From 12s to 10s

[mwoehr 1]

I've always had 12s sealed. One of my favorite setups I had believe it or not was my old JL Audio W3D4 12s sealed with 500 watts. IMO they got plenty loud for the power and souded good to boot. How would a pair of the RL-i 10s compare vented with 600 watts?

Edited February 18, 2008 by Jysoe

[///M5 2,833]

Well, I prefer the Rli to the w3 in pretty much any enclosure.

[nstaln 0]

By going from 12s to 10s you're going down in size by a full order of magnitude. However the RL-is have a significant edge on xmax and you're running them ported to boot. Just out of curiosity why are you going with 10s? Audiopulse makes a sub called the Epic(which is essentially an RL-i) in a 12. I think you'll be pretty happy with the RL-i 10s. JL makes a good product, although overpriced in my opinion, but I have to echo ///M5 on this one, the RL-i is a superior driver. Another setup to consider would be a single RL-p 12 with that same 600watts. But if you're set on 10s the RL-i is definitely a good choice.

[mrray13 30]

you'll love the rl-i drivers. if you liked the w3s, you'll go silly over the rl-i subs.

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[mwoehr 1]

By going from 12s to 10s you're going down in size by a full order of magnitude. However the RL-is have a significant edge on xmax and you're running them ported to boot. Just out of curiosity why are you going with 10s? Audiopulse makes a sub called the Epic(which is essentially an RL-i) in a 12. I think you'll be pretty happy with the RL-i 10s. JL makes a good product, although overpriced in my opinion, but I have to echo ///M5 on this one, the RL-i is a superior driver. Another setup to consider would be a single RL-p 12 with that same 600watts. But if you're set on 10s the RL-i is definitely a good choice.

Because to port a pair of 12s you generally need a pretty big box for them to sound good. A pair of 10s ported takes up about the same footprint as a pair of 12s sealed.

[///M5 2,833]

So if that is the case why not use a pair of 12's sealed?

[mwoehr 1]

So if that is the case why not use a pair of 12's sealed?

Because the pair of 10s ported would be louder. That's what the topic is about. I'm thinking of trying a pair of 10s ported and wanted to know if it would be better than a pair of 12s sealed.

[///M5 2,833]

better and louder aren't related...no one understands what you are asking. If you are trying to ask whether a pair of 12's sealed or a pair of 10's ported will be louder everyone will respond it will depend on your skills in planning and making the box. Of course the one given which is why your "better" question doesn't work si that the pair of 12's sealed will have a flatter frequency response (which to me is WAY better).

[mwoehr 1]

better and louder aren't related...no one understands what you are asking. If you are trying to ask whether a pair of 12's sealed or a pair of 10's ported will be louder everyone will respond it will depend on your skills in planning and making the box. Of course the one given which is why your "better" question doesn't work si that the pair of 12's sealed will have a flatter frequency response (which to me is WAY better).

I've always thought a flatter frequency response was better myself. That's why all my setups where sealed and my favorite pair of 12s I've owned where JL Audio W3D4 12s sealed. They just sounded good to me with everything I've listened to. They got pretty loud and sounded good. Alot of people on here say they're ported setups sound as good as sealed setups and that ported boxed have better low frequency response. That's why I might want to try a pair of ported 10s over a pair or sealed 12s and I really like the look of and what I've heard about the RL-i series. If they still had them in 12s I would have liked to tried a pair of the 12s sealed.

Edited February 18, 2008 by Jysoe

[JimJ 11]

Alot of people on here say they're ported setups sound as good as sealed setups and that ported boxed have better low frequency response.

They don't, IMO...

[///M5 2,833]

Alot of people on here say they're ported setups sound as good as sealed setups and that ported boxed have better low frequency response.

They don't, IMO...

Of course to the ones with the ported boxes they do; however, I would agree with Jim in that their tastes are biased to output and therefore of course they probably think they sound better. Considering better is NOT equal to louder (in particular when louder is defined by a single tone instead of a curve like it should be) this is a farce.

If you truly like what you stated, a pair of 12's sealed will be better for you. Perhaps not louder, perhaps louder, but if you truly prefer a "nice" response the sealed pair should be what you run.

[mwoehr 1]

It's a shame that I can't get a pair of RL-i 12s. They would have been perfect for 600 watts. I liked the RL-i because 300 watts per sub would have been good on them. I don't like to underpower subs. What pair of 12s would knock nice with 600 watts? As I said, I liked the way the W3D4s sounded. Is there a pair of 12s that'll knock harder than those and yet sound as clean with 600 watts?

Edited February 18, 2008 by Jysoe

[mwoehr 1]

By going from 12s to 10s you're going down in size by a full order of magnitude. However the RL-is have a significant edge on xmax and you're running them ported to boot. Just out of curiosity why are you going with 10s? Audiopulse makes a sub called the Epic(which is essentially an RL-i) in a 12. I think you'll be pretty happy with the RL-i 10s. JL makes a good product, although overpriced in my opinion, but I have to echo ///M5 on this one, the RL-i is a superior driver. Another setup to consider would be a single RL-p 12 with that same 600watts. But if you're set on 10s the RL-i is definitely a good choice.

I've never heard of Audiopulse before. However I just looked at the website and their subs look impressive, however looks can be decieving. How are their products? How are the Epics the same as the RL-i divers? Their RMS is higher.

[SoundSplinter 1]

The Epic line of woofers is built upon the TC2+ standard, developed by TC Sounds, Inc. (aka Audiopulse) of San Diego California. It just so happens that these are the same people that build for my SoundSplinter brand, and the Epic and RL-i do indeed share many mechanical similarities and capabilities. As for the difference in advertised RMS, keep in mind there is little formal standard that companies follow when advertising their equipment's power handling capabilities. Using the same 2" diameter coils, the aggregate power handling of the Epic and RL-i Series drivers should be the same.

I tend to be a little more conservative with my recommended power because there is a point where adding more power really only serves to add additional stress to the driver without producing a pronounced performance benefit. So rather than encouraging people to push their driver to the threshold of its limits for minimal gain, I like to suggest powering products with enough juice to get them performing efficiently, with a relatively low risk of driver failure should your other settings or usage be inappropriate (i.e. high gain or EQ). If however, someone comes to me expressing that they intend to compete for maximum SPL for example, I will explain the added risk and recommend increased power.