New sub hates old enclosure, want to build my first box SWS-12d4

[fithwheel]

No in my car I just use an aux cord. & if you're asking about the headphones those aren't bluetooth either

Man stock hu and aux. No SQ going on there.  Dayton 408 dsp with a Bluetooth dongle bypass the hu 10 band parametric EQ per channel time alignment would be like a whole new stereo assuming you're amping your mids and highs

 

[strobe]

Man stock hu and aux. No SQ going on there.  Dayton 408 dsp with a Bluetooth dongle bypass the hu 10 band parametric EQ per channel time alignment would be like a whole new stereo assuming you're amping your mids and highs

Alright... I'm not about to spend as much as the head unit itself on wiring so I'm willing to sacrifice steering wheel controls & stock HUD w/ clock etc...

Looking at this one as it's got 22x4 rms to the door speakers (kenwood dpx303mbt)      or this single din at 18x4 (alpine ute 73bt)

Once I settle on a HU, I'll see if I can't come up with 2ft^3 for an enclosure & tune it around 32-35.

Appreciate your insight. I knew the stock HU was a limiting factor but didn't think it was that drastic as my last sub just sounded much better across the board with it.

 

[fithwheel]

Alright... I'm not about to spend as much as the head unit itself on wiring so I'm willing to sacrifice steering wheel controls & stock HUD w/ clock etc...

Looking at this one as it's got 22x4 rms to the door speakers (kenwood dpx303mbt)      or this single din at 18x4 (alpine ute 73bt)

Once I settle on a HU, I'll see if I can't come up with 2ft^3 for an enclosure & tune it around 32-35.

Appreciate your insight. I knew the stock HU was a limiting factor but didn't think it was that drastic as my last sub just sounded much better across the board with it.

If around 100 $ is your budget I'd consider a jvc kdx 360. 3 way crossover 4 volt outputs 

If that's not to your liking I wouldn't get either of the ones you picked out do to low voltage output on the pre outs. And the alpine only has a 3 band eq.

 

[strobe]

If around 100 $ is your budget I'd consider a jvc kdx 360. 3 way crossover 4 volt outputs 

If that's not to your liking I wouldn't get either of the ones you picked out do to low voltage output on the pre outs. And the alpine only has a 3 band eq.

Alright I didn't even look at the pre amp outputs. I'll search around with the eq band & 4v pre amp output as part of the criteria thank you

 

[Jcsaudio]

I ran that sub sealed and ported and tried it in different sized sealed and ported boxes. To me it doesn’t sound good in a large ported box, same with my SWS 10 too and it doesn’t like to be tuned below fs despite what people say or model for you. I tried low tunes on both. I also modeled it in Bassbox Pro in several configurations before trying them out. The SWS 10 sounds better ported than my SWS 12 but the SWS 12 sounds great in a 1 cubic foot to 1.4 cubic foot box sealed. It sounded ok in a 1.5 cubic foot ported box tuned to 35 Hz using a round precision flared port from Parts Express. This is taking into account my preferences for sound quality and cabin gain for my vehicle so in other words it’s all subjective. I however have tried a lot of different subwoofers and the SWS line are one of the better budget subwoofer for SQ in my opinion. 

 

[fithwheel]

I ran that sub sealed and ported and tried it in different sized sealed and ported boxes. To me it doesn’t sound good in a large ported box, same with my SWS 10 too and it doesn’t like to be tuned below fs despite what people say or model for you. I tried low tunes on both. I also modeled it in Bassbox Pro in several configurations before trying them out. The SWS 10 sounds better ported than my SWS 12 but the SWS 12 sounds great in a 1 cubic foot to 1.4 cubic foot box sealed. It sounded ok in a 1.5 cubic foot ported box tuned to 35 Hz using a round precision flared port from Parts Express. This is taking into account my preferences for sound quality and cabin gain for my vehicle so in other words it’s all subjective. I however have tried a lot of different subwoofers and the SWS line are one of the better budget subwoofer for SQ in my opinion. 

You must have quite a bit of cabin gain were did you add it at in bbp 50hz ? Looks at lot better closer to 40hz in a larger box. Never really know where someone's cabin gain comes in.

 I didn't think it was very efficient in the smaller box punchy but lacked a little on bass extension. Seems to me with a 500 watt amp it would benefit from being more efficient. Personally most of the time I go more towards efficiency. Much easier to tune things down with crossover points slope and eq vs trying to get more out of it. It's all give and take though and personal preference.

Can't imagine it being too great sealed seems from modeling very peaky and rolls off too soon but I guess if ya have a lot of cabin gain idk. Sealed a waste of time to me anyway lol.

I like the s line. The 15 is probably one of my favorites out of the subs I have right now. 

 

[Jcsaudio]

It’s in a CX5 (hatch) so yes decent cabin gain. Ported vs sealed are of course personal preferences. In my vehicles, both Toyota Sienna and CX5, the 10 was sloppy tuned at 26 Hz at first but great at 35 Hz. The 12 was sloppy ported in a 2.5 cubic foot box I made for my SA tuned to 33 Hz. (thought it was 2 cube so correction needed).

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

I had a pair of S12s but they were the 300w rms older generation. I put them in 3.7cf tuned around 38hz. I never heard them in a car, just hooked up to my ht. They sounded fairly good and kept up with ska and they weren't too boomy with rap. 

 

[strobe]

I ran that sub sealed and ported and tried it in different sized sealed and ported boxes. To me it doesn’t sound good in a large ported box, same with my SWS 10 too and it doesn’t like to be tuned below fs despite what people say or model for you. I tried low tunes on both. I also modeled it in Bassbox Pro in several configurations before trying them out. The SWS 10 sounds better ported than my SWS 12 but the SWS 12 sounds great in a 1 cubic foot to 1.4 cubic foot box sealed. It sounded ok in a 1.5 cubic foot ported box tuned to 35 Hz using a round precision flared port from Parts Express. This is taking into account my preferences for sound quality and cabin gain for my vehicle so in other words it’s all subjective. I however have tried a lot of different subwoofers and the SWS line are one of the better budget subwoofer for SQ in my opinion. 

What amp were you pushing it on & what's your preference in terms of music genre? Also did you notice any major differences in firing direction? I have a mazdaspeed 3 hatch so very similar to the cx. I'm torn between going ported for the extension (fithwheel shared some modeling w/ me to show the differences) vs a slimmish enclosure sealed to save cargo space. Another valid point fith mentioned was efficiency though, as I do only have an m500 mono amp.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Alright... I'm not about to spend as much as the head unit itself on wiring so I'm willing to sacrifice steering wheel controls & stock HUD w/ clock etc...

Looking at this one as it's got 22x4 rms to the door speakers (kenwood dpx303mbt)      or this single din at 18x4 (alpine ute 73bt)

Once I settle on a HU, I'll see if I can't come up with 2ft^3 for an enclosure & tune it around 32-35.

Appreciate your insight. I knew the stock HU was a limiting factor but didn't think it was that drastic as my last sub just sounded much better across the board with it.

Might want to save up for a proper head unit or skip the head unit completely and do the Dayton audio dsp + bluetooth dongle instead.  Those head units have sh*tty bluetooth 3.0 while the dayton dsp can be used as a head unit to get signal with 4.0 or apt X which is lossless quality no head unit in the equation just pure bluetooth from phone to DSP to amps.  The audio chip inside the dayton is far superior than the ones in the sub 100$ head unit range.  Get a pioneer gm 8604 for your door speakers and you'll get something that actually would resemble sound quality. Because right now sounds like an atrocity lol. 

Stock head units have low quality dacs meaning sh*t sound out of the box. You also have a built in factory EQ and crossover, the signal is not flat inherently and the bass is cut off after a certain point.  This is to over compensate and protect the low quality stock speakers they use.  LOC doesnt really help when there's no bass in the signal to amplify, all you can do is just boost to the point of distortion. The previous sub sounded better because its pretty much louder with a stronger motor and higher MMS and lower FS in the ts specs. With a proper signal your old subwoofer would have been enough to start hurting you from the bass.

My advice new box first, then save up for a complete signal processing and 

 

[Jcsaudio]

What amp were you pushing it on & what's your preference in terms of music genre? Also did you notice any major differences in firing direction? I have a mazdaspeed 3 hatch so very similar to the cx. I'm torn between going ported for the extension (fithwheel shared some modeling w/ me to show the differences) vs a slimmish enclosure sealed to save cargo space. Another valid point fith mentioned was efficiency though, as I do only have an m500 mono amp.

At first GTX500 Then Club 5501, and then a few times with an Infinity K1000. Ahh, I tried it with the RF Ti1500 once too, ha ha ha. The 500 watt amplifiers were plenty for this subwoofer. In my CX5 I get a little better bass with it against the hatch firing at the driver but 98% of that against the rear seat firing back at the tailgate. I listen to all kinds of music from heavy metal to rap and country. Also like the wife’s R&B at times too. 

If you want I can model some enclosures for you and if you are good with the tools I can send you cuts sheets for the box you want. If you go ported than get the Parts Express Precision Port, It’s worth it. I’d get the 4” port for that subwoofer and tune to 35 Hz. I still have the SWS 10 in my van in a ported box tuned to 35 Hz and that subwoofer sounds good. I’ve had everything from JL Audio wx through W3 series to MTX, FU Audio, Alpine, Sundown SD3, Sundown SA12, and now AudioFrog GB12. I can model the efficiency compared to something else but honestly with an SWS I wouldn’t weigh in on that too much. Designing and building the right box will make all the difference, then tuning, then box placement. For me I love the deep extension I get from a ported box but sometimes I do like sealed and I guess that is why I keep the SWS12 around because sometimes I feel like running sealed. 

 

[fithwheel]

All of thoes amps you listed do well over 500 watts I'd be surprised if the mvr got over 600. I've had that type s in the smaller box on a k600 well over 600 a t1000.5 only 600 least satisfying  K1000 it did the best on imo.

His current box he thinks is real close to 1.5 at 32hz. He needs to fix his signal then see how it does and go from there. 

You can make a port out of pvc doesn't take much of a flare provided you have enough port area. Not much precision involved in a round piece of plastic but I guess it's pretty. Simply round over the sharp edges with a router or even a file would work.   

 

[MattinMO]

If upgrading the head unit would be night/day difference paired with building a custom box compared with using the line out converter, I may consider it again as my itch for SQ has gotten worse over the years. Started with a pair of vmoda m100s then came the fiio a3 headphone amp... everything audio has been getting upgraded since.

Install a head unit in the glove box like it’s a classic car! 

 

[strobe]

Just ordered the JVC kdx350bts. Best buy has them on sale for $59.99! Going to get this head unit swapped out & see what difference having a real 4v pre amp hookup will make over the line out converter. Pending on my results with that I'll decide if I need to work out some more space for a bigger box. Either way still plan to build a box at the end of this, just not sure if I really want to go big for max output. If the new HU alone makes a massive impact I might even do a quick seal on the inside of my box now just to test how it sounds sealed (it's old & will end up in the trash soon anyways). With some scraps I could easily get the volume down around 1 ft^3 or so just to experiment

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

i think the jvc is actually only 2 volt pre-out, not an actual 4