Need some recommendations on sub/subs for 6 cubes ported box $1K sub budget

[na96ek 10+ year member]

So you are only going to us a JP23 which is what 2,300 watts? At best with an amplifier like that then a pair of 10
or 12" 1000 watt RMS subwoofers unless you can find a 500 watt RMS 15". Personally I would upgrade then that amplifier to something else with at least 4500 watts rms like from Ruthless or the Aurra from amplab on a set of 2 12" Fi X 1,500 watt RMS would slam.

The Fi X series 12" for a pair is around 4.5 cubic feet at 33hz. So 7 cubic feet I would do like dj said a pair of 15".

The JP23V2 is rated at 2800 but people have put it on a dyno and got around 3000. Anyways, that’s not too concerning to me either way because with my alternator I don’t think I’ll have much room for more power. I already have about 800w on mids as well, so I’m thinking that the 2-3kw for lows is about the max I can do without further electrical upgrades and I’m trying to maximize cone area on that power level.

 

[Firewalker]

Dyno is nice and all but in the real world with box rise and what not. No it won't see that 2800 or 3k. Best is just find a pair of 12" or 10" with around 1000 watts RMS or some lower tier 10" RMS 500 watt subwoofers if you wan to run 4. Or as dj said a pair of 15"and probably around 1000 watts RMS on them. I have a 320 amp HO from J&S with a AGM up front and I ran a Cab-45 with a 100-120x4 for the front mid-bass and tweeters. I saw drops only to 14.0 and only for a millisecond. Stays pretty consistent at 14.6-14.7. If I go bigger with the amplifier then I'll add in something like the lithium pop has thrown up here from glow which is a nice lithium battery for around 500 dollars.

 

[na96ek 10+ year member]

Dyno is nice and all but in the real world with box rise and what not. No it won't see that 2800 or 3k. Best is just find a pair of 12" or 10" with around 1000 watts RMS or some lower tier 10" RMS 500 watt subwoofers if you wan to run 4. Or as dj said a pair of 15"and probably around 1000 watts RMS on them. I have a 320 amp HO from J&S with a AGM up front and I ran a Cab-45 with a 100-120x4 for the front mid-bass and tweeters. I saw drops only to 14.0 and only for a millisecond. Stays pretty consistent at 14.6-14.7. If I go bigger with the amplifier then I'll add in something like the lithium pop has thrown up here from glow which is a nice lithium battery for around 500 dollars.

Yeah I understand dyno isn’t real world and I’d be happy with anything over 2K rms, I don’t want to push the alt too hard. I’d love more power but for this build I think I’ll be happy at this power level.

I definitely don’t want to do two 12’s but I am open to two 15’s.

So since your recommendation is putting two 1K subs or four 500w subs, what do you think will really reach higher DB’s (particularly in the lower hz) I’ve always read that with all else equal, more speakers on the same wattage will always be louder then one or two. I suppose this is where better subwoofer designs come into play and brings us back to my original dilemma. Multiple lower wattage subs vs one or two beefier higher wattage subs..

 

[djdilliodon!]

Yeah I understand dyno isn’t real world and I’d be happy with anything over 2K rms, I don’t want to push the alt too hard. I’d love more power but for this build I think I’ll be happy at this power level.

I definitely don’t want to do two 12’s but I am open to two 15’s.

So since your recommendation is putting two 1K subs or four 500w subs, what do you think will really reach higher DB’s (particularly in the lower hz) I’ve always read that with all else equal, more speakers on the same wattage will always be louder then one or two. I suppose this is where better subwoofer designs come into play and brings us back to my original dilemma. Multiple lower wattage subs vs one or two beefier higher wattage subs..

4 12’s will have more cone area then 2 15’s but getting the optimal enclosure size is what the issue will be. Again if you want super low end, sealed will be best and way easier to achieve it. 2 nice 15’s sealed on 2k with a low FS will be impressive down low, will get loud, and sound good doing it as well. The enclosure will be super easy to make as well. Tuning into the 20’s will require a heck of a long port and will eat up alot of space inside the enclosure. Sealed you will not have this issue. Many 15’s in 2.75-3 cubes each sealed will be monsters down low with the right suspension.

 

[Doxquzme Premium Member]

3 of these 15's would be a MONSTER sub. 6 cubes, ported - tuned to 24-30 Hz (port size considerations)

SQL Series – StereoIntegrity.com

stereointegrity.com

Prepare for liftoff!

Edit, that would be the sealed requirement. My bad!

 

[djdilliodon!]

3 of these 15's would be a MONSTER sub. 6 cubes, ported - tuned to 24-30 Hz (port size considerations)

View attachment 55954
View attachment 55956

SQL Series – StereoIntegrity.com

stereointegrity.com

Prepare for liftoff!

Gonna need like 12+ cubes for 3 of those . Very similar to c5’s but with a bumped backplate. These are actually good subs from across the pond.

 

[Doxquzme Premium Member]

Gonna need like 12+ cubes for 3 of those . Very similar to c5’s but with a bumped backplate. These are actually good subs from across the pond.

Ooops, you're correct. Was looking at sealed, which would still be a blast! 3 Si 15's, 6 pounds of Acousta-stuf, pretty damn impressive for sure!

 

[na96ek 10+ year member]

Probably going to be hard to read all of that graph but it looks like two of the Soundqubed HDS3.215 in a 6 cubes ported box tuned to 27hz plays nicely, it’s the red line that it’s clicked on. It’s on the small side for airspace and they definitely gained a lot with 10 cubes but compared to sealed in 6 cubes they seemed to actually outperform. The four 10’s tuned to 27 as well was the orange line that just barely beat out the 15’s between 24-28hz
3 of the SI 15’s in 6 cubes sealed showed very similar results to the two ported HDS3.2’s

I could just be doing this all wrong though

 

[Doxquzme Premium Member]

Probably going to be hard to read all of that graph but it looks like two of the Soundqubed HDS3.215 in a 6 cubes ported box tuned to 27hz plays nicely, it’s the red line that it’s clicked on. It’s on the small side for airspace and they definitely gained a lot with 10 cubes but compared to sealed in 6 cubes they seemed to actually outperform. The four 10’s tuned to 27 as well was the orange line that just barely beat out the 15’s between 24-28hz
3 of the SI 15’s in 6 cubes sealed showed very similar results to the two ported HDS3.2’s

I could just be doing this all wrong though

Nah, I think you nailed it. Comes down to application and what you can do or want. I think that 3 15's is ridiculous but hey, would I? It'd be fun for sure. I personally like my Focal 33v2 13's in their larger-ish 3.44 cubic foot sealed and stuffed box, my kind of sound.

 

[na96ek 10+ year member]

I was not in any way opposed to 3 15’s I’ve played with WinISD in the past but there are parts of it that I don’t have a clue what they are talking about. I plug numbers and play around but I’m no sound engineer lol.

I think I’ve learned that no matter what I choose i’m probably going to be happy with it and all of the suggestions have definitely helped. I’m still not 100% sold on anything and since I’m about a month from pulling the trigger I’ll probably ponder 10 more options before I decide. I’m the opposite of impulsive and if given the chance will overthink any purchase to no end.

 

[djdilliodon!]

I was not in any way opposed to 3 15’s I’ve played with WinISD in the past but there are parts of it that I don’t have a clue what they are talking about. I plug numbers and play around but I’m no sound engineer lol.

I think I’ve learned that no matter what I choose i’m probably going to be happy with it and all of the suggestions have definitely helped. I’m still not 100% sold on anything and since I’m about a month from pulling the trigger I’ll probably ponder 10 more options before I decide. I’m the opposite of impulsive and if given the chance will overthink any purchase to no end.

I would take all the graphs with a grain of salt as real world results can differ dramatically and many times the T/S specs aren’t accurate. Now let’s get technical here, 33” wide x 24” deep x 18” tall is 8.25 cubic feet. Let’s say it’s double walled all around now it’s 6.75 cubic feet with no bracing. Let’s pretend the port would only take up .75 cubes, it would have to be 50” long to tune it to 27 hz with 94 sq in of port area. That port alone would take up 2.7 cubic feet. Even a single 10” round port would have to be like 41” long. Going ported with this criteria and tuning doesn’t seem like the best way to go. Now sealed, you can get exactly what you want! Two SQL 15’s sealed in 2.5-3 cubes each will give you nice low end extension. Two adire tempest would be sweet but aren’t in stock

 

[Doxquzme Premium Member]

I would take all the graphs with a grain of salt as real world results can differ dramatically and many times the T/S specs aren’t accurate. Now let’s get technical here, 33” wide x 24” deep x 18” tall is 8.25 cubic feet. Let’s say it’s double walled all around now it’s 6.75 cubic feet with no bracing. Let’s pretend the port would only take up .75 cubes, it would have to be 50” long to tune it to 27 hz with 94 sq in of port area. That port alone would take up 2.7 cubic feet. Even a single 10” round port would have to be like 41” long. Going ported with this criteria and tuning doesn’t seem like the best way to go. Now sealed, you can get exactly what you want! Two SQL 15’s sealed in 2.5-3 cubes each will give you nice low end extension. Two adire tempest would be sweet but aren’t in stock

I've been using Pioneer Carrozzeria TS-T730's with Kappa 203s and CDT HD-6 MS's and just recently aquired CDT ES-1200is tweeters. The pios are remarkably smooth, no real fatigue at all. They can reach up to 96 khz. These CDT silks are one of the first that I think are nearly as pinpoint accurate as the alloy domes, bright, airy, accurate, really enjoying them. I'd say that cheap silks outshine cheap metals, but when you start getting up into the heavy hitters, Beryllium and ceramics are hard to beat with any silk that I've come across. Focal Be's are pretty amazing as are Accuton.

 

[djdilliodon!]

I've been using Pioneer Carrozzeria TS-T730's with Kappa 203s and CDT HD-6 MS's and just recently aquired CDT ES-1200is tweeters. The pios are remarkably smooth, no real fatigue at all. They can reach up to 96 khz. These CDT silks are one of the first that I think are nearly as pinpoint accurate as the alloy domes, bright, airy, accurate, really enjoying them. I'd say that cheap silks outshine cheap metals, but when you start getting up into the heavy hitters, Beryllium and ceramics are hard to beat with any silk that I've come across. Focal Be's are pretty amazing as are Accuton.

Told ya, those cdt tweets are the cats meow. The price was an absolute steal! Cheap metal domes are terrible, the cheapest metal dome I’ve heard that sound good was the lpg tweeters. I’ve had some aluminum tweeters back in the day by cdt that were also good. But some do like the brighter sound. I like the detail of metal domes but not that in your face type of sound they usually give. The es-1200is is a good compromise. Give you the smoothness and detail without the harshness or extreme brightness. Next you gotta try out the wide bands!

 

[Doxquzme Premium Member]

Told ya, those cdt tweets are the cats meow. The price was an absolute steal! Cheap metal domes are terrible, the cheapest metal dome I’ve heard that sound good was the lpg tweeters. I’ve had some aluminum tweeters back in the day by cdt that were also good. But some do like the brighter sound. I like the detail of metal domes but not that in your face type of sound they usually give. The es-1200is is a good compromise. Give you the smoothness and detail without the harshness or extreme brightness. Next you gotta try out the wide bands!

Absolutely, was quite surprised. They are very detailed indeed. Seas/Scan-Speak, Eton and old MB quarts made some really great sounding metal domes. THese days with the ability to tune out some of the metal domes riging chargastices, hard not to consider some of the real good ones. I really hope to own a pair of the Focal Utopia Be's someday, they are simply stunning!

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

A pair of American Bass Hawk 15s will slamm home as well. Just put in a pair in a good friends 02 T.Car in 7.0@31htz on a Cresendo Skyway 3k. Pretty impressive, and hits the lows with authority. Might take a look at those. I picked those up @ Audio Savings at a great price for the pair