sub suggestions? new setup.

jmw703
10+ year member

Junior Member
Ok, so im getting rid of my 2 12 kicker cvrs as i was unimpressed with them. I was running them ported and i know they werent in a very good box which was probably the reason i didnt like them, but i know they arent SQ subs anyways. One major gripe i had with them is that they really could only hit mid-low notes (which honestly didnt sound all that great), highish low notes sounded like garbage. I always resorted to putting the back seats down so it sounded better but that got annoying after a while and still didnt sound great.

Anyways i got a new car.. 99 camry to a 08 mazda 3 sedan so i decided not to install the kickers but to change setups.

Im looking to downsize to a single 12, my budget is 200

heres what i know i want:

ill be running it off a hifonics brz1200.d 600rms @ 4 ohms so 5-600 rms sub would probably be best.

I want good SQ and also to be able to get decently loud.

I listen to various types of music. (dubstep, drum and bass, rap, rock, heavy metal, alternative) Mainly heavy rock/metal and dubstep/drum and bass. So whatever i get, its crucial that it sounds good with most types of music.

I would prefer to run sealed as i want to feel the bass especially from heavy bass breakdowns, drops, and double bass pedals in metal.

I hate boomy, and i hate "one note wonder" setups, i know a properly made ported box can fix this but i havent had a chance to hear one for myself.

As of right now ive been looking at an SA-12 and a type r.

Im open to suggestions, im not really very experienced with car audio so feel free to enlighten me.

 
Sundown sa 12, dc level 3, skar vvx 12 or something like, heard a aq hdc2.5 the other day, all those r really good choices and I think their all under 200 and will handle 1200 if its not clipping and gains not all the way up, the sa 12 would probly last the longest, could make ur budget 300 and find some really good ones, checkout, just look around. Edit: fi q and audioque hdc3 are under 300, fi q sounds amazing a gets really loud, hdc3 probly gets louder but sounds decent, hope that helps, always have a good box

 
All those will sound good sealed and yes their all underrated, I would save a little and get the fi q, its the best for sq I've heard, sa 12 sounds good sealed too, haven't heard any of the others sealed, but yeah, the fi q will be loud and sound good doing it

 
1 bl 12 in a ported box 2.2 cubes ported to 30hz and you will have brutal lows itll cost a lil more but if u save for a bit longer itll be a hell of a choice. otherwise a skar in the same box will do very well

 
Sa-12 ported tuned to 30-35 hz will give you exactly what you're looking for. Get the d2 version and wire it down to 1 ohm. That amp should put out about 1k wrms at 1 ohm which will be perfect. I have an sa-15 tuned to 34 hz on 1100 wrms and it's pretty nasty. Sunroof flex and some ear pain on the low notes. When the bass drum hits on heavy metal, I can feel my hair blow forward slightly. I usually don't turn it up all the way because it gets kinda violent. The only downside to it is the crazy amount of rattle, and the fact that I can't really hear the music. Make sure you get deadener. If you want the highish bass that your cvrs didn't provide, you will probably need to go sealed which I don't recommend you'd lose so much output and I don't know of many good subs that work well sealed. A dcon might be ok and a w6 would be good for sq but the price is outrageous.

 
SA's and Fi's for SQ? I don't know... Love em' both and I'm probably going to get ragged on for it but my suggestion would be JBL. Get a P1222, throw it in a nice custom box (ported) and you'll have all the SQL goodness you need. Just cause you haven't heard ported doesn't mean you won't like it.

 
Definitely go with ported. I had 2 8w3s in a prefab ported enclosure that was very boomy and couldn't hit a low. I thought, well ported must **** so I put them in a sealed. It sounded a lot better. Then I tried putting them in a custom built ported enclosure tuned to 35 hz, it was much louder, hit the lows much better, and even sounded better. However, the high bass was compromised, but I could care less.

 
I'm not really trying to run over 1000 rms to my woofer alone, after I add an amp for my speakers I wanna keep my total system wattage around 1000-1100.

That being said if I ran that amp at 2 ohms (which is probably around 750-800 rms if I had to guess) what would be the best choice between the skar vvx, dc level 3 and the sa12 ?

I guess I'll go ported tuned around 33hz. I'll get a perfectly built box.

 
Ok, so im getting rid of my 2 12 kicker cvrs as i was unimpressed with them. I was running them ported and i know they werent in a very good box which was probably the reason i didnt like them, but i know they arent SQ subs anyways. One major gripe i had with them is that they really could only hit mid-low notes (which honestly didnt sound all that great), highish low notes sounded like garbage. I always resorted to putting the back seats down so it sounded better but that got annoying after a while and still didnt sound great.
Anyways i got a new car.. 99 camry to a 08 mazda 3 sedan so i decided not to install the kickers but to change setups.

Im looking to downsize to a single 12, my budget is 200

heres what i know i want:

ill be running it off a hifonics brz1200.d 600rms @ 4 ohms so 5-600 rms sub would probably be best.

I want good SQ and also to be able to get decently loud.
I can't comment on SQ but both are supposed to be good. Both are supposed to have very flat symmetric BL curve. The sundown has a flat symmetric le curve, and low distortions (These specs/test results are not available for Type-R as of now). These should sound good in a right box. The Sundown SA-12 subwoofer has pretty low sensitivity in a sealed box, but it has reasonable qtc of around 0.7 in a 0.9cu ft box. I don't know about its thermal limits, but excursion will no exceed its xmax until it sees about 1000watts. But then again, due to the sensitivity issue, at the point it would be about as loud as Alpine Type-R in a sealed box (1.2 cu ft or so) and seeing only 600watts. If you want to run your amplifier at 4ohms, I'd take the Type-R. If you can wire for 2ohm load, it's a toss up. I'd take Sundown SA12 D4, because it has lower qtc in a small sealed box, which is valuable in a compact car and wire the amp for 2ohm load. This will probably call for a solid electrical system. At least 4awg power wire running to the distribution blocks, and the big 3 upgrade is recommended. Run it sealed and see how it goes. If you don't like it, you could always try out ported. If your car has a weak alternator, then stick with amp wired for 4ohms and use the Alpine Type-R in sealed box or Sundown in ported box.

 
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jmw703

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