I have been doing research on various subs; Rockford P3, JL w3 and w6, Alpine type r, etc. My question is which of these sub would produce the best sound in a sealed enclosure built to 1.18 cu. ft. with a power range of 400-500 watts rms?

Also I am considering on purchasing an Orion XTR1500.1 amp. Does anyone have any first hand experience with it, or do you guys recomend somthing else?

 

If anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated.

 

in my experience i would stay away from rockfords. they just are not nearly as good as they used to be. i personally love the jl audio speakers. and i have had to replace a couple of the type r subs in costumer vehicles, but i dont know if it is the speakers fault or stupid people. i have never had any experience with orion amps. have you looked into a kicker setup. they are one of the few amps that give a true wattage. and their speakers are one of the best on the market.

 

Subs are a personal choice and most do the exact same thing.

Are you looking for one or two subs?

If one 12" is your goal, I like the Arc Audio ARC12, JL 12w3 or Fi Q. All of which would fit in the box size you state.

Best bang for the buck sub IMO would be the Pioneer TS-W3002.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...S-W3002D4.html

I'm not too familiar with the amp you stated, for the money look at HiFonics or Vibe. Both make rated power and are easy on the wallet.

 

megaloud subs and amps baby!!!! nothing beats em..... www.megaloud.com

next i would go with a custom built fi audio sub followed by the orion


if i had unlimited funds. then JL subs are the way too goo

nothing but jl speakers or megaloud speakrs

other speakers suck... theres a few good subs thio

 

Pretty bold statement considering all the high end amps, speakers and subs out there.

Also, none of the subs match the OP's criteria.

 

orions can be sealed at 1cuft, so can the megalouds... the fi need to be ported

megaloud amps do kick *** and will outperform amps three times the cost

and most speakers suck for their price compared to JLs.... unless ur spending 600 bones on focal or rainbow.... JL is the only way to go for door speakrs

and dont get a monoblock class D amp... unless u want pure bass... get a 2 channel amp and just bridge it... ull get better sq and ull also have a more usefull amp for the future

 

Memphis Audio, best of the best. Amps and subs.

 

The rockford's are ok but from my experience the Alpines are the way to go.

 

infinity speakers WERE awsome... the new stuff is junk... they changed something with the magnets and coils made em go down hill

 

didnt even think of them.... i got a memphis power reference 2 channel 150 watt amp pushing 2 JL cr2 6.5s and 2 megaloud 6x9s.... SOOOOOO LOUD!!!! its all about blasting some slayer season of abyss or raining blood

 

Fi Q sealed .8-1.5 cu.ft. Look at their web site.

Megaloud website recommends a bigger box for their subs than 1 cu.ft. Most subs will fit in 1 cu.ft but their sound and bass output won't be optimum.

Speaker sound is purely subjective. Depends on what sound you like...detailed, laid back, up front, off axis, on axis, etc.

Mono class D amps produce power not bass and have been is World Champion SQ cars. Their "SQ" must be fairly good.

 

To start you should build the enclosure around your sub choice, there is no universal optimum enclosure, the w3 is different from the w6 as is the type r. Type R's are power hungry beasts btw. Capable of 600rms, dunno if anyone has really done the math but who is to say what an amplifier truely puts out? Few manufacturers, with the exception of alpine, JL, and Rockford in my experience TRUE RATE their products. I see 2000watt nitro this and that eBay junk all day from customers bringing their own gear, to really know an amplifiers output take the fuses, you're average advertised 1000 watt amp ( lets say 2 40 amp fuses) multiply that by 14.4(magic voltage not always obtainable in real world situations) take 75% ( being generous there after thermal loss and other resistances) being that amps have come along way 75 is a round number, on a good day in the BEST conditions that amp will put out 864 watts. That's a very old equation, new amps follow that...kinda, take a good reputable manufacturer and you'll get a "birth certificate" with the amp that tells you what it made on their bench test off the assembly line with your amps serial number. Off the top of my head I know Alpine and JL do it, can't remember on Rockford

The reason for that tangent is because you should first off pick a sub, then an amplifier, actually do the math and match the sub to the amp, every sub will come with a sheet telling you what it will work best in cu ft wise and how much power it needs. Build your enclosure around the subs specs, power it up and have fun. Reason I say this is because you can spend a great deal of money on a sub and put it in too little or too much airspace and it will sound like crap. Granted there are ways to trick the enclosure using polyfill but that's only if your short on airspace and that's really only good for 15% of the total volume. Generally if you're over or under on airspace you overpower the sub.... I know the type r can run 600 rms, the w3 can run around 500 IIRC.... so finding an amp to overpower those....puts you in a pretty narrow price range; high end.

Just some food for thought.

Good brands work with are JL, Rockford ( new line isn't prone to last years failures) Alpine, I've also had excellent personal experience with kicker, and Memphis ( although I hate the surfboard amps) I've become accustomed to small beast amps like the HD and XD series amps from JL.

Ultimately its up to you, do the research and do it right its not a cheap game, if you make a reliable setup you can't go wrong.

 

I want o use only one sub. My main genre of busic playing is metal so I want slean tight bass.

 

You would most likely want a Class D amp. If you go to sonicelectronix.com they have a amp finder tool. All you do is pick out a sub you like and they will list off the best matches for the sub. Maybe this will help.

 

Good bass is all about the right box.

The box will make or break the sub.

Sonicelectronix.com is a very useful site.

 

Good 10 in a specd sealed box is the way to go for clean tight bass, class d amp for sure mrpm500 from alpine is a great amp for a single sub

 

Now if you guys could give me your opinion. The more I read the more I lean toward Image Dynamics IDQ 10D4v3 subwoofer. Does anyone know how it sounds? Also I just purchased an MTX JH600 amp. Would this amp work for what I want Or should I get something else like what Blufbdy said, the mrpm500 from alpine?

 

Anyone using Memphis subs?

 

Out of your initial choices I would say the JL audio W6v2 is a good fit. I would assume your talking the v2 or possibly the v3 that just came out they are among the best sound subs I have heard. You may also want to look into subs build by TC sounds as they typically have very good low end response in small sealed enclosures. Have you looked at possibly picking up a IDmax from Image dynamics as they are extremely efficient and work well in smaller enclosures. Along these same lines try to find a Oz matrix elite, or possibly an arc audio flatline not to be confused with incriminator audio's flatlyne which is also a nice sub but wouldn't be as efficient.

 

Also possibly check out sundown audio they have some unique items as well as mmats. If you have deep pockets Linear Power will be bringing some new amps out that they can pretty much custom match to your car color

 

IDQ is a great choice.

Articulate, tight and will go with many types of music.

Great sub...one of the best SQ subs out there PERIOD.

As for an amp, I like Memphis as they have a solid reputation but pick the one you can afford.

 

Thank you for all the help. I have decided to use an IDQ 12D4v3 sub with an MTX JH600 amp.