your thoughts on the baddest 2.5" coil 15's...

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Atomic has went down hill. There sub build quality isn't what it use to be... I know because my buddy had them OEM woofer for his company and they dropped the ball. There amps are top botch though.

top botched? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[shauncox26]

Atomic has went down hill. There sub build quality isn't what it use to be... I know because my buddy had them OEM woofer for his company and they dropped the ball. There amps are top notch though.

MSRP and lack of online retailers. Definitely high quality stuff though.


I saw a few 9518's in the classifieds here recently. May be worth a look. Nothing wrong with Incriminator either though.

Yes I have talked with this guy about his salvaged cone assembly and I may just get it and a basket and build me a 9518g if I do I'll have to compare it to the death row and right a head to head review.

 

[macsdad 10+ year member]

Yes I have talked with this guy about his salvaged cone assembly and I may just get it and a basket and build me a 9518g if I do I'll have to compare it to the death row and right a head to head review.

Let me know how that IA 18 sounds dude. Simply loving my 18, especially I after I got the proper screws to mount it, it fell out of the box twice...lol.

 

[shauncox26]

Let me know how that IA 18 sounds dude. Simply loving my 18, especially I after I got the proper screws to mount it, it fell out of the box twice...lol.

Brother many you know you'll be the first. May have to make a trip to meet you and swap demos soon. I'm do for a road trip.

 

[macsdad 10+ year member]

Brother many you know you'll be the first. May have to make a trip to meet you and swap demos soon. I'm do for a road trip.

Come on over dude, wouldn't mind that at all. Just let me know.

 

[BCotrell 10+ year member]

Noob question I'm sure but there's seems to an odd disdain for "Chinese" vs American yet a lot of individuals who feel that way are willing to use Chinese and Korean amps to justify cost savings. Are American subs really that superior to justify the costs?

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Noob question I'm sure but there's seems to an odd disdain for "Chinese" vs American yet a lot of individuals who feel that way are willing to use Chinese and Korean amps to justify cost savings. Are American subs really that superior to justify the costs?

It's not just about where it's made. China has some nice stuff. When it comes to subs the US, Germany, Italy does very good. China, not so much

 

[mastershake575 10+ year member]

Are American subs really that superior to justify the costs?

I would say yes.
The big advantage that these american companies have (companies like Fi audio, Ascendant, SSA, Incriminator) is the amount of time/money they spend on research and development (there not using cookie cutter designs to make a quick buck). They use USA voice coils which can handle higher temperatures and the motors are built in house on most models (which means efficiency is high and it's a well balanced sub).

The parts they do important (spiders, basket, cone) are usually higher than average quality and quality control is near perfect since everything is assembled in house

 

[shauncox26]

Well some sad but fun news. The death row motors are out tell the end of November. So I didn't get the 18. I didn't want to sink more money in so I decided to keep with incriminator and I got 4 I series d2 12's and a ia10.1. All curtsey of @VertexAudio ; and incriminator. First impressions they are very beefy with zero time or money spent being flashy as with most entry level sub's. Going in a 8cuft~ @35hz enclosure with a 10" aero port going to use a sono tube at first to play with tuning while I save for a psycho port. And the good news is if I don't like them; I have a local already begging to buy them and a enclosure from me.

 

[shauncox26]

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

Hey guys got a new ride and will be doing a new setup soon enough. I want to get some ideas and thoughts on the multitudes of 2.5" coiled sub's out there. Please refrain from the typical he said she said if you haven't listened to the sub's your speaking on let's keep our keyboards shut. That being said I'm going with 2 15" sub's power will be a ia10.1 at .5ohm or a bc2k at 1 if I don't sell it. Looking for great bandwidth and the best output possible without upgrading my alt and adding multiple batteries, bigger amps and beefier sub's. Let's keep pricing to a respectable level 200+- a few dollars, and that's about it let's hear those thoughts. Oh and please no sound qubed or cheapo brands I want quality China trash like sa's and fu's typical hated on off the shelf bad boys.

my driver was built by JLD and they definitely aren't cheap or trash..

 

[Papermaker85 5,000+ posts]

Noob question I'm sure but there's seems to an odd disdain for "Chinese" vs American yet a lot of individuals who feel that way are willing to use Chinese and Korean amps to justify cost savings. Are American subs really that superior to justify the costs?

believe it or not almost all the parts come from china. I didn't think I would be impressed with the china buildhouse but I was wrong. ive had several American buildhouses do build for me as far as prototypes and I must say china is up there with the American buildhouses. the ONLY thing I had a problem with was the former and it was fixed.

 

[shauncox26]

I really only ment like the main stream brands sub's with huge plastic mag covers and the flashy lights and **** to attract newbs.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Noob question I'm sure but there's seems to an odd disdain for "Chinese" vs American yet a lot of individuals who feel that way are willing to use Chinese and Korean amps to justify cost savings. Are American subs really that superior to justify the costs?

Late to the party on this one, but yes. Precision Econowind (out of Florida) coils are the best that can be had, and generally in-house build quality is superior to what you get from 8 year old Chinese slave labor. I personally use American made cones and spiders as well. They're expensive and probably unnecessary if you're not doing extreme applications. Really all around if you plan to not grossly abuse things you're not going to really notice the difference.

The other issue I've heard a few reports on is the bait and switch, where China gives you a nice prototype then cheaps out somewhere in the production model. For example, getting a lower grade steel or ceramic magnet you'd never see the difference but performance would suffer. That said, the companies that are big enough to have the leverage over the buildhouses and have the means to keep a close eye on quality control can typically get a consistently solid product manufactured in the Far East.

You really need to take it on a case by case basis to be fair, but in general if you wanted to compete seriously you wouldn't be buying China tier woofers.

Oh, and good call on the IA. You never hear anything bad about their lineup.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

There are not many US amp builders. MMATs is the only one that's worth a ****.

ZED isn't doing to hot these days with quality or customer service. Zuki is almost impossible to get ahold of. Linear power is full of crap. We have Boland coming but he seems more worried about showing drawings then built amps that he's already pre sold. He seems full of crap also