tejcurrent

I like the sound of my bros BL 12. I think it 'gets the lows' better than the alpine type-x I have in my wifes car, which is meant to be an sq sub. I think you'll be happy with it in the right enclosure.

^ x2. A larger box will increase the efficiency, but decrease the power handling. Vice versa.

Fi's been around quite a while now. Going on 2 years soon iirc. I bought my first loaded BTL 18 around oct 2006, originally powered off a hifonics 2006d. Man I thought that was such a good combo! After switching to a Memphis 4k I realized it could take so much more power if run cleanly. I eventually added more subs and amps, and continue to be pleased with the BTLs. They sound great on music too imo. My brother has a Fi BL 12 on a hifonics 2006d, and it does great on a daily basis. I've heard the SSD and Q as well, and was impressed every time. They were always in good enclosures though.. The customer service is excellent, and the product speaks for itself.

I would like one, but for the price difference the SSD will do just fine. Thanks a lot though.

I was originally talking to Scott about a Q 18 in my h/t setup, but I have a chance to get a used SSD 15 instead.. I was planning on asking for the copper coils with the recone, just waiting to hear back in the Fi section. I was goin to use one of the following plate amps with it, so around 500rms at 4 ohms. Bash 500 http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...tnumber=300-752 Dayton 500 http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...tnumber=300-806 At the moment I'm leaning more towards the Dayton, but I wasn't sure if it was worth the price difference. I'm open to any other amp suggestions too. I asked about the box in the Fi section, but maybe someone can let me know if 15ft net @ 20hz would be good? Thanks a lot.

I was originally talking to Scott about a Q 18 in my h/t setup, but I have a chance to get a used SSD 15 instead. It needs reconed, so I was just wondering about the best coil for the recone, and a few questions. I was planning on asking for the copper coils with the recone, but I was just wondering if it would be best with my setup. I was goin to use one of the following plate amps with it, so around 500rms at 4 ohms. Bash 500 http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...tnumber=300-752 Dayton 500 http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...tnumber=300-806 At the moment I'm leaning more towards the Dayton, but I wasn't sure if it was worth the price difference. Also could you recommend a good box size and tuning? Scott told me 20ft net @ 20hz for the Q, so I was thinking around 15ft net @ 20hz for the SSD, but wasn't sure if it would be optimal. Thanks a lot for all the help, I'm sort of a h/t noob so if there's anything I left out please let me know. Thanks!

Well the enclosure will be a coffee table, so I'll have to figure something out to hide the amp then. Thanks a lot.

"And if I want a BTL, why not just get a Havoc" Because you would need a to get a BTL There are numerous reasons people would get the Q over the ssd, and yes power handling is one of them. I wouldn't want to put 4000 watts on a havoc, but I would on a BTL. They are all very different drivers Going back to your original post of wanting to put a sundown 1500 on one sub, the BL would be your best bet for safe power handling. I think you'll get the output you're looking for, and should sound good on music. Just make sure to build a good enclosure and you should be fine.

Okay, so copper coil and dayton amp. Only question is, for the h/t setup would the 12-16sq inches of port per foot still apply? Thanks.

As far as appearance, the port and sub would be facing downward, and the plate amp would be countersunk under the bottom as well. Nothing would be visible. I could make interchangable ports but if I'm soldering the dayton amp to 10hz I doubt I'd want to mess with it a 2nd time Other than looks would there be any other reason not to use a slot/kerf port? I went to my local radio shack and they said they couldn't even order an spl meter. Would the walmart version be acceptable? I really need some external processing, even a simple 12 band would be wonderful, but my wife thinks its too ugly Unless I can find something really easily hidden I doubt it's in the near future. Thanks again for all the help, it's going to be a bit until I get the build underway, but this is something I've been excited about for a while.

I have built several boxes using screws and my nailer (same difference imo). The last one I had to use screws because the mdf was warped (not my choice of wood so dont harp) and I was literally bending the wood to fit. It ended up working great. For the last few boxes in my vehicle though I used nails and woodglue. One of the more recent ones I put 45s in the corners then fiberglassed the entire inside (not just resin- mat too). Perfectly sealed and the strongest box I'd say I've ever built. I think screws have their place, but a nailer is just soo much quicker even if just holding things inplace until you add a few screws.

Aside from my wife listening to the radio occasionally, the most music my h/t setup plays is whatever is in the movie I'm watching. I just wasn't sure what freq was a good starting point with h/t. I am capable of doing the resistor change, but I would definitely need to do a ton of research as I've never done that either. I'd much rather do a square or slot port if possible, I don't mind making the enclosure pretty big as I'll be turning it into a piece of furniture when I'm done. If I could change the resistor to set the ssf at 10hz, would a 12hz tune be better at that point? I'm much more of a car audio enthusiast, so the 129.9 cutoff point of the spl meter you mentioned never appealed to me much, but I'll have to invest in one for this if it's worth it. I have a buddy with a termlab, would that be better or equal in this situation? So at this point it is settled that I will go with the Dayton amp and the SSD with copper coils. Thanks with the help so far guys, like I said, I'm fresh meat when it comes to the home theater.

Could you recommend a good tuning? I'm completely inexperienced when it comes to h/t, so I'm not totally sure where to start with the build. Thanks.

Congratulations and best luck! I guess if you've been together a long time it shouldn't be too different, but best wishes.

Okay, I don't want to argue, just state the same facts again in the hopes they will stick If you are playing loud music, for instance your average 140db+ ground pounder, you will not be able to see out of your mirrors. Period. I learned how to drive with my dads work vans, so I know how to use my mirrors, and I can tell you from experience even single 12 setups make it impossible to use any of them. They vibrate too much to differenciate between a truck, a traffic light, or a sock puppet. Hell, my eyes vibrate so much in my car I can't see what's in front of me with it up full blast, so how can you drive safely that way? You can't. Here in Myrtle Beach SC we have 3 bike weeks a year, and I hate the 2 big ones sooo bad. Black Bike week is about terrible traffic and big systems, but Harley week is about retards reving their bikes all day at the light like they're keeping it from stalling out, and keeping people awake till 2 or 3 in the morning with their obnoxious exhaust. Black bike week is when you hear some big inconsiderate stereos, and honestly I wish they'd give both of them noise ordinance tickets the same. There's no way to hear an emergency vehicle behind you with that sort of pressure/volume. It's about being responsible, and since some people don't have the sense to do so on their own, the government sadly is having to step in. Smoking in public isn't legal in many places, and really is a totally different law. We could say 'why are they doing this instead of fighting the war on drugs or illegal immigration?' but it's simply unrelated in this topic. Maybe people are hanging their ass in your face because your stereo bothered them, and they thought they'd give your family a taste instead of them having bothered you first? Just a thought

I think that would make for a much more reasonable law. I can't tell you how much I hated siting beside my fathers death bed, talking to him, trying to understand what he was trying to say, then suddenly some arseho comes riding down the street at 9pm blasting his stereo. It really bothered him, and if you're the ignorant person who says good they'll be dead soon, I hope karma bites your ass hard.

Let me say- I hate hate hate hearing people early in the morning or late at night riding down the road. It's simply not polite. I'd also hate to damage my daughters hearing to prove a point. I may have a huge system in my car, and while it's far from sq, I understand when is a good time to play it loud: competitions car audio shops (when giving demos etc, not pulling in or out >:|) in the middle of no where during sunlight hours after noon on a big highway while moving 55mph+ during sunlight hours after noon When I'm in traffic if it's nice enough to have the window down I would bet the guy beside me doesn't hear more than a whisper of what I'm listening to with their window down. If my window is up 99.99% of the time I doubt they'd hear a thing. I'm considerate enough to turn it down in residential neighborhoods, and at lights. During the middle of the day on major highways and in the boonies you aren't bothering others so it's okay imo, but you wont get a ticket if you're playing it responsibly. If you are responsible and considerate, you wont get a ticket- simple as that. It does come to a point where dirty cops might just look in your vehicle and say "he COULD play it loud, better fine them". I hate having big government step in.

Any measurable difference on the meter, or difference in voltage drops with heavy bass?

Sell them, let friends have them/give them away, and I've dumped one that was just too crappy to force on someone else.

Like everyone else has said, it sounds like an amp/tuning issue. I would look towards a different amp, or just try tweaking the one you have. If you give 2 12s the same power as 1 12, unless your enclosure is much better chances are you will lose output. You really need a high output alternator/extra battery to electrically support the amp you need to be running. Hope it works out for you. The box itself sounds ok from the specs you gave- not quite to spec but shouldn't cause much of a problem anyway. I'd pull the sub out and make sure nothing has come lose (wiring wise) and check your amp.

If you check the Steve Meade Designs forum in the electrical section there is a post ongoing about this module. He says that it seems to do what it says it will so far. It does sound too good to be true, but I will be ordering one in the next few weeks whenever my alternators come in. I will post up pics/vids and any info I can to help others determine if this product does as it says, or is right for them. I've already talked to MLA on the phone, so hopefully I'll be able to add some consumer feedback in a few weeks when I get everything installed. BTW- since we're talking about it, what kind of warranty/return policy comes with it? Thanks.

TOTAL change of direction: I've done a bit more research and talked to Dom Iraggi on the phone. I'm obviously a little worried because of all the mixed feedback on him, but I'm going to go with him instead of powermaster. I'll be getting 3 of his 380a alternators and at the moment running my factory 130 on his 4 alternator bracket. paypal works quick! I payed at 2:38pm, and at 2:42 they called me to authorize the amount. I'm just going to stick with the 12v system, if I go 16v it'll just have to be a dedicated burp machine. Missinglink, I talked to you on the phone a little bit ago, and I really appreciated the info. As soon as I get the alts and test them out I'll most likely be calling and getting my module. Thanks for all the help everyone.

I have talked to Dom Iraggi and I know for sure I am getting his 4 alt bracket. I've had multiple people who I trusted tell me to run at least one 200a or smaller alternator in order to support my normal car functions. After talking to Dominick Iraggi he told me to get 4 260amp alternators, that they would supply me with the most power for my daily driving setup, since they have great idling amperage and I would never see full power without reving the engine (which I wouldn't do). I know plenty of guys on here run 300a alts and bigger, so thats where my conflict comes in there. I want to make sure I'm giving my amps as much power as possible, and I'm willing to go as small or big as I need to. I just got off the phone with someone at powermaster, and they said that my best option would be 4 of their 200a alternators w/ adjustable internal voltage regulators, where I could turn the voltage up to 15.0 and just leave it there safely- and that again with a larger alternator it would take high rpms to really take advantage of the higher output. I've also had people tell me that I should go with powermaster over Iraggi, and that the 220 amp powermaster alternators would put out more power than Iraggis 260 amp alternators because of ratings. The way it was explained to me the Iraggis were rated peak while the powermaster were the actual output? This doesn't seem right but I honestly don't know. So for question #1, would 260amp alternators definitely be my best compromise? And question #2, would Iraggi alternators put out more power than powermaster, or vice versa? Anyone with any experience at all please chime in because I hope to be buying them really soon. And for the last part of my question, I'm currently running 5 optima yellowtops for the simple reason that they are the best batteries available in my area. I've found a few places that I'm willing to buy from online, and even driving a few hours away to pick up from. My biggest worry- while I know dropping down to 12v hurts your score, is that if I go lower than that I'll damage my amps. I pray the alternators alone will be enough to keep my voltage above 12v on full tilt, if they can't what other batteries could anyone recommend? And question #3, would different batteries really make all the difference? Thanks a lot, I simply don't have a lot of experience in this area and can use all the advice I can get.

I really originally was turned off by the idea, it just sounded a bit risky, expensive, and dangerous to the equipment compaired to the 12v, but several people now have told me the benefits outway the negatives. hopefully I'll be able to get the alts and bracket within 2 weeks (I don't know the turn-around time for Iraggi), then I'll run 12v and see how it works. If I'm not satisfied I guess I'll make the switch.

I figured I would adjust it so the amps actually saw around 17.5. If that means I lose a volt from the front to the back I guess I'd be charging them at 18.5. I'm going to be using the alts on the 12v setup I have at the moment until I can buy the batteries- who knows if it works good enough maybe I wont go 16, but I'd rather try it than wonder what if. Would 17.5 at the amp and (from what you're saying #'s wise) 18.5 at the batts be enough? 18.5 to the batts is good for the 16.9v batteries just check with memphis on the amps.Do they mean 16.0v or an actual 16volt charging set up which is really 16.9.If they say the amps will take it sweet run it at 18.5 and let-er wang! Just called tech again just to make sure- they said that a 16v setup was the best way to go from their testing- especially for burps. But on a daily setup try to make sure the amps get less than 18v. The tech said worst comes to worst if it's too much the amp either wont turn on and you'll know to turn down the voltage, or will could go into protect.