Terrible problem

[Burkie81]

So I have an alpine sa60m amplifier new and a new Rockford fosgate p3d412 wired to 2 ohms to match the amplifier both having 600 rms 2 ohms ratings, this said, maybe the sub is just weak, but for 200$ I expected to feel the sub and at best you only hear it and the occasional rattle and then it pops, so I run back to turn down the gain a little and when its " set properly " its non-existent. Extremely irritated. Been following other threads for a week with no positive result. I see videos of the sub review on YouTube and the p3 is shacking the whole car sometimes, but mine is a waste of good materials then. Someone please tell me what your insight might be and one the problem might be. I'm in a 2008 Mazda 3, it's grounded well, powered well, 2 guage wire, the amp never shuts off, the sub just pops and I want to push it way harder but can't. The amp does have a "preamp" set of RCA's, will buying a preamp fix my problem or not ? Anything helps

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[shredder2]

So I have an alpine sa60m amplifier new and a new Rockford fosgate p3d412 wired to 2 ohms to match the amplifier both having 600 rms 2 ohms ratings, this said, maybe the sub is just weak, but for 200$ I expected to feel the sub and at best you only hear it and the occasional rattle and then it pops, so I run back to turn down the gain a little and when its " set properly " its non-existent. Extremely irritated. Been following other threads for a week with no positive result. I see videos of the sub review on YouTube and the p3 is shacking the whole car sometimes, but mine is a waste of good materials then. Someone please tell me what your insight might be and one the problem might be. I'm in a 2008 Mazda 3, it's grounded well, powered well, 2 guage wire, the amp never shuts off, the sub just pops and I want to push it way harder but can't. The amp does have a "preamp" set of RCA's, will buying a preamp fix my problem or not ? Anything helps

P3-12d4 enclosed how?
sealed box it sounds like

 

[Burkie81]

P3-12d4 enclosed how?
sealed box it sounds like

Yes it is sealed!

 

[Bobbytwonames 5,000+ posts]

Yes it is sealed!

Get that thing ported and tuned correctly. Make sure your wiring is tight and grounded properly.

 

[Burkie81]

Get that thing ported and tuned correctly. Make sure your wiring is tight and grounded properly.

Okay I just went threw and redid the wiring and made sure my jumpers were tight with the wires to the amp, how would I go about ported a box correctly ??

 

[Burkie81]

Ported enclosure calls for 1.79 cubic feet so gonna order something like that soon

 

[Burkie81]

Ordering a 1.83 sound ordannance box off crutchfield to make sure I get it rigbt, the box I have I think is sealed and only 1 cubic feet, do you think going from sealed to ported and adding .83cubic feet will make a big enough difference it'll be noticeable ?

 

[shredder2]

Ordering a 1.83 sound ordannance box off crutchfield to make sure I get it rigbt, the box I have I think is sealed and only 1 cubic feet, do you think going from sealed to ported and adding .83cubic feet will make a big enough difference it'll be noticeable ?

It might suffice for added output in the 40-50hz range and make you happy, which one did you get?
S/O prefabs are just that... prefabs with higher tuning and mass produced, building a custom design for that P3-12 eventually should really make a difference. That S/O enclosure is probably nowhere near this size...

1.65ft3 net after displacements... it's for a similar sub and made a big difference over sealed.

 

[Burkie81]

It might suffice for added output in the 40-50hz range and make you happy, which one did you get?
S/O prefabs are just that... prefabs with higher tuning and mass produced, building a custom design for that P3-12 eventually should really make a difference. That S/O enclosure is probably nowhere near this size...

1.65ft3 net after displacements... it's for a similar sub and made a big difference over sealed.

How much would this cost to build And what materials would I use ? Also how do you get it to "tune" to a certain hz

 

[Burkie81]

 

[shredder2]

How much would this cost to build And what materials would I use ? Also how do you get it to "tune" to a certain hz

Port area in a certain volume tunes an enclosure, It's best to learn to model any enclosure on your power but with only a 600rms amp @ 2 ohm in a sealed enclosure... I'd expect noticeable gains even with a prefab... just not great low-lows.

omg...

View attachment 21167

I thought so... lol... yep... that thing sells and might bang (or maybe not?) but not dig well. The cost to DIY a single 12 enclosure is $40-$50 in materials, as long as you have basic tools (jigsaw, screwgun)... any big box home improvement store can usually make the larger basic cuts, so assembly and cutting the hole shouldn't be too hard.

 

[Burkie81]

Ugh well I'll write my finding once I get the s/o hopefully it's enough that I'm not still terribly disappointed as I have been with the output up to this point lol

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

I have the same model sub only in the 10" version... it slams pretty good on a Prime 1200-1D @ 2ohms. Ported Pre-Fab enclosure... for now. Your 12" should be moving some air for sure. Something ain't stirring the Cool-Aid.

It sounds silly but pull the sub out of the box and triple check that the wiring is like this pic.

 

[Burkie81]

I have the same model sub only in the 10" version... it slams pretty good on a Prime 1200-1D @ 2ohms. Ported Pre-Fab enclosure... for now. Your 12" should be moving some air for sure. Something ain't stirring the Cool-Aid.

Wouldn't your 1200 be way to strong for a p 10?

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Wouldn't your 1200 be way to strong for a p 10?

Nah, it's at 2ohms. I am lucky if it is seeing 400- 500w on music.