Will these two setups sound similar?

[frans-c 10+ year member]

Hey, everyone! Please forgive me if my question has been answered elsewhere, but I'm currently using a GPRS cellphone connection, which is VERY slow. I did try a search or two, but it takes about 10 minutes just to open one thread. In any case...

I have a 2 cu. ft. sealed enclosure, with two 12" 800W (200W RMS) SVC 4-ohm subs. Amplifier gains are set according to my headunit's pre-out level (5V), so neither the amp nor subs are really strained (I'm more into SQ). First of all, I cannot figure at what impedance my subs are playing at. I have them hooked up to a class D mono-amp, with two sets of speaker terminals (+- +-). According to the amp's instructions, the amp's load is determined by the way that the subs are wired. It mentions nothing about bridging any of its channels to reduce the impedance. I have each sub wired to its own speaker terminal on the amp. My gut tells me that each amp is receiving a 4 ohm load. Am I right, or is it 2 ohms?

I built the enclosure myself, with a seperate chamber for each sub. Built it from 22 mm MDF. Needless to say, the things weighs more than a baby elephant and also takes up as much space! (I think I have the ideal weight distribution in my car now...)

This is my main question: If I replace these subs and enclosure with a 12" 1500W (380W RMS) DVC (4 + 4 ohm) sub in a 1.2 cu. ft. enclosure, can I expect similar performance as my current setup? Apart from the 20W difference in its rated output, what effect is the 0.8 cu. ft. difference between the two enclosures going to have?

The reason I'm not mentioning any components by name, is because here in South Africa, brands such as Sony (I don't have any) are regarded as very high quality... Although I'm more than satisfied with my current system, I don't think any of you guys will be impressed by it. I hope the above information is sufficient.

Hope somebody can shed some light on my query!

Frans Conradie

South Africa

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[psych0ticnemes1 5,000+ posts]

it would help us if you listed the make and model of your equipment

 

[mike dressure 10+ year member]

dont be ammbarrassed of your equipment...if someone say's something stupid ignore them....list your stuff so we can further help you.

 

[frans-c 10+ year member]

Alright! Here's the relevant equipment details:

Amplifier: Kenwood KAC-8152: 300W × 1 RMS @ 4 ohms, 550W × 1 RMS @ 2 ohms.

Subwoofers: Two Kenwood KFC-W3009: 12 inch, SVC, 200W RMS at 4 ohms, don't know how much at 2 ohms, each one in a 1 cu. ft. sealed enclosure.

I want to change to the following subwoofer: One KFC-W3514DVC: 12 inch, DVC, 380W RMS (probably 190W + 190W) at 4 ohms in a 1.2 cu. ft. sealed enclosure.

I didn't think these details would've been necessary for my question. But thanks a lot in any case. Any opinions? Will there be any difference in sound output between these two scenarios?

Frans