Resonance Frequency of 33.5Hz a bit high for a 15"?

[RSDXzec 10+ year member]

I've been looking at the SSA DCONs lately and I've always though that generally the bigger the sub, that the lower notes it can hit. But the specs for these have the resonance frequency for the 12" sub as 28.1Hz but the 15" sub as 33.5Hz.

DCON Series Sub Woofer

Isn't this a bit high for a 15"?

Would the 12" sub sound better than the 15" because it can hit lower notes? I will be running one of these in a sealed enclosure and I'm trying to get the best sq. I know the 15" will be able to displace more air but would this be at the expense of sound quality?

Cheers.

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[Moble Enclosurs 10+ year member]

Not at all. Resonant frequencies have little to do with response output or pressure output and intensity. That specific driver works best in a small chambered ported design or, if calculated, may shine in other non-conventional designs.

 

[RSDXzec 10+ year member]

Not at all. Resonant frequencies have little to do with response output or pressure output and intensity. That specific driver works best in a small chambered ported design or, if calculated, may shine in other non-conventional designs.

ah ok, awesome, what kind of difference would I notice then with a higher resonant frequency? (from your post it's clear to me I don't know anything on this topic).

Everyone on here says ported is the way to go, the only issue for me is I'm trying to build a box under 10.5" tall, which is why I'm going sealed. I'f I could find a good ported design under 10.5" for this driver I'd probably make one. I have about 24"x32"x10.5" trunk space to work with.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

ah ok, awesome, what kind of difference would I notice then with a higher resonant frequency? (from your post it's clear to me I don't know anything on this topic).Everyone on here says ported is the way to go, the only issue for me is I'm trying to build a box under 10.5" tall, which is why I'm going sealed. I'f I could find a good ported design under 10.5" for this driver I'd probably make one. I have about 24"x32"x10.5" trunk space to work with.

You really can't base much on just Fs. You should look for a sub that is designed to perform well in a small-ish sealed box and ignore specs. A reliable companies engineers will reccomend a correct application.

 

[Moble Enclosurs 10+ year member]

ah ok, awesome, what kind of difference would I notice then with a higher resonant frequency? (from your post it's clear to me I don't know anything on this topic).Everyone on here says ported is the way to go, the only issue for me is I'm trying to build a box under 10.5" tall, which is why I'm going sealed. I'f I could find a good ported design under 10.5" for this driver I'd probably make one. I have about 24"x32"x10.5" trunk space to work with.

as hispl said, resonance does not control response. But I could make it fit as long as the drivers mounting depth is below 9". Just have to be careful on how close it would be. Would you consider purchasing a design for it that would make it work? Sealed or not, the sub plays well in either from what I have seen. But the good thing is, its likely based on specs, that it requires a small volume even ported. Want to find out for sure, just pm me. I'll check everything out.

 

[RSDXzec 10+ year member]

You really can't base much on just Fs. You should look for a sub that is designed to perform well in a small-ish sealed box and ignore specs. A reliable companies engineers will reccomend a correct application.

ok, well the dcon 15" is made for a fairly large sealed box 3-4cuft but it should work in a 2-3cuft aswell according to the site. And I'm glad the Fs doesn't matter much, as I'm pretty much set on this sub and can't find anything bad about it (except for that spec).

as hispl said, resonance does not control response. But I could make it fit as long as the drivers mounting depth is below 9". Just have to be careful on how close it would be. Would you consider purchasing a design for it that would make it work? Sealed or not, the sub plays well in either from what I have seen. But the good thing is, its likely based on specs, that it requires a small volume even ported. Want to find out for sure, just pm me. I'll check everything out.

the drivers mounting depth is 8.5". I would consider buying a box if I was in the US, but being overseas postage would be a pain for me which is why I'll probably build it myself. Going off the recommended box sizes on the ssa website it looks to me that this sub requires a fairly large box, so I don't know how you would plan on running it on a smaller box.

 

[Moble Enclosurs 10+ year member]

Oh, no problem. I don't have to build it, I can design it for you instead and send the blueprints through email if you are interested. Also, I recently posted a reply somewhere else I believe about this same driver, that I calculated the required sealed volume as less than 2.5 cubic ft.

And ported, I calculated anywhere from 1.22-3.75 cubic ft. I do not use manufacturer specs. They are not good to use for box tuning and volume.

And by the looks of your dimensions, you have around 4 cubic ft to spare total. I can see it working. Just a thought for you.

 

[jolly_26 10+ year member]

^^ He's legit; unless you enjoy doing a whole lot of research into the calculations behind it, followed by a fair bit of trial and error, just pay Mobile Enclosures to do it, especially if you have unusual dimensions.

Also, hello Aussie, good to someone else from the southern hemisphere on here. Where in Aus do you live?

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

From my experience sealed boxes are VERY forgiving if you're not 100% on calculations. Provided your seems are tight and it is well braced against flexing you would barely notice as much as 30% varience in box volume. The biggest factor will be accoustics of your car combined with location and aiming of the sub in that "room". SSA makes a solid product. I don't think you'd be disappointed.

 

[RSDXzec 10+ year member]

^^ He's legit; unless you enjoy doing a whole lot of research into the calculations behind it, followed by a fair bit of trial and error, just pay Mobile Enclosures to do it, especially if you have unusual dimensions.
Also, hello Aussie, good to someone else from the southern hemisphere on here. Where in Aus do you live?

Yeah, I'm more the learning type, I'm really interested in learning how it all works atm so that is my current approach, and yes I agree he does seem to know what he's doing. I am up in North Queensland, so a fair distance away from NZ lol.

From my experience sealed boxes are VERY forgiving if you're not 100% on calculations. Provided your seems are tight and it is well braced against flexing you would barely notice as much as 30% varience in box volume. The biggest factor will be accoustics of your car combined with location and aiming of the sub in that "room". SSA makes a solid product. I don't think you'd be disappointed.

Awesome, yeah I'm really looking for an improvement over my 12" kenwood sub and I haven't been able to find anything bad about SSA lol. Making a sealed box seems easy enough, although I am considering my options and looking into how difficult it would be to make a ported enclosure instead.

Cheers.

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

Just an FYI, all of those specs you see are measured while the sub is free airing (not in a box). While the FS may apply to the sub if you run it in an infinite baffle setup, once you put it in a sealed or ported box all of those specs change

 

[RSDXzec 10+ year member]

Just an FYI, all of those specs you see are measured while the sub is free airing (not in a box). While the FS may apply to the sub if you run it in an infinite baffle setup, once you put it in a sealed or ported box all of those specs change

sweet, yeah I definitely won't be running it in an IB setup.