kcducttaper

First off, here are my goals for a stereo system:

- crisp and well defined, but not harsh (tweeter)
- smooth across the entire range (head unit, amps, and speakers)
- fast, accurate bass for the double-kick stuff (subs)
- solid bass response down to at least 40, if not 30-35 Hz
- doesn't have to be stupid loud, just nice and solid

With that out of the way, I had been tinkering with designing and building my own shop speakers and came across these 5 1/4" subwoofers and their bigger brother the 6 1/2" sub. On paper (and per the reviews) they emulate a much bigger speaker fairly well, yet are small enough to hit the fast notes and only need .5 cubic feet for a vented box (some people get good results with a smaller box). It occurred to me to get a pair of these guys and hide them under the seats or something rather than taking up trunk space. Thoughts?

devestator_x

iTrader: (1)

If I were looking for a small enclosure sub and had .5 ft^3 to play with, I'd go with one of these and call it done... Sundown Audio E8v3

http://www.sundownaudio.com/index.ph...v2-series.html

I have seen many, many youtube videos of these subs and they pound. Most guys are running multiples of these and produce both accurate bass and LOW bass, like easily down to 30 and lower. They also will take a ton of power. There is a test video on Youtube from Jacob Fuller, the president of Sundown Audio destroying a 10" E Series sub, just to show what it really takes to blow one up. They are rated for 500w in a ported enclosure. Well it finally blew after running for 10 minutes at close to double the rated power without an enclosure to help buffer the driver.

I know you said you werent looking for stupid loud, and even just one of these might be a little too much, but it's always better to have too much than not enough. But if it were me, I'd build a small box and put it in the rear in either the spare tire well or behind the lock box on the drivers side that way you dont lose any storage.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

i wonder if you could fit a .5 cuft box in the rear sail. those 6x9 arent doing that much being behind you any way

The Project

iTrader: (6)

I'm a HUGE fan of the Sundown SA 8's

Sealed or ported, they sound great

http://www.sundownaudio.com/index.ph...sa-series.html

kcducttaper

Thanks for the linky. Those things seem pretty beastly! I'll have to keep my eye on them when my build comes around.

pauly01

iTrader: (1)

Sundown is great. Never used them. I do use Soundstream. The Rubicon, Picasso or Tarantula series will work well. The Reference series are great in bass response. Fast and articulate. Fast double bass is great listening to Megadeth and August Burns Red. The higher models are geared toward high SPL and not much for SQ. Massive Audio is another good brand. I have the older CW-10. 2 10s hit as hard as 12s. But they are SPL style subs. Not very articulate.

For a head unit, find whatever is in your price range with the features you want. I use a ~10 yr old Panasonic Ghost Face. They don't make them anymore. Maybe find one used.

Tweeters (don't laugh). Power Acoustik NB-1. I had 3 sets (6 total) in a 1983 TA. They were very silky smooth. I'm sure there are others out there just as well. But I am sticking with these on my current build. The music is crisp and clear 4 vehicles ahead without distortion.

Amps? I have a Hifonics Brutus BRZ1200.1D class D to push my Soundstream RW-12 subs. I would say get a Soundstream, Earthquake or RE to name a few. Soundstreams are like the old school Autotek (Don't buy the new Autotek or Crunch). Hifonics is fine on a budget. But you would like the Soundstream Rubicon if you are wanting accurate music reproduction.

It all really depends on your budget, space for the subs and how much power you want to feed to it all. There are nice Nano mono block amps out there that can be hidden under the seats. I will be going with that in my wife's car.

If you want a small modest system that sounds good. Get a good 5 channel amp. Once again, Soundstream has some nice ones. About 300-400 watts for the subs RMS of course at 2 ohm.

that's my input. I hope it helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

The Project

iTrader: (6)

HiFonics are good amp on any budget.

I find them too big for my application but they make rated power and will run the subs with headroom to spare

pauly01

iTrader: (1)

Yes they are. They can tend to be a bit power hungry. But my 1200w Brutus is running fine without needing another battery or larger alternator.

Bottom line in my last post. There are so many variables and varieties out there. Just be careful with cheap components and brands.

You never build into a great system in one shot. You build into it over time.

Keep your eye on Craigslist. I got my Soundstream 12s for $100 for both. Sound great.

Termn8r

I was bigtime into stereos back when it was cool and you went to SPL competitions (my best was 143 dbs). The old saying was, the smaller the sub the better the punch.

Now, this isn't actually true. While a smaller speaker does seem to be louder, it is usually based off of the manufacturer compensating for a smaller speaker by putting a larger cone on. So, it seems louder but can have more distortion.

With that being said, back in the day I had 2 12"s in my uber tiny camaro convertible trunk and it sounded good. I have 1 JBL 10" high end sub now and it hits way harder than those 2 12's ever did..

devestator_x

iTrader: (1)

Comparing the way speakers sound when comparing sizes is like comparing apples and walnuts. You really need to take all variable in consideration, brand, power, and box size/tuning. If you have 2 subs from the same manufacturer and the same manufacturer line (like the SA series from Sundown) and they are both in the perfect sized box for the size speaker, hooked to the same stereo, the larger speaker should be roughly the same loudness according to the human ear. It will show a db difference on a meter, but your ears wont know.

That being said, once you start putting different sizes from different brands, then things change rapidly and you will get HUGE differences in output and sound. I bet a Sundown 8" will sound louder than a Boss 15", but a Sundown 15" would beat the snot out of a Boss 8"

I have had JL Audio 10" and 12" subs in my Camaros, also MTX 10" subs. The JL Audio were boomier while the MTX was tighter "punchier" bass. Again other variables were in effect like box design and size.

The Project

iTrader: (6)

No doubt about it...the box makes (or breaks) the sub.

Always amazes me the number of world SQ champions running $100-150 subs

TxTtopZ

Im still trying to figure out what I want to do with the factory bose set-up in the hatch... It wont provide the sound I want.. So I am thinking a custom dual 8" set-up back there that looks a little more modern. Same as the OP- I like a good all around performer, nothing super "bassey" ---

devestator_x

iTrader: (1)

Oh and I dont think this was mentioned before, but if you guys are looking more for tighter bass rather than boomier bass, it's easier to get that sound from a sealed box than a ported or "vented" box. Yes it can be argued that a perfectly matched ported box and sub combo can sound tight, but that takes a lot of calculations to get everything perfect in terms of interior box design (chamfered corners and port designs and everything else) Much easier to just run it sealed. Also most subs play better in a smaller sealed box. Ported boxes tend to need to be much larger, almost twice the internal volume.

The Project

iTrader: (6)

Why not drop some JL 6w0 in the Bose pods. As the bottom of the bose pods are open, it's like running two 6" "ported" subs.

It's been done here before.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

i would agree with the sealed box. i would get rid of the bose nonsense and put a good quality/properly powered single ten or dual 8. this gives you tight bass, and sounds good for most looking for a good full sounding system