Need some help please!

[rjay 10+ year member]

I just installed some new equipment and the output is not quite what I thought it would be, it doesn't seem to be that powerful. It consists of one 8" Critical Mass SS82 being ran by Eclipse XA5000 amp. I haven't got my front speakers in yet, so the amp is just running the sub right now at 450watts. The sub is in small sealed enclosure with .43 of air space, I believe the sub recommendation is .36, but was told this enclosure would be fine. It's in a prefab box, but I did make sure it was sealed and the box seems to be of good quality, but was wondering if the box might be the problem or should I give the sub more time to "break in" before judging it? I just know my wifes system which is one Kicker S8L5 (sealed box) ran by Kicker ZX 300 mono amp is blowing this one away! Any suggestions, I've been playing with the settings, but it's not really improving anything. I would like think I am not expecting too much, but what do you guys think?

Oh and sorry for the long post!

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[Ninesvnsicks 10+ year member]

What kind of car is it in?

 

[rjay 10+ year member]

2009 Nissan Sentra

 

[Heeltoeclutch 10+ year member]

I tried an 8" in a sealed box... couldn't hear it at all and it was IN the cabin.

What box is your wife's sub in?

 

[rjay 10+ year member]

Hers is in a sealed box as well. Now her car is a Hyundai Tiburon, so I know that will make a difference but I wouldn't think a big difference. I was going to swap them around and everything tomorrow and see what (if any) affects it has. But it's night and day difference in the loudness.

 

[rjay 10+ year member]

Stupid me! On my head unit there is an option for subwoofer phase normal or reverse. I switched it to reverse and it works fine! Although I still give the edge to my wifes system, kinda suprised. But when she gets home I am still going to switch out the subs between cars and see if that's the difference.