tejcurrent

I vote the 2 12s. If you can't fit them ported then go sealed. If you can fit 2 sealed 15 Qs then I'm a sucker for larger subs-I'd vote that way. I think you'd get a lot more output and plenty of sq. I know my ported 18 btl sounds crisper than most 12s I hear, so 15" Qs should sound very nice in a well built sealed enclosure. I like ported enclosures myself, but if you could only fit one sub that way I'd think the BTL would like the power you have better than the BL, unless you just want a lot of overhead (which is good for SQ- so your call). I'm happy with the btls sq. Good luck either way.

///M5, hate to jack the thread but, I like the M5. I almost bought one once, but just couldn't come up with the cash quick enough and I refused to make payments oh well. </topicjack> I say take the subs out of the box and check for leaks. If there are any I'd personally just build a new box that matches the specs of the subs. You'll most likely be much happier with the way they sound after building one to fit them. It's kind of like if you were to go to salvation army and pick up a pair of pants and a shirt from a bin. Now I'm around 6" and 160lbs. If I grab a x-small and a size 28/28 pants they will be too small. I will be unhappy. I would also be uncomfortable in a 4X Tee and 38x42 pants. Now if you have sub that needs a set amount of space, too little or too much can make a big difference, and as I'd be pissed off if there was a hole in the ass of my pants, so will a sub not be pleased with a hole in the box. Now put me in a custom tailored suit and I'm ready to kick ass and take names. That's how you should look at the enclosure. If you aren't comfortable tailoring a box to fit your needs, you should probably go to a shop that can help you. I'd find out how much space you have in the box, how much your subs need, and if there is any air leaking anywhere out of the box. Hope this helps you out. Good luck.

Call me the A$$hole, but I've been looking for one for a while now. I might buy that sumb!tch!! There isn't a shop in MB that uses any tools other than their ears to set an amp, so that might be good to have. I don't know which would be better for my purposes though, the 'mutliscope' or a T/L.

I had too little bracing on my btl and had a problem, doubled the faceplate and it resolved the issue. I wouldn't see a need to double the whole thing as long as there's some bracing.

-The yellowtops should be wired as you said, + to +, - to -, and I ground each battery to the chassis. You don't really need to wire the - to the - as long as you ground to the body, but it doesn't hurt. -I like the optima yellowtops because they're priced OK and I can't get kinetic near me, but I've heard many say the love kinetic. -As far as an alternator look for one with a 'hot' rating around 250-300amps. Someone else can say a brand they trust, I have powermaster and it's OK. I want to upgrade my upgraded alt, but I plan on buying a new vehicle soon. -I don't have an isolator, it helps prevent you from draining your starter battery when playing w/ the car off for a long time, but I dont think it serves any other purpose. I've never had a problem w/ the car starting (and I have 3 yellowtops) so I can't see why you would. If you want to put on in, I'd just check your local shop for one- I believe it's very simple to wire in. -The big 3 is replacing your alternator to battery, battery to ground, and engine ground to chassis wires with a larger guage. In your instance most likely 1/0. I'd be sure to do this, it will help your new alternator give power to your amps, and make for much better ground. If you google "Big 3 Upgrade" there are tutorials on how to do this-it's not very hard or time consuming. Good luck, and if I didn't make anything clear just let me know.

What type of vehicle and what are you looking for-spl or sq? As dopey said, I liked the way the 1 btl sub and port firing rearward sounded, but with sub up port back I gained 1-2dbs.

double post.

From the website: "BTL18 DUAL 1 | DUAL 2 Fs: 32.6 Hz | 32.1 Hz Re: 0.7 Ohms/coil | 1.5 Ohms/coil Qms: 6.11 | 6.20 Qes: .28 | .26 Qts: .27 | .25 Mms: 298g | 307g Cms: 0.80mm/N | 0.80mm/N Sd: 1210cm^2 | 1210cm^2 Vas: 164.2 l | 164.2 l Spl: 94.9dB 1W/1m | 95.1dB 1W/1m Bl: 17.5 N/A | 26.9 N/A Bl: 00.0 N/A | 00.0 N/A Xmax: 16mm * | 16mm * Rms: 2000W * | 2000W * Sealed box: N/A cuft | N/A cuft Ported box: 5-8cuft | 5-8cuft Sub OD: 18.500

Yes I just meant room to make sure you aren't clipping. You can cleanly power your sub instead of overworking your amp to try to get there.

I'd look into beefing up that electrical system. Does that amp have a birthsheet? Overhead can be a good thing, and help you keep the signal clean. If you are comfortable not going all out on your sub all the time get the BL, if you like to crank it a lot, or want to compete(get more amps down the road) I'd get the BTL.

No, get a more poon amp nah man, just be careful. I love having overhead, sounds like it'll give you room to play and keep it sounding clean

If you want to learn how to do it yourself, while this wont take clipping (distortion) into account, it will get you somewhere near where you want. Go to radioshack or home depot/lowes and buy a Digital Multimeter. Turn the DMM to measure ac current, and use a cd with test tones. Touch the + to the + of the speaker output on the amp, and the - to the -. Use the calculator below to find out what # you should be looking for, or if you're the type who likes to do math yourself the formula: Square root of (RMS wattage of amp * Ohm load into sub) Calculator: http://www.subwoofertools.com/forum/setgain.asp Very simple way of doing it. I found out the shop near me doesn't even own a DMM! And this is a little above just adjusting till you don't hear distortion. Do you have a sealed/ported box? If you aren't sure of what to do, just do like someone else said and stop by a local shop. Often they'll look at it for free/cheap.

I feel your pain Hopefully not to steep? I do a fair bit of roofs, they're never fun. Especially if there's rotting wood to replace...

If you are planing on running both off of the same amp at 1 ohm, and for dailyuse , then I'd look for a good daily setup for a BL with the following options: Dual 1 ohm Full Cooling will help for daily Flatwind for added power handling Daily You should have no trouble with power handling with those options, atleast my brothers sub takes 2k with those options fine. When you say upgrading your amp if you mean going up to 2k watts each that should be good, but more than that and you should really consider the BTL. I think you should upgrade your battery and alternator, and use as many runs of 1/0 as you can. There's nothing wrong with overdoing the electrical system if you can. From my experience adding a h/o alt and 2nd battery and would be extremelly beneficial place to start. Good luck.

I dont see why 2 btl 15s with the proper power wouldn't get you where you want to be with some work, and the electrical to back it up. I'd start beefin up that electrical system and planing the room for the batts too though..

Take the SD (effective cone area) of 2 12s, compare it to that of 1 18. Now look at the power, if its the same power, then that's the same. I prefer the 18, just do it.

http://ampguts.realmofexcursion.com/Massive_Audio_P3000.1/ 1 x 1800W @ 4 ohms (< 1% THD) 1 x 2680W @ 2 ohms (< 1% THD) Max: 1 x 3000W @ 2 ohms (14.4V) Fuse: External 200A Lenght: 34.7in (88 cm) Don't know how the rms is less than 400 less than the max... You can see it isn't putting out 3krms That ampguts site is normally pretty good, I'd search there a little. If you already have 1 3500.1 I'd just get 2 more imo. Good luck.

lawsuit

I would say that's tough. The install/vehicle will be a huge factor. My bros BL 12 is much louder in a drop in situation that his L7 12, but that's different than in the proper box. My L7 15 was hitting in the low 140s off a bxi2006d in the proper box tuned around 32hz. My btl off the same amp was hitting high 140s (just short of 150). I would say the BL might handle more power which might give it an advantage, but I beat my L7 up and it still played fine-so I don't know. As far as price, the difference is you're buying a mass produced product from an online dealer, vs a sub custom built to fit your exclusive needs from the same guy who designed them. Customer service is 2nd to none with Fi. That's my thoughts.

I had a SS-10000 amp do that to me... Opened up the amp and it was burnt up-the board was just fried.

As far as handling way over, for daily its a little different than short bursts. I'd stay under 2k on the BL, and if you're giving it more than that why not get a BTL?

What email address? I've never waited more than 1/2 a day for response. Often the mail from fi ends up in my Bulk for some reason, I'd check that. I can see your irritation, but dude it's barely been a week for a custom order sub. Chill out, I'm sure you'll get a response very quickly now that you have posted on the forum.

x2 or if this is too extravagant I'd do 4 12" BLs on 2 2500s.

I would just make sure you upgrade to the fullest extent you can, adding as many runs of 1/0 and spare batteries as possible-regardless of which one you went with. I've owned 2 bxi2006ds, and was happy with both of them. But as stated-you get what you pay for. They held up well, never malfunctioned, and pushed the BTL OK, but if you put a better amp on there you'll be thankful you did. After upgrading amps the difference was amazing. I'd save to get something bigger/better.