75 cubic foot sealed box. Looking for something much, much more //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

BTW, Thanks for all the feedback so far, you have all been really helpful.