10 or 12" sub for SQ?

meinbeast · Post by **meinbeast** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 6:06 pm

I have a PG 200.4 (200w rms x4 @4ohms) to power a pair of Polk SR6500 components

AND

a 10 or 12" Polk SR or equivalent sub

Ill have the PG amp bridged to give a single sub 400 watts rms..is that enough power?

what do you guys think?

will I be missing something if I opt for the 10 and not the 12 because of limited space? is there significant difference between the two sizes?

CaptainPioneer · Post by **CaptainPioneer** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 6:13 pm

It depends on the sub, I think you could definitely do very well with a Ascendant Audio Assassin 10" They sound great and definitely are worth the price. Other suggestions might be an Alpine Trype R, Infinity Kappa's, JL W3, or if you are going to go with a 12" I do like the Eclipse 6200 in a 1.7- 1.8 cuft box... sounds great

virulentv · Post by **virulentv** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 11:15 am

Image Dynamics IDMAX .... needs 1000RMS though . excellent sub for SQ

Post by **GlassWolf** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 5:47 pm

the diameter of a sub has nothing to do with it's SQ, or how "quick" it is.
It's all about the motor control (BL curve) when you want to talk about the responsiveness of a sub.

Scarrell · Post by **Scarrell** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 6:11 pm

what vehicle do you have? and what kind of sound are you looking for? with 400watts, you can power a number of subs good, but it will depend on the sub and the box.. too many options so let us know what your vehicl is and what kind of output you are looking for.. i can tell you this from my own personal experiences.. if you like alot of rock/metal, and even rap.. sealed is a good way to go.. 10"s offer nice tight/quick response, good for double bass and can still get them lows... 12"s can offer the same thing, but are able to get a little louder in most cases, and 15"s in most cases can drop lower but alot of 15"s lack the soud quality the 10"s and 12"s will offer you.. BUT, now we go onto ported boxes.. a big misconception is that some people may think ported boxes offer horrible sq, and are only made to get louder.. some of this can be true, but if you tune your box correctly, and meet the requirements the sub(s) demand, you can have Great results.. the same aspects apply with a sealed box, but the subs usually will get lower, and louder..

all in all, sealed is a good way to go in general.. but if you've never gone ported, then its worth a try, but not all subs are worth/meant to be in ported boxes.. also, i am not speaking of them bandpass boxes or slot ported boxes at Best Buy or anything, im talking about having a custom one built, by you or someone else, and not just slapped together, with the right dimensions and port length/width, you will get the best results by going with a custom box, not some prefab box also.. sorry for the long meaningless post, but im bored and feel like talking alot, lol..

meinbeast · Post by **meinbeast** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 8:37 am

I guess i should have been more specific..lets try this again

The set-up will be in an Acura TSX. I am looking for a SQ set-up this time around.

The sub will be located in the trunk. The enclosure will most likely be a sealed enclosure. From what I understand a sealed enclosure is best suitable for a trunk install for SQ.

The recommended enclosure size is .88 cubic ft for the 10"....what will result from an install that has more or less air space?

There are two versions of the 10", a single and dual voice coil, both are the same price. What do dual voice coils bring to the table that a single voice coil cant?

Fishy · Post by **Fishy** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 12:54 pm

meinbeast wrote:What do dual voice coils bring to the table that a single voice coil cant?

A little more flexibilty when it comes to impedance matching when choosing an amplifier(s).

In other words say for example you have a sub with dual 2 ohm VC's. If you wire those in series you get a 4 ohm sub. If you wire them in parallel you get a 1 ohm driver. Bridged two channel amps generally don't like anything below a 4 ohm load. Best to wire in series in this case. Some monoblocks are at their best when wired into a 1 ohm load so you'd go with parallel wiring for one of those.

Another benefit for "super woofers" which can require a lot of power, is the ability to run one amp to each coil for maximum listening pleasure.

:P

Other than that don't get hung up on whether a sub is dual voice coil or not. When modeling enclosures in WinISD I enter even DVC subs as single voice coil drivers and use the appropriate Re. WiniSD's voice coil parallel/series option is confusing as hell.

:)

note: Since you seem to have a choice of subs one other thing to consider is that just because two subs are the same brand and price does not mean they have the same specs. If impedance matching isn't an issue you might want to model each configuration in WinISD and see which looks best for your application.

Post by **GlassWolf** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 3:43 am

single 4 ohm version = 4 ohm final load
dual 4 ohm version = 2 or 8 ohm final load.
there are two versions of most subs offered to match to the amp(s) you plan to use, at their ideal load, based on the nymber of subs you plan to connect to the amp.
there is no audible difference between the two versions of a sub.

an enclosure acts as the suspension for the speaker.. the cushioning or resistance a speaker needs in order to function properly. If you decrease the box size, you inrease that damping effect. Going to a larger than spec box decreases the suspension of the speaker, since there is more air to compress using the same piston (speaker.)
typically people use a box at the small end of the recommended volume to get a tighter response, and use a box at the big end of the specs to get a bit more SPL and a bit deeper response from the speaker.
I'd recommend you go about midway, right in the middle of the recommended volume range. Good trade-off of both qualities there.

solacedagony · Post by **solacedagony** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 5:44 am

GlassWolf wrote:the diameter of a sub has nothing to do with it's SQ, or how "quick" it is.
It's all about the motor control (BL curve) when you want to talk about the responsiveness of a sub.

x2 and to add to that, the integration with the midbass is also going to effect the sub's "quickness". If you do a bad job with integration, it can sometimes make the sub sound bloated, "slow", whatever terms you wanna use to describe it.

OnYrMrk · Post by **OnYrMrk** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:54 pm

Kudo's on going with one sub for your sq duties. That car is little, and I would think that one twelve will do you justice. Don't worry about sound, one of the nicest sounding vehicles I have ever sat in just used a set of 3ways in the front and one 16" subwoofer in the rear. Ask JoeyC about Chris Pates honda.

in terms of quickness of response, Focal's KX series is one of the best out there for excellence dedicated to Sound Quality. You can't go wrong with any of their subs.

IDMAX was mentioned, and it too is nice...if not a bit power hungry. IDQ is a better sub and 400 w will power it very nicely. A better SQ sub than the IDMAX, which is better suited for SQL, due to it's large power consumption.

Look into Arc Audio for a nice sub, check out Alpine's Type X sub, look at the XXX subs from RE, and also check out subs from Morel and Dynaudio as well for some low power/SQ subs.

Generally SoundQuality subs are more about excellence in musical reproduction and not nearly as much about overall boom and pressure. They are designed to just accent the system rather than overpower it. Take your ears out for a listen to some of these subs. I am sure you will know what is best for your preferences and budget. Good luck!

Joe