SI mag power?

[Tonyguy 10+ year member]

Would a 12" SI mag sound good off of about 800 watts? I'm looking for SQ, but i occasionally like to turn it up?So is 800 enough or no? It would be powered off of a DLS a5 at 1ohm.

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[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

800 is plenty especially if ported. If your sealed you could easily go higher for daily.

 

[Tonyguy 10+ year member]

but with 800, would it sound underpowered?

 

[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

but with 800, would it sound underpowered?

depends on the install...best person to ask would the boys at stereo integrity....they have email links on their website, and usually get back to you in a 24 hours or so.

 

[skinnymofo 10+ year member]

i have my mag 12 in a 1.3 cube sealed atm with a d3 800.1 its sounds great

i switched it to my car which has only a RF p200.2 so i bridged that and it still sounds great. if you like it really loud youll probably want more, but the average listener would be happy id say.

 

[Tonyguy 10+ year member]

cool. Thanks.

 

[Tonyguy 10+ year member]

anybody else?

 

[King Alpha 10+ year member]

I'm running my Mag with 880 Watts and it sounds awesome (I don't think 80 watts less is going to be noticable to the ears, so my 880 watts should be about the same as your 800 watts) I have a ported box that's 2.5 cubic ft tuned to 32 hz. And the box is in the trunk of my car. It dosn't have any problems getting loud.

But, just to let you know, I'm not a basshead that upgrades every 6 months. My Mag was my first upgrade for my old pair of JL 12W6s that I had in a sealed box for close to ten years. The Mag beats the W6s, so it was a good upgrade and I'll probably keep the Mag for 10 years before upgrading again. So, since I do not have much experience with different types of subs, my definition of loud for a Mag, might not be loud to you. Just FYI.

 

[Tonyguy 10+ year member]

Thanks. Again, My priorities are sq. I want a sub that is tonally accurate with great transient response and the ability to play pretty low. Loudness is my last concern. But nevertheless, it is a concern, so i still want it to have some output. I would like to hear what some people who are using one as an sq sub think.

 

[sundownz Pro Seller]

Use a larger than normal box and 800 watts is PLENTY. The Mags like lower Qtc alignments and I always run them in bigger sealed boxes //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[TeoTorriatte 10+ year member]

but with 800, would it sound underpowered?

And what exactly does that mean? How does a sub 'sound underpowered'?

 

[Tonyguy 10+ year member]

well, when i had a type x, which is rated for 1k rms, i ran it off of a 400 watt kicker amp and it sounded like shit by all means. When i gave it about 900 watts with a different amp, it sounded gorgeous.

 

[TeoTorriatte 10+ year member]

well, when i had a type x, which is rated for 1k rms, i ran it off of a 400 watt kicker amp and it sounded like shit by all means. When i gave it about 900 watts with a different amp, it sounded gorgeous.

Was that because you were running lower than RMS power, or because you were running the 400W amp into clipping?
Running low power does not do anything to make a woofer sound bad... it just makes for less output. It's only when you reach the limits of a low powered amp that things sound bad... in which case it isn't the amps fault, but the guy controlling the volume knob.

 

[Tonyguy 10+ year member]

well thanks for the info. anyone else?

 

[thadman 10+ year member]

All things considered, go for the most efficient alignment that provides your desired frequency response (may result in some equalization), as less thermal wear on the driver is a GOOD THING in the long run. For your amp, sub, and electrical system. A ported alignment provides 6dB gain (equal to quadrupling amplifier power) around the tuning frequency, the trick for an SQ ported alignment is to contrast the predicted frequency response with the transfer function of your car so you don't end up with a giant peak in the frequency response. A larger sealed box also provides higher efficiency, but to less of a degree than a ported alignment.

The difference between 1200 watts and 800 watts (disregarding power compression) is 1.5dB, you will be fine. Power is logarithmic, you must double the power to achieve a 3dB increase. For reference, 10dB is the perceived doubling of loudness level.

As you can see, the first hundred watts are where all the magic happens. FYI Once you get into the hundred watt levels, you will undoubtedly run into power compression and the 3dB gain will be lower than predicted (significantly more so at higher levels of power).

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