Outbacksound

Allright, then I was going to order 4" double flared round ports, but I don't have the money, so for now I'm going to build a sealed box at 1.25 cu. ft. per sub (recommended) and probably stuff with a 1/2lb. of polyfill per sub chamber at first. Might add more, and hopefully I'll be able to pound some sound with this sealed box. I'll post how it sounds after they break in. However, I'm still not sure if this amp should be the one I grab. Never used anything Kenwood, but this amp seems to be decent (way better than what I have, anyway). Would anyone else concur that this amp, in this price range ($400 is as high as I can go) would be worth it, or do Kenwood amps suck? http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113X1200M/Kenwood-Excelon-X1200M.html?tp=115

That was why I was going to use ports instead of a vent. But if I use mdf to make a vent, it will be glued in place, and that's it forever. A sealed box will be easy and quick, but I don't think it's going to be the sound I want.

Allright, but you can't change the length of a slot port once the box has been assembled. I don't really need to change the tuning- I'm fairly sure I want it tuned anywhere from 29-ish Hz to 33 Hz. So how big should the slot be? In the RE website's slot box calculator, it suggests a 1.5" tall by (I forget how long). So if there is enough area in the port, there won't be any noise? Should I make the vent wider than 1.5"? The width would be 15" I think. My old (well, current) box is 1.805 cu. ft. and is tuned to 29 Hz. I love that the lows are (almost) overpronounced, and I didn't get that until I tuned it that low. I love the sound, I just want it louder. But this would be a complex box, and I've heard some very nice sealed box setups, and if a sealed box makes it hard to breathe or think, that's what I want. That's probably from a properly tuned and built ported box, though, isn't it?

Well, I really wasn't thinking when I said it would be 4x as much. Another sheet of 3/4" MDF would cost me another $30. I was looking at buying precision ports, which plus the extra MDF would only be $90 more than the $65 I need for a sealed box. . I've come up with a vented plan, but putting the box together would be incredibly difficult. I designed it to have the sides with the ports recessed, because an edge to grab onto helps with removal and installation. I also feel my design is very structurally sound, because I want to use a dato blade to cut 3/4" wide by 1/8"-1/4" deep grooves in a cross in the middle of the baffle board, the bottom, and a few vertical grooves in the sides to hold the center dividing pieces as well as the sides in place (along with glue and screws). The reason I was looking at a sealed box was because the small size would be better. Would the bass hit harder with a sealed box? Like bass that makes it hard to breathe and that you feel in your chest? My ported box only makes loud bass, but not chest constricting. The major problems with building a vented box are that I won't be able to change the tuning, and I read that vented boxes suffer from port noise (which is why I was looking at precision ports). Not going for those anymore though, now it's down to vented or sealed, and I would really only want to do sealed if it would make the throat collapsing, hard hitting bass (which I heard and felt with a friends old infinity's in a sealed box, and the low bass was better than any I've heard, ever).

I've been planning ported and vented boxes, and I could get one to fit, but it would cost me 3-4 times as much as a sealed box would. So my question is: is it ok to build a sealed enclosure larger than recommended, or not? Would a larger sealed box produce a lower sound, or should I build the box to specs and maybe stuff with polyfill? Or will polyfill negatively affect the output if the box is allready the proper size? Is polyfill just for boxes smaller than recommended? Or can you build a box larger than rec. and stuff to have the sub "see" an even larger enclosure?

Hahaha... Yeah i'm pickin up what your puttin down... I know now that ported is the way to go. Do you know if you include the port area in the overall box volume for a vented box, or if the port area is separate from a main volume?

Allright, I am going to go ported. I was trying to do a sealed box for ease of fabrication, but I have a low tuned ported box now, and I love the sound, but I need more of it. I ended up ordering 4 Infinity 1252W 12's a few hours ago. They'll move more, they have lower frequency response, and they'll handle more power than my 4 RF P1 12's. I think i'm going to build a vented box so that I don't have to order ports. So where does the box volume end and the port area begin? Should I design the box area and add the port length to that, or include the port area with the box volume? They need to be in 2 cu. ft., and I want to tune them really low; as low as possible. The lowest frequency these subs say they can reproduce is 23 Hz. Can I tune the box to, say, 20 Hz? I know it won't be very loud, but it should have great sound quality, and play low notes better than if it were tuned to ~32 Hz, right? Or should I tune around 32-33 Hz to still get low end and be fairly loud as well? I don't have a subsonic filter, so should I not play the subs loud until I can get an amp w/ one built in to prevent loss of control below the tuning frequency? I've been looking at this amp to power these. http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113X1200M/Kenwood-Excelon-X1200M.html?tp=115&tab=review#tab It seems like a good amp, fan cooled, 1200 RMS at 2 ohms, perfect for four DVC 4 ohm subs on a mono amp, CEA blah blah, filters, etc.

I didn't mean louder, i meant deeper and lower. Would big sealed boxes play lower than smaller ported boxes tuned low?

No... That wouldn't make any sense. How could a box be sealed if it had a port in it? I was talking about which type of box is better for which application. Do sealed boxes play low notes better than a low tuned ported box? Would the 2 of the 15's in 3-3.5 cu. ft. each sealed be louder than the 4 infinity's sealed in 1.25 cu. ft. each?

I've been planning boxes and there's no way I'm fitting 4 of those 15's in my car, so it would be between the 4 infinity's or 2 of the Rockfords, both in as big a box as recommended. Sealed for lower bass, and ported for louder bass, am I right? Sealed can go over 3 cu. ft. per sub for the 15's. Are my 4 P1 12's louder than the two 15's will be? I know the infinity's would be louder. I think I'm going to go with them.

I would run them off of my current amp, not sure what it puts out- can't find that. That would only be temporary until I could get something to run 800 rms to the 4 15's, or 1000-1200 rms to the infinity's. Maybe just two 15's on the amp I have. Or ~750 rms to the type r. This amp might be suitable for any of the applications (except for 2 of the 15's). http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113X1200M/Kenwood-Excelon-X1200M.html?tp=115

So should I go with the 15's? I kinda like the 12's I have, so the line isn't bad, or should I get 1 Alpine Type R 15? The 4 15's would move more air. But they have a tendency to crack the cone (one of mine allready did- crutchfield replaced it). There are videos on YouTube of those infinity's, and they have great excursion. They look kinda cheap, but the P1's have a bad rap; their not great either.

So of these two subs, which would produce better lows, in what kind of box? 4 of the infinity's or 2 of the RF P1 15's. I don't think I can fit 4 of the 15's in my car, but I might get 4 and do the math and figure it out. I like the infinity's, but 15's sound like they would be awesome to try out. Today, 10/31/09, crutchfield is ending a discount of $20 off an order of $100 or more, so I want to order them today, save a couple bucks. http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1081252W/Infinity-Reference-1252w.html?tp=111&tab=review&rvm=ShowAllt http://www.crutchfield.com/p_575P1S415/Rockford-Fosgate-P1S415.html?tp=111 How do I get bass that makes you not able to breathe? I can't figure that out. I think the 4 15's might do that. But the infinity's would run me $100 less. I want to set off car alarms, but I want to tune low or have large sealed boxes so the lows are more prominent than anything else.

I started off tuned to 36 Hz. Then I tried 32 Hz, and I found 29 Hz to sound the best. So I guess I like it tuned as low as possible. But I still don't know is larger subs mean deeper bass, or if frequency response is what determines how low a sub will play. I have a low pass filter (non adjustable) on my amp. If I wanted a sub sonic filter, would I need an amp with one built in, or can you hook up one like a crossover?

Yeah, I didn't mean SPL- I'm not tuning in the high 40's- I do want it to be loud, but not as loud as possible. I listen to rap, and slowed/screwed and chopped stuff. Lows are my top priority. So are bigger subs for lower notes, or more air movement?

I know a sealed box won't be as loud, but is the bass deeper or lower? My box consists of four separate chambers, 1.805 cu. ft. each, because i couldn't get exactly 1.79 cu. ft., which is the recommended ported size. I had it tuned to 29 Hz, and then i added the lining to the inside of each box. Tuning so low brought out all of the lows that these subs are capable of, but I want it to be lower. I set my gain by turning my headunit up 3/4 of the way up, and playing a couple different types of music, and setting the gain so that the subs were balanced with the speakers. Will bigger subs be lower, or louder? Is the frequency response what determines how low the sub is capable of playing? RF P1 15's are buy one get one free on crutchfield, but the infinity's freq. response is better, and lower. i could save money by getting the infinity's, and that would help me get a better amp. I'm basically going for SPL on a budget; a tight budget. Kicker gets loud, but i heard that they sound bad. I'm seriously contemplating 4 of the infinity's, on my current amp, and save up for (possibly) a JL G-Max 1200 watt Mono block amp to power them. I'll probably get a H.O. alt. and an Optima yellow top to go along with it, but what is the sole diifference between 12's, 15's, and 18's? SPL or Lower frequency?

Before I build a new box, I want to make sure I shouldn't just sell this setup and get something else. How are the 15" P1's? They might not be the best for double bass, but they might be worth it (they're buy 1 get 1 on crutchfield right now). Have you heard any infinity setups or do you just not like their strange sensitivity ratings? It's going to be 4 of either. I'd rather get the infinitys- they could handle more power, and probably get louder. I guess I'm going for loud before anything else, but I want something that stops easy breathing- and since I've heard and felt that w/ infinity's before, I'm not afraid to go with those. Any opinions on Kicker?

It's a wagon. I didn't mean hatch- but never the less. I do think i'm going to build a sealed box for these subs, but i don't want to lose any output. I think facing them down would make the floor absorb a lot of the sound, though they would definately sound better. The sealed box will make a deeper but less loud bass, right? The ported box that I built is nice- I would hate to not be using it, which is the only reason i have not built a different box allready. 3/4" MDF with double flared ports and an intricate design i came up with to create the separate chambers. It's not hard, just time consuming, and I would want to do the sealed box the same way. I'd like to try other subs though, and I'd like to build a box I could use for something other than these P1's. But I don't want to spend an arm and a leg on subs. Is Kicker's SQ terrible like everyone says? I've been looking into Fi (BTL series), DD audio, Alpine, and JL audio (though they seem overpriced).

An MDF substructure? Would I use pieces (or a large piece with pieces cut out to create a cross bracing) as bracing and affix them with epoxy or something? That does sound like it really would help. Would the other products from Second Skin be useful, or are they meant for doors and the floor? This post is way off topic, but are the infinity reference 1252W subs better than the Rockford P1's I have? Their stats look better, and they're on sale on crutchfield, I guess because they're the old model. More power handling, more Xmax, rubber surround instead of a "Poly-Foam", greater freq. response, but the sensitivity rating are at 1v for the punch and 2.83v for the infinity. So they look good on paper, but does anyone know how long they last? And to go off topic even more, what subs/ power/ box type produces bass that makes it hard to breathe? My friend had 2 old infinity 12's in a sealed box that made my heart want to stop. Was it the sealed box? They had like 400 watts going to each one. That girl is dope as hell by the way M5

I don't always turn it up that loud, mostly because the car sounds terrible. I think I'm going to cover the entire roof, but I can't decide if I should order enough to cover it twice, and have some left over for (maybe) the doors, but probably the hatch too.

It vibrates so bad that it produces a note you'll hear a 1/4 mile away. My rear drivers side door vibrates really bad, and the hatch does too, but I'm going to try New weatherstripping for the door and the hatch because it's not the sheet metal that's making the noise. They travel in and out visibly. I mainly listen to heavy bass music, bass testers, rap, but I like to listen to hard music too, just nowhere near as much. Sealed boxes sound deeper I hear, but not as loud. I honestly don't care if they aren't as loud if they play lower notes louder. But tuning so low I finally got the sound I was looking for, as well as improving SQ. They're in a box facing up. Should I make a box, sealed w/ 2 facing the front, and 2 facing the rear, or keep with the face up design?

Don't pay too much attention to that article, as there's not much worthwhile information contained in it. He's merely contributing to what he's apparently attempting to disspell, as outlined in the opening sentence....All that article proves is he really doesn't understand the function or use of a gain control. Yeah, I read a lot more after I posted that link and I have seen the error of my ways. On a side note, how many layers of damplifier would make my roof cut out it's obnoxious nonsense?

You might find this interesting- I'm not saying your wrong, but this is a different view on gain level http://www.teamrocs.com/technical/pages/gains.htm

I read that standing waves inside of a box will produce a sound that comes through the cone with the sound waves coming off of the front of the cone, which causes distortion. An open celled foam will absorb certain frequencies and produce better sound. But I fell as though I did lose a lot of sound. I'm going to think about removing the foam, because it's a hell of a process to get my box out of my car and take the subs out, etc. So you think I should turn the gain on my amp down to prevent overdriving and clipping?

I was going to take out the padding, but I wanted to achieve better sound quality from these drivers, and i think they sound better. They sound less muddy and a little more accurate. I don't turn them up all the way, because they're loud enough at mid-volume. The only H.O. alt. I can find is the Fitzall from PowerBastards.com. Is this a reputable site? I've checked all other online parts stores and they don't have them for a subaru. I also don't know if I want to put another $300 towards an alternator for this car. I just spent 150 on this new one, and I'm not going to have this car forever. I have the gain on the amp a lIttle less than 3/4. It puts out 390 watts per channel at 2 ohms (I think). So since I have two sets of drivers each wired in parallel, each sub should be receiving less than 150 watts, which would be within their RMS rating. Unless my amp is a little strong, they should be ok, right? By the way, I don't have, or know where to get an oscilloscope, nor do I know how to use one. Ive heard it shows electrical fluctuation in a wave pattern but this is basically useless info to me. And thanks to everyone for posting