sqguy

I've done that with an old HU, low voltage. Just had to max it out to see the voltage.

Right now I am running a kicker 700.5 I bought at ubid. It was refurbished by kicker, came in new box wrapped with all new sealed mounting/connectors/remote/etc a new one would and copy of manual/test results. It seems to work fine for almost a year now, I don't like it anymore, but it works like it should. It had a rub mark on the top, I polished 90% of it out so nothing is really noticeable. When I get a minute and it warms up around here, I'll be peeling it out and selling it. I want to setup so I can go active anyway and it would not work the way I want for that. The amp should be repaired fully, tested fully to spec, burned in, outfitted with all accessories (though sometimes they don't), and warrantied by the place that did it. I only buy factory refurbs (done by the maker or their one anointed subcontractor), and I have no problem buying them providing I get a deal on them. You know the bugs were worked out, it is just a matter that it might have some wear on it cosmetically and most of the time I don't care long as its in very nice condition. I saw the same amp sell on ebay with a blown channel for the same price, maybe a fixed auction but others were close to that....not sure why. Also had a maxxsonics hifonics that was a refurb from them, I actually talked to a tech there about it and he told me they do it there. It was like new, even the letters on top were taped with foam inside the bag. He said they sometimes sell them in lots and places like ubid pick them up, sometimes those are ones missing accessories and so they get them cheap. So read the listing very carefully if you need everything like a remote or something....and make sure it is warrantied. Ubid only does 14 days or so, then the refurb place does what length they warranty (30-90 days?) so check the amp right away. Some refurb places will only fix or replace it, no returns. Just like anything, if you take the chance of it not being new then you should get a deal on it. If new is not much more I buy new. With amps I mostly buy used anyway, but that is just me.

Power supplies are not cheap. You can find jumper packs for around $25, two might work for a while. They charge slow though if you use what comes with them. But they are sealed battery inside, so should be fine in the house. They would be ok if you don't keep it hammered for a long time. Even then it is hard to power DC amps on AC, and large amps take a pile of power. I sold a kenwood 900wrms for ~$100, they go for that all the time and it was class D. They take less power. I imagine if you want more amp you could get around a 1Kw for that if you shop for a while.

"Just get a TangBand.... " I think that TB 10 would make a nice midbass for a door, but I get too many neat ideas. Certainly can't fit it in my car.

A while ago I was reading posts on audio boards looking for something I was researching and I kept finding 'eduh' everywhere, and not in a positive way. Don't know what board it was.

My infinity are 300wrms, the manual says half for IB. Seen other normal subs say the same, but ones with that low of Q are always not for IB. The only lower Q ones I have seen run IB are some large very expensive and high power handling subs used in HT. The larger and very HD subs with lower Q appear to be able to do IB.

That box in the video, did it have a lot of bracing in the bottom? If not could be that was why it moved the sub was blowing the bottom out like a balloon. The more flat area you have the less pressure it takes to move it. Anyway, this is not the first thread I've read about issues with their stuff. I wonder how it does IB with a Qts of .29? Seems like it would have popped a lot with that damage....back in the day I ran a lot of IB and I knew that sound well. That was the "all you can get" sound and you turned it down a little. Never had a sub that did it quietly either, that would make me wince every time I heard it. Only so many times and you are done. SSF is a good idea if you are at limit of sub or amp. I run 15hz on my IB 12s only because they move some on quiet passages of some CDs. At 100w each I don't worry about xmax but they should not be moving like that and it could limit power on a crappy CD. Otherwise I want to play 20Hz if its there; that is why I have 4 12s IB. But a sealed should not be as affected unless it were really getting the power laid to it....or it was defective, the box leaked a lot, maybe feedback from bad input connection, etc. Have not used any shallow subs yet, but none seem to be rated for a lot of power. I know a bass cd will move my subs a lot more than any normal music. Have not tried my tones on them yet.

Same old sh, different day is right. I installed around '90 and that was a big place that did everything, stereo, interiors, cruise controls, truck lights/running boards/etc, cloth tops, sun/moon roofs/t-tops...you name it, and a lot for dealers too back then. They sold kenwood like crazy, even the items we knew didn't work that well. At the time they had a little 2way crossover it was a 1100 or something. It worked fine on a small system, but big power or stacking them was a bad idea. They sell a huge 5 amp system one day and want to put those in it...I say no....we put them in....it sounds terrible. Why they ask....I say puke crossovers....finally change out to LPs and what a difference. The guy had 3 LP amps and 2 SS amps, come on. They just had to sell kenwood everything for some reason. They had these flat 8 subs we sold a pile of instead of 10s some people wanted, because kenwood didn't have a 10 I guess. I had to tell people to insist on 10s for subs if they could fit and they wanted them.

One I had on today is Depeche Mode - Ultra. Some of the music is kinda strange, or strange noises, but it sounds so good in the car. Must have been mastered well. Another I use to size up a car is a Seal remix CD. Some of the Duran Duran is good but other of their CDs sound so-so. There are some jazz things that are ok on subs, Kenny G maybe had a tape I was benching stuff with a while back. Lot of good music from 80-90s I can't even find on CD, what a bass ackwards worthless industry.

Phil Collins, 80/90s dance like Madonna/J Jackson/INXS/'Relax'/etc, Limp Bizkit/Nin/maybe Dream Theater and/etc rock like that. I'd have to look in my car for more names. Some CDs run the subs a lot better than others. Old Rush has some good drum tracks.

I had a 1f cap on my test bench in the power. I would turn off everything, just a HU using memory and displaying a clock. I'd pull the 12v and the HU would go for about 6 seconds and die.

Must be none of them ever built any model cars.

Yeah, a cap is like a little battery. It helps a little but not really to make much change in sound you would hear. I'd say it helps your alternator survive more than anything, and it is kind of a bandaid for not enough power supply. Best use would be pushing a stock electrical system and trying to get by with it. If you are on the edge of power supply it may help, if you are way over what the car can produce you just plain don't have enough and it will not do much performance-wise. The cap just evens out the flow of power so if the flow is very plentiful or there is not enough flow to even out, then it does little. I got one for $15 and going to put it on my stock car but I only will run < 1kw rms maybe < 700w, and just for daily music. IMHO I don't know anything "bad" about them or that they could hurt anything aside from careless discharge/etc. If your wire is large enough, another battery or larger alternator will do way more for you....but for $15 I'm going to use it. I also have a booster battery to try if that does not do enough; I'm trying to pair down the weight of my setup as well.

Do any daytons fit the bill? I'm thinking of trying the blue paper pyramid originals. Yeah keep on laughing, but unless they have been changed they worked well for lower power apps in the old days. Worked best IB or large ported so they might be higher Q, and I only used the 10s. I have 4 12s and it would be $86 shipped to swap and try them. They are rated more efficient than any of their other subs... I used to hit xmax with 2x75 amps IB on 10s or in 2cf ea ported. They would do 30Hz. These 4 12s I have now put out more than I need and weigh a ton. I can't believe nobody here has experimented with them, there just isn't much around for low wattage and efficient subs today. It would help if they published some T&S for them. I bought one of the royal blue 10s for a project and it came with a few specs, worked ok but was a powered enclosure and had nothing to compare it to. The originals 12 list SPL @ 1W/1M 98dB. http://www.teptronics.com/wx125.html Well, I always though it was fun to mess with the stuff and find out. But if you don't have the time like I don't anymore then you don't do it. If they are more efficient I should be able to run less power and less weight...and still have close to the same output without rebuilding my baffle. Only thing is I used to run them in the sun and they would die after 2-3years; the foam. Not in sun they lasted longer, but foam is different on them now. I also hammered them daily. About 100wrms/ch/per sub old school amp and the 10s would start to blow if you pushed them.

Last one looked/sounded like a mortar. Do they give driver license to 14yr olds there or what? Ok, maybe they were older and drinking a lot. Like it mattered what HU and amp they used, that part was funny.

A class D sub amp should put less draw on your car, in off case you didn't know that. I would not use a 4ch to run subs hard IMHO, they are not really made for it usually unless they recommend. I picked up a 500wrms alpine class d mono cheap a while back, but have not had chance to rewire so I can try it in car. I have 4 12s IB in there, the 420w out of the 5ch kicker does not max them but is pretty loud. Changing high side out so needed to get something for subs and figured the mrd couldn't be worse than kicker, but don't really know. I have a 350w to try too and a 1Kw off brand, but same deal its not worth it to me to change electrical. I have a small battery to add, a cap, and think it is 100-125A factory alt. In reality it shakes the car now, I can't even use all the sub until the high side is fixed up.

lol, this is funny topic. I bought an (psw410) alphasonic 400w 10 one day for <20 lightly used. I had a new 1cf ported qlogic box that was about what they recommend and I toss it in there inverted to help it out....even stuff the box a little. I think it is ported at 25hz I forget its around 11+ by 3". Anyway, all I do with it is bench test amps on music and test tones so it is perfect for that. It is a audiobahn clone as I recall and has pretty good xmax (9mm), it will make the 3" port huff at 10-20hz so sometimes I plug it. But it gets down quite well for a 10, I mean cone area helps more IMO but this thing is a pump considering what it is. I'm really thinking of using it for HT at some point, I don't think I would hear the port noise with it hidden and playing mostly non-musical things and doubt I would push enough power to hurt it. Or I could mod it to a larger port. That box is plenty big enough for in the house. It gets much lower than a P5 sony 12 in a 1+cf recommended sealed or a cheap 10 BP also used for testing. This 10 often does sound better on a larger amp, like a 1Kw (@ reasonable levels). But when you lay the power on it does not get much louder....it is just fun to watch (or restricted port since it blows dust off the ceiling). I can hear a much flatter response than the sealed 12, but it would need a subsonic in a car to take abuse. I used to run a lot of 10s IB in cars, I had no problem hitting 30Hz, they would drop off some below that but still could feel it. Better to run 4 IB, they hit the lows well. Ran two 10s in large (2cf ea) ported and they had about the same response as the 4 10s IB, very nice for music IMO. That was mostly old school stuff, usually 150-300w amps and efficient subs. I bet some newer 10s would do better, I know my current IB 12s do and they are just infinitys. Getting 30Hz is about my minimum for subs in a car, it does not sound right if they don't and is why I like IB setups. But I have yet to put 500w on subs in one of my cars, I just listen to music and 400wrms I have blows out my high side right now until I fix it.

Parallel is the only way you can hook them for 12v. I've never had a problem w/different batteries but if one battery is bad like drops a cell...it will kill the charge in the rest. Ideally they should be the same type and age. IMO if they are all in good condition it should work ok.

Oh that box is way cool!

Lol, it was a balmy 13F down here today and I got in the car and cranked up the subs. They warm up pretty fast, about a mile.

She can dance for sure

About a year ago my buddy calls me and says he can get a couple amps at a pawn shop for $80, a dual and a soundstream. I say I will take them right now. The dual I ended up trading back to him later for the same $40, the SS is a Rubicon 302 that is still sitting here. I ran it on a single 12 sub for a couple weeks and it worked fine, but have not figured out what to do with it yet. It is not perfect but nice condition, still not a deal like you got!

The cheaper peerless SLS might not be bad, depending on your needs. It is 8 ohm but might not make that big a difference. http://www.madisound.com/catalog/PDF/peerless/830668.pdf It has that nice flat response. That TB sure looks cool with the neo and all, sure could help if depth is an issue. This Hi-Vi is interesting too. http://www.madisound.com/catalog/PDF/hivi/d10.8.pdf

For 100w? I would look for something cheap and light...and efficient. That is what will get you your volume with low power. A 200w sub for example should have no problem, look for one with higher db. If you don't beat it even a 150w sub may work well. Don't get some high powered thing that is less efficient. You may have to figure out what ones will work with the size box you have. Some of those premade subs use a really cheap driver but they work fine in that app, it is not a high power car sub we are all used to dealing with. Check out the basic lines of brands you like, and maybe daytons or something. Unless you want to go with a larger amp later, then get more sub.

I use a HD window cleaner on most, just spray the top and let it sit a minute. If there is goo on it then use whatever to get that off like lighter fluid/fantastic/etc. Far as shine I am not sure, an automotive 'cleaner' type compound should help with some elbow grease. I would not use anything more aggressive than that. Soft soap might work well. I have used a little lighter fluid on a rag and then used window cleaner to take most of that off. It makes it shine without the oily feel. I don't like the plastic/tire spray as they are greasy/slippery, but you might find one that is not slippery. There are some kitchen/bath products like chrome/SS cleaner that work well on certain finishes, it might work on anodize.