Whats a decent "freeair" sub?

[1burns]

In the past I have always built custom enclosures for my subs but with this new vehicle I wanted to try a different route (at least different for me). I recently installed a pair of 12" MA Audio subs a friend of mine gave to me. MA12xe's to be exact powered by a 700wrms amp. I mounted them on a 1.5" mdf Board cut to fit and sealed tightly and completely dampened the entire trunk compartment including the rear deck. After tweaking the amp I am left very unimpressed to say the least. The 10" subs I have in my truck sound off a lot better than the 12's and thats even with less than half the power! I am sure this has alot to do with the IB design and the MA's having too small a Vas. That brings me to my question...... What subs work best in an IB installation? I am open to a pair of 12" or even 15". Not looking to spend a pile of dough just wanting some descent bottom end without taking up virtually any truck space. More efficient the better as I am not wanting to add extra batteries and altenator(s). Something nice but without going all out as I have in the past. Any suggestions would be helpful.

bout forgot.... trunk airspace after baffle installed 12.5 cu ft.

Thanx

1burns

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[1burns]

any suggestions.......................anyone?

 

[KingDiamond 10+ year member]

I used a set of two Kicker 8-inch subs a while back in a 1994 Mustang GT. I had them mounted on MDF that was mounted in the opening between the backseat and the trunk. I don't remember the model of the Kicker subs but they had a metal cone. With a 400W amp it was surprisingly loud and had good SQ. I have pictures of the setup somewhere and will post them if I find them.

 

[1burns]

Thanks, I had thought about going with the standard Kicker Comp 15's because of their large airspace requirements. just got alot of air to fill...

 

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

Maybe try the Fi IB sub? Ive always liked all his other subs, I dont see why this would be any different.

 

[Chrispy 10+ year member]

Dayton IB 15 maybe... Single 8 ohm though.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Acoustic Elegance has a very nice line of infinite baffle drivers. Image Dynamics also has many drivers suitable for the task.

 

[pickup1 5,000+ posts]

people here hate ed,but i heard 2 16ov.2's in a sentra off 800 watts and it pounded....

just my $.02!

 

[codycr6 10+ year member]

Look for subs with a Qts of between .5 and .7, a below 40Hz, and a nice long x-max. Power handling really isn't that big of a deal as you will still run out of mechanical excursion well before you get to any big power requirements. The above mentioned Dayton IB driver will sound very thick down low when you factor in cabin gain... it will be louder on the extreme low end, but not accurate for most music. I currently use four 10 inch subs with a Qts of .67, Fs of 32Hz... don't remember the X-max off the top of my head. I only use 50 watts per driver and I don't really feel the need for more power. Look into the Image Dynamics IDMAX line of drivers for some ideas.