Impious

You don't need to measure anything. Simply use your brain and ears to set the gain to a level that the subwoofer is not overdriven at your maximum listening level. A clamp test is useless. You don't need to buy anything from SPL Labs (though I'm glad shiz pointed out it would be a waste for your purpose). Set the gain using your brain and ears. It's that simple, really.

There is nothing wrong with having multiple ports, just like any enclosure it depends on whether or not the enclosure was properly designed to start with. So far we don't have enough details to tell you if the enclosure was properly designed or if it is a good match for your subwoofers.

And spend twice the amount of money for how much of an audible gain..... ? Little to none? Not to mention the sub is a D2 he'd have to run the strapped amps at 4ohm since not many are going to be stable at .5ohm/amp and it's simply unnecessary in a daily system to push the amps that hard, so there'd be no gain to a single amp at 1ohm or a strapped pair at 4ohm. Save your money. Get an amp in the 1500w-2kw range. Be happy.

I figured it was Sd related but wasn't certain.

Curious if there is a specific reason the guys at STEP use that specific pattern for the mounting holes? Same thing they did on the UL12.

Just because the sub is rated for 3kw doesn't mean you need to purchase a 3kw amplifier. What is your intended use for the system? If this is a daily driver you could easily save some $$ by going with a 1500w-2kw amp and not hear bit of a audible difference.

http://www.haggleme.com/Vehicle/30076/1957-Chevrolet-Belair-Wagon.aspx

In theory output would be identical. You are "gaining" 6db by doubling your displacement (assuming alignment stays the same) but "losing" 6db by going from 2kw per driver to 500w per driver. In reality you'll gain some amount of output as BKO pointed out due to improvements in power compression. Also it sounds like you might not be truly utilizing the full 2kw now. If you, for example, were only truly using around 1kw on the single Q then you would end up gaining 3db + differences in power compression by going to two Q's in the same alignment on 500w each. That said you would also see measurable improvements in distortion as you would now be using half the excursion to reach a given output level with two Q's instead of a single driver. Whether or not that difference is audible really depends on the characteristics of the driver and how you use it in your installation....the difference might be audible, might not.

If the efficiency is identical, and the output power is identical, then the current draw would likewise be identical. If one amp has a lower efficiency, then the amp with lower efficiency would draw more current. It really is that simple. Ohms law has nothing to do with this, and is one thing that gets people confused. The impedance of the load only matters in so far as how it affects the efficiency of the amplifier(s). The only thing that matters in this conversation is amplifier efficiency (along with power output and power supply voltage, but since those are assumed to be constant between the two amplifiers we can ignore them for the moment). As shiz said, generally speaking as impedance of the load decreases so does amplifier efficiency. But that doesn't mean that amp A wired to 1ohm will necessarily be less efficient than amp B wired to 4ohm. It completely depends on the respective designs of the amplifiers.

That's the cost of being a good uncle As was said....stay away from Bose. You can get a full kit from PE, Madisound, Meniscus, etc that includes everything including the cabinets, some of them are even pre-cut for the drivers. It's really a matter of slapping everything together, and they would walk all over the Bose. If you can build your own enclosures then there are a lot more choices to choose from. Still need a budget

i really don't care dude. you say you have the "sexiest team SSA car" i call bullshit. i drive a Hummer with $10K+ in extras and an soon to have plenty on SSA products. BOW DOWN playa Frankly, I think Hummers suck, and the fact that you spent 10 grand on the pile of shit makes me laugh. no, $10K+ after the price of the truck itself. far from a pile of shit You completely missed his point......he didn't imply you spent $10K on the truck to purchase it.

Well its not really gonna be for music, Its going to be an entertainment system i was going for a 12" ina ported enclosure. With a real nice receiver w/ crossovers and such already in it. I am not saying it going to happen right away nor will i want to seal off any of my closet or door spaces or anything but i would very much so like to have a nice sound system like that. I figured the IB3 would be a good driver for something of the sort with some nice mid and high towers nothing huge. i need skinny stuff because my room is big but a lot of the space is taken up. ill get some pics of the room and an idea of what id like to have done. Then you do not want an IB3. As mentioned it's meant specifically for inFinite baffle. What is your budget? Are you willing/able to DIY from a predesigned kit or from plans? Build cabinets?

Your friend is highly gullible and easily separated from his money.

It makes sound, specifically bass. There, that should save you a few bucks. JL equipment is always high quality, well designed/constructed units that perform towards the top of their respective categories. They are expensive, but they are also one of the most innovative companies in car audio.....constantly improving their products with real, substantive innovations and not goofy things like gigantic oversized surrounds.

How exactly do you plan to go IB in your room? IB in a house generally requires cutting walls, floors or closing off a closet. Not sure that's something your parents would go for. Nor is it easy without a TON of displacement potential....meaning a lot of large diameter high excursion subwoofers with a pretty decent amount of power on tap. A house is nothing like a car, much harder to achieve bass output in a house than a car. You honestly would probably be better off with a ported enclosure tucked in a corner. As for speakers and receiver....budget, goals, space, what all you need the receiver to do (input/output/etc) is all needed. If you want this to also be a learning experience you could look at one of the numerous speaker kits available. They generally come with all of the parts (speakers, crossover parts, etc) that you need for the speakers. Some come with cabinets, others don't. If you have the ability to build the cabinets or can talk Nem into helping build them, then there are a ton more options available for various speaker plans. Generally speaking dollar for dollar it's possible to end up with better performance going with a DIY kit and/or plans instead of the mainstream big box type speakers.

Capacitors are useless. Sell it and upgrade your battery. Wait...what was the question?

http://fortwayne.craigslist.org/cto/3426124379.html

As mentioned, components are hard to recommend as so much is dependent upon personal taste. How much space do you have for subs? If you have the room I think going a different route in that department might be beneficial.

To answer one question....get rid of the cap. It's not needed. That one is easy. The rest of it I don't understand either. What subs you currently have installed in your truck?

Start simple. Unhook the subs and play the stereo....see if the problem persists. If it doesn't, then it's either a problem with the subs or a problem with the amp when driving a load. Measure the coils of the subs with a DMM to verify they are all good. What amplifier? How is everything set? What HU? What settings does the HU have and how are they set?

Indeed, you are very correct. Small differences wouldn't be audible at all. If they are WAY off it still won't hurt anything, you just wouldn't be extracting full performance.

With that budget I wouldn't bother with a 3-way. Money is better spent on a 2-way system at that price point.

I'm not sure of your sister's ear for sound, but unless she's eccentric compared to the mainstream customer base I'd wager she would end up satisfied with any number of options within your price range. For example, the JBL MS-62c and Alpine SPR-60c can easily be sourced for within your budget and I'm going to guess would be more than satisfactory for her. Purchasing used will net you better quality per $ but isn't nearly as convenient and a bit more of a risk.

Need to know budget and better definition of your goals. My idea of sound quality and yours can be very different. Music selection and details of the rest of the system can be helpful as well.

I'm going to guess they underrated the 4ohm power a bit. At 1ohm & 2ohm it's rated at 59.16V output, but at 4ohm only 54.78V....usually the numbers go up a little instead of down as you increase impedance. If we assume 59.16V output you'd be looking at 438w @ 8ohm.....at 54.78V you'd be looking around 375w @ 8ohm. Not enough of a difference between those two voltages to matter audibly though, so it's sort of irrelevant. Meet in the middle and call it 400w