Sundown vs American bass

[mrpep]

My nephew is in a car club and his club is big on American bass. I can't say I've ever messed with them but they swear by them , the crazy thing is they didn't seem familiar with sundown at all and to be honest I had never heard of sundown till I met this forum.

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[UsAmpsFreak]

I make a 2 hour drive weekly and like to play my music a full tilt the whole time can the XLF handle that because i blow the voice coil on a 12 in Type r at 500 watts from this.

The power you were running isn't why you blew them. YOu blew them because you don't know the limits of your equipment. Don't clip the amp and you'll be fine.

 

[UsAmpsFreak]

Is it not better to under power sub as long as you're not distorting the amp instead of over powering the sub?The MRX-M100 at 2 ohms produces 1100 Watts RMS per the certification.

No, actually it's the opposite. It's better to have more power than the sub needs to give yourself some headroom rather than to have less power than it needs because you're much more likely to clip and distort the smaller amp. But obviously if you clip the bigger amp the same thing will happen.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Forcing the amp to make more power than it can actually make and overstressing the amp can easily distort the signal going to the subs. The reason why the type R blew is purely user error based not overpowering. Basically you expected more output than the amount of power you had could give and you overdrove the amp which distorted the signal it sends to the sub which causes the sub to build more heat and eventually die. If you had more power overhead with a bigger amp, you wouldnt need to drive the amp as hard and the signal would be clean. This is why most of us overpower our subs, we dont need to push it to the max and stress the amp while ensuring we get maximal output and our subs stay cool and do not blow. A clean signal generates way less heat than a clipped signal.

 

[UsAmpsFreak]

Yea! What ^^^^^^ said.....

 

[bullshit8421]

Money is a little tight right now, I'm working two jobs and in college that is why i have to use a prefab box since they are cheaper but i like a good sub for stress release. Thanks for the clarification on clipping I've had trouble figuring that out but i know i didn't clip the type r because my amp was at the nominal power setting so i was no where near over driving the amp it actually stayed relatively cool compared to when i had 5 speakers hooked to my power acoustic 2500.5

All this advice has been great and i bet the sundown x series is a killer sub with a big boom but it sounds like the XLF is more what I'm looking for since it sounds like you need a lot more than what i have or can get to use the X series or the HD. Thanks again guys this was extremely helpful!

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Money is a little tight right now, I'm working two jobs and in college that is why i have to use a prefab box since they are cheaper but i like a good sub for stress release. Thanks for the clarification on clipping I've had trouble figuring that out but i know i didn't clip the type r because my amp was at the nominal power setting so i was no where near over driving the amp it actually stayed relatively cool compared to when i had 5 speakers hooked to my power acoustic 2500.5
All this advice has been great and i bet the sundown x series is a killer sub with a big boom but it sounds like the XLF is more what I'm looking for since it sounds like you need a lot more than what i have or can get to use the X series or the HD. Thanks again guys this was extremely helpful!

actually a custom ported box is easily built. Just use these free design and cutsheets. A sheet of mdf, wood glue and screws and some caulk. 45 dollars total and you have something that actually is worth a d@mn. Prefabs limit any potential your subs ever had. Basically only tapping into 30% of the sub with a prefab no matter how much power you slap on it.

Any of the 2 cubic feet to 2.5 cubic feet box designs can work.

http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f40/official-free-ported-box-plans-56k-no-435910/

BTW, almost all prefabs lie about their specs. More than likely your box is more in the 1.3 cubic feet range tuned a lot higher OR it has horribly ineadequate port area. Either way any sub in it would be pretty suffocated and pigeonholed with output and sound quality.

Building the box is not that hard. Have the guys at home depot/lowes cut the wood, take it home, glue and screw. Borrow a jigsaw from a relative and cut the hole and viola, you have the most important aspect in ANY subwoofer system all done and ready. The enclosure is basically where all output and sound quality comes from. If you cheap out on it. You can have the most expensive subs in the world and the most expensive amp in the world and you will get garbage sound and output out of it.

About clipping, The varying bass levels in each song can drive you past your clipping point too. Some songs have stronger bass than other songs which affects the pre-out voltage from the head unit. Speaking of head units, the head unit settings can clip the signal too. You can definitely kill and clip a sub to death before the amp gets hot.

 

[bullshit8421]

I know my box is crap but my set up is just a work in progress right now and right now i need a subwoofer since i don't have one anymore. I just buy things for it when I'm stressed, have the money and time, and need something to tinker with so I will slowly work my way around to the box probably going to get an aftermarket alternator next since my stock one is only 90 amps(but d@mn mazda 6 alts are expensive)

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

just for reference i liked the american bass hd i had. it performed fin and took power like a champ. i had mine in a 2 cube at 32hz box on about 3500w rms daily for about a year before i took it out and sold it.

and talking about over powering subs i had a pair of kicker comp 10s rated at 150w at piece on 1200w in my silverado for about 6months without any problem because they where in the proper box with a proper amp setting. not the loudest system i had but it was one of the best sounding. though i think i got mostly lucky with having the right box for these subs.

i also had a dd 2510a in about 1500w daily back in my high school days and it only broke because i like the idiot i was at the time tried to play decaf music in what was pretty much a burp box. needless to say the spiders separated from the coil and that ended the sub but when i pull the coil out its not burnt i can prove that.

my most recent system i was tinkering with was an eclipse 8122dvc a 500w sub in a 2 cube at 32hz box on a cheap bestbuy kicker 1200w amp and you know what it works flawlessly even though it is overpowered

ok im done with my rant

and to answer the question you started with you need to set goals because in a cheap prefeb the sundown x series will play lower than the rest due to lower fs stats and higher xmax but without the power to push it right it might not be the loudest considering the box is on the small side and invariably tuned to the high 30 or low 40hz range.

which all will sound like poop in a crummy enclosure.

i say get an sa12 and spend the rest of the money on a custom box

 

[bullshit8421]

I went with the American Bass XLF. It sounded like the better one for the setup i have now and was a great price on sonic electronics. Thank you all for the advice on what i need to change next before I go any bigger.

 

[mrpep]

My nephew is in the car scene out here in Chicago , belongs to car club and all that and these young bucks aren't familiar with sundown. They are big fans of American bass for some reason, when I showed my nephew my sundowns he didn't even know what they were? I will be honest , I didn't know what they were either till I met this forum.

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[Ripz4dayz]

Witch subwoofer is better , im looking to get 2 ,12s of eithe one but i dont know witch it get , amarican bass xd 1222 or 1244 , or sundown audios e series v.4 ? Help lol id like to know from people that have used them

 

[dragon.breath 10+ year member]

You will get better answers if you start your own thread. This one is from 2015.

 

[Psi_optima12]

So I've narrowed my selection of what i want down to a sundown sa-12, sundown x series 12, or an american bass XFL1244, or an american bass 12 D1. I will be running which ever one i get off an Alpine MRX-M110 at 2 ohms. Does any one have some experience with these or just an opinion that might help me decide which one is better. I do not compete i just like to have loud bass you can feel

Update: I also should probably add that i will be using a prefab 1.7cu. ft. box tuned to 33hz

The sundown x series are beasts I had a xv2 15 and that thing loved the lows I had it tuned to 30 hz and it peaked at 28 , it played down to 18 hz but couldn’t play any higher than 38ish hz definitely will take the power you give it and more