Would like advice on this set up

[Water Bear]

Well I pulled the trigger on the SA 12 with level 2 enclosure. Can't wait to get it.

Spent some time last night reading up on gain, eq, volume, and bass boost, mostly using Wikipedia. Interesting stuff, but I still feel pretty ignorant.

Anyway I ran some tests in the car and my current set up is definitely too quiet. The sub either needs excess EQ or gain at normal listening levels to be heard, so an upgrade was in order. I don't want to have to back down my settings at high volume to avoid cooking my woofer.

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

Well I pulled the trigger on the SA 12 with level 2 enclosure. Can't wait to get it.
Spent some time last night reading up on gain, eq, volume, and bass boost, mostly using Wikipedia. Interesting stuff, but I still feel pretty ignorant.

Anyway I ran some tests in the car and my current set up is definitely too quiet. The sub either needs excess EQ or gain at normal listening levels to be heard, so an upgrade was in order. I don't want to have to back down my settings at high volume to avoid cooking my woofer.

i just ordered my box form roger today too.. our boxes will be close, mine is just 4" wider than yours but not as tall with rounded corners on inside and no carpet... keep gain low, bass boost and loudness off everywhere, sub will be fine.. let us know how sub sounds..

 

[Water Bear]

i just ordered my box form roger today too.. our boxes will be close, mine is just 4" wider than yours but not as tall with rounded corners on inside and no carpet... keep gain low, bass boost and loudness off everywhere, sub will be fine.. let us know how sub sounds..

Will do. My box just arrived and I literally just carried it back to my office. This thing is stout, man! I will unpack it and stick it in the trunk tonight. Woofer should be here by Wednesday at the latest but tracking indicates it might be here tomorrow.

Yours sounds pretty nice. How much extra did he want for the rounded corners? Also, what are you loading in yours? The FU 750 in your sig?

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

Will do. My box just arrived and I literally just carried it back to my office. This thing is stout, man! I will unpack it and stick it in the trunk tonight. Woofer should be here by Wednesday at the latest but tracking indicates it might be here tomorrow.
Yours sounds pretty nice. How much extra did he want for the rounded corners? Also, what are you loading in yours? The FU 750 in your sig?

yep 750.. i got him to give me a deal on it cause i spent so much time (days) "redoing" his boxes, like i said mine is kinda like yours just 4" wider 1" shorter with wider & longer port so i only end up with 2.06 cfad (cause my magnet so big) where as u will have 1.88.. + keep in mind i won't have carpet or terminals on mine so time wise they about the same.. the stage 3 with everything are normally pretty high but since i didn't get carpet came out about same as stage 2., here's stage 3 https://www.ebay.com/itm/STAGE-3-PORTED-SUBWOOFER-MDF-ENCLOSURE-FOR-SUNDOWN-SA12-SUB-BOX-/263177240753?hash=item3d469600b1:g:W6MAAOSwvfZZ6V5H&vxp=mtr

 

[Water Bear]

yep 750.. i got him to give me a deal on it cause i spent so much time (days) "redoing" his boxes, like i said mine is kinda like yours just 4" wider 1" shorter with wider & longer port so i only end up with 2.06 cfad (cause my magnet so big) where as u will have 1.88.. + keep in mind i won't have carpet or terminals on mine so time wise they about the same.. the stage 3 with everything are normally pretty high but since i didn't get carpet came out about same as stage 2., here's stage 3 https://www.ebay.com/itm/STAGE-3-PORTED-SUBWOOFER-MDF-ENCLOSURE-FOR-SUNDOWN-SA12-SUB-BOX-/263177240753?hash=item3d469600b1:g:W6MAAOSwvfZZ6V5H&vxp=mtr

Dude that's a nice enclosure. I was eyeballing those stage 3's but they're out of my budget. I guess it pays to be helpful.

Here are some pics of the package and then the enclosure itself.

Unboxing pic 1

Unboxing pic 2

The enclosure

As you can see, it's packaged incredibly well. There's probably 0.5-1" of additional packaging material on each side, including some heavy, stiff feeling pieces that cover the entire enclosure itself. You can bump the shipping container against a brick wall and it won't do squat to the enclosure itself.

Total weight was 30-40 lbs I'd guess, but the packaging material itself is probably 15 lbs so the enclosure is not as heavy as it seems at first. I had to use a hand truck to move it a quarter mile to my car.

Thing looks very sharp in person.

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

yeah the bracing is real "pretty" for something no one will see lol.. i had to have to hole in bracing enlarged to fit fu magnet through it.. which reminds me hope your sub fits in that cut out.. pretty sure sa needs 11 3/16 hole or 1/4 i had them cut mine that big.. u maybe happy until u try to mount sub and have to file hole bigger with rasp (i just did it with crap box min is in now must a been actual 1500 hits with rasp.. measure hole with tape, needs to be close to 11 1/4..

 

[Water Bear]

yeah the bracing is real "pretty" for something no one will see lol.. i had to have to hole in bracing enlarged to fit fu magnet through it.. which reminds me hope your sub fits in that cut out.. pretty sure sa needs 11 3/16 hole or 1/4 i had them cut mine that big.. u maybe happy until u try to mount sub and have to file hole bigger with rasp (i just did it with crap box min is in now must a been actual 1500 hits with rasp.. measure hole with tape, needs to be close to 11 1/4..

Hmm. Not sure if I'm happy or sad that you pointed that out. I looked it up and it says 11 1/8 cutout but the box opening is not that big...closer to 11". Yep, might be doing some cutting over the next few days...

Edit: It says on his eBay page the cutout is 11.02", and the SA-12 needs 11.125. Then in his feedback...yep someone says the box for the SA-12 has a cutout that's too small. Off to Home Depot for a rasp...

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

Hmm. Not sure if I'm happy or sad that you pointed that out. I looked it up and it says 11 1/8 cutout but the box opening is not that big...closer to 11". Yep, might be doing some cutting over the next few days...
Edit: It says on his eBay page the cutout is 11.02", and the SA-12 needs 11.125. Then in his feedback...yep someone says the box for the SA-12 has a cutout that's too small. Off to Home Depot for a rasp...

yeah u just need it a tad bigger probably, i got my file/rasp set like $8 at big lots but that was yrs ago.. file it a little all the way around and test sub., just keep doing it like that so u don't work any more than u have to + don't want hole to big..

 

[Water Bear]

Well it took about an hour of filing but the SA-12 finally fit. A bit tight, tho //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Just hooked it up and took it for a test drive. Much louder than the Polk 10, and surprisingly clean, too. Has good high frequency response as well (meaning 150-200 hertz to me). I was surprised.

It definitely wants more than 500 watts, though. Thinking of searching for a new amp next month.

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

Well it took about an hour of filing but the SA-12 finally fit. A bit tight, tho //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
Just hooked it up and took it for a test drive. Much louder than the Polk 10, and surprisingly clean, too. Has good high frequency response as well (meaning 150-200 hertz to me). I was surprised.

It definitely wants more than 500 watts, though. Thinking of searching for a new amp next month.

be glad to help u spend your $ lol.. break sub in with no bass boost.. also your lp xover should be set around 100hz (if u like alot of rock like me maybe 150)... sub will get louder in couple weeks of breakin time, don't rush it by turning sub up to hu or amp up to high and clipping amp..

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

How much for the Polk 10? I would of built a ported enclosure for it, about 1.5 cubes tuned to 35-38 Hz.

 

[Water Bear]

[quote name='Slo_Ride']How much for the Polk 10? I would of built a ported enclosure for it, about 1.5 cubes tuned to 35-38 Hz.[/QUOTE]

How much did I pay for it? I can't remember, I think like $150 or so. My Polk 10.

It was just too quiet. Gain was set at 3/4 (by DMM) and even so needed a ton of EQ to be heard.

@BOOMINGRANDPA good advice, I'll try to break it in slowly. My HU has bass boost (aka bass EQ) settings from +1 to +6 and at +1 it's about as loud as the Polk was with a huge amount of boost. I'll turn off the bass boost until I get a new amp.

Edit: By the way I'm looking at some Zapco Studio-x series amps. They have some pretty good deals on Woofersetc. Check this one out. That's 950 watts at 2 ohm (my SA-12 is dual 4 ohm) for $300. Pretty good deal for a brand like that.

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

Well it took about an hour of filing but the SA-12 finally fit. A bit tight, tho //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
Just hooked it up and took it for a test drive. Much louder than the Polk 10, and surprisingly clean, too. Has good high frequency response as well (meaning 150-200 hertz to me). I was surprised.

It definitely wants more than 500 watts, though. Thinking of searching for a new amp next month.

no he was asking if u would sell polk to him...

 

[Water Bear]

[quote name='BOOMINGRANDPA']no he was asking if u would sell polk to him...[/QUOTE]

Oh haha maybe.
@Slo_Ride I'm not sure if I'm going to sell it yet. It takes up much less space than the SA, so I might still use it when I need to carry cargo. Do you want the enclosure with it? Sounds like you would make your own.

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

[quote name='Water Bear']Oh haha maybe.
@Slo_Ride I'm not sure if I'm going to sell it yet. It takes up much less space than the SA, so I might still use it when I need to carry cargo. Do you want the enclosure with it? Sounds like you would make your own.[/QUOTE]
just sub i'm sure shipping kills now..