Stereo Integrity Mag v.4

[KU40 173]

I have the new Mag in an enclosure that's about 1.15 cubes before displacement, so maybe 1.05 after. It's powered by a Crossfire BMF1000D, giving a rated 1000 watts to it at 1 ohm.

I must admit that when I first put power to the sub I was a little disappointed. It seemed pretty lifeless. However, you must give it time to break in. After about 3 hours of listening time I was much happier. It sounds excellent, tonality is superb, and it does blend with the mids very well. I must say that it definitely sounds different than any other sub you've probably tried (though I haven't listened to any other XBL^2 enabled subs), and you probably wouldn't believe me unless you actually heard it. At least I didn't realize just how different a sub could sound.

The Mag gets about as loud as I thought it would. It's not blow-your-doors-off loud, but it can give things a good rattle and blur your vision a tad. However, as others have said, it definitely cannot soak the power like previous versions. The sub I replaced this with was a 15" v.2 Mag in a ported enclosure, and that sub could take everything my Crossfire could throw at it. But I'm a little timid to say that I did bottom out the new Mag. Let me tell you this- IT GIVES YOU NO WARNING. This sub sounds perfectly linear until you literally push that volume knob one notch too far, and then it will bottom. It is outstanding that it stays linear throughout its entire excursion range, but that's also a cause for apprehension for me. Other subs will let you know that it's getting a little too far by giving audible distortion signals. The Mag does not. It's volume 22: "Damn this sub sounds awesome, it's really getting into a groove," to volume 23: BRAAAP "AAAUUUGGGHH!!!! turn it down turn it down." It scared me a little.

This sub sounds like pure sex when I played Def Leppard's "Let it Rock." It will handle The Crystal Method's most crazy basslines with ease and detail you've never heard. It'll play all four bass notes in Young Jeezy's "Put On" in perfect form and without exaggerating any of them. This sub has absolutely 0% distortion. What you are hearing is what the artist put onto the track. There is no overhang from previous notes or boominess.

But there are things that will take some getting used to for me. One is the loss of the crazy low end that my 15" Mag had. I loved that thing. It didn't quite had the tonality that this sub has, but it was pure brute force and I loved it. The new Mag is not an aggressive sub. It's punchy, but not as punchy as I would have thought. Don't get me wrong, it's not sloppy either. It's just something in the middle that I can't quite figure out. It's punchy with a laid back theme. I dunno. If you're used to concerts where the kick bass from their loudspeakers snaps you in the chest, this does not sound like that. It also has some.......interesting......quirks. It seems to have a natural attenuation above 70 hz or so, and this may be why it blends with the mids so well. You can still hear the sub, but you don't feel it. Which is another weird thing about this sub, is that you can feel the pressure on your ears but it seems transparent. You can't feel it or tell where it's coming from in medium volume ranges. Which is great, I mean the other day I was driving down the road and turned my head to look for oncoming traffic and was like whoa.......I actually could not tell where the sub was located. It seemed to be emanating from all directions. When you crank it up that goes away, though, but that is likely mainly because it was overpowering my mids and highs. Speaking of cranking it up, I mentioned how you can hear it but not feel it so much at medium volume levels. This sub is different than others I've tried in that regard. Others steadily increase in both feel and hear, but this one really only gets felt in the upper 20% or so of it's output. It will give you a nice massage at about 90% full volume.

This is an outstanding sound quality sub, and it will get the job done for any true audiophile. It also has a fairly small mounting depth. However, for me and my Explorer that wasn't really a concern. If I had any suggestions for my own tastes, it would be to deepen the mounting depth to a more conventional design so that it could have more usable throw. A slightly more aggressive sub may suit me better as well, and I kinda miss the lowend monster that the 15" was. But these are my own fault for picking a subwoofer that was not entirely in line with my tastes. I do have a bit of basshead in me. I did want a smaller box (my gf was also pushing for that pretty hard), and this obviously has that advantage, along with weight saving. I forgot to mention build quality, but come on, it's SI. Build quality is never an issue.

[dbjunior 0]

i think you should try a ported box for the sub as comparision. it could give you extra lowend definatley more volume and less likeley to bottom out the sub. and as far as space goes a 12 ported should still leave you with plenty compared to the 15 ported you had.

[johnecon2001 82]

The Mag isn't recommended for a ported box. Sealed or nothing.

[KU40 173]

The Mag isn't recommended for a ported box. Sealed or nothing.

yep. I really wish I could port it, I think that would make it the perfect sub because it would add a little lowend exaggeration that I'm used to and increase efficiency to aid in getting as loud without reaching the mechanical limits.

[stealth 113]

i know exactly what you need. 1 more 10 and 100watts more. lol that sounds like what you want. i have a friend looking into 4 of these.

[johnecon2001 82]

i know exactly what you need. 1 more 10 and 100watts more. lol that sounds like what you want. i have a friend looking into 4 of these.

They only come in 12's...

[KU40 173]

It's not the best carpentry and finish job ever, but I only had about 8 hours to do it all while I was back at my hometown. The amp rack sits partly over the wheel well, and the wires in the picture aren't nearly as close to the Crossfire amp as the picture would lead you to believe. There's a good 2-3" between them. I zip-tied most of the wires together for a bit of cleanliness but that was just to make it home, I could still hide them a bit more. But it was dark and about 30 degrees when I hooked everything up that night so I was just in get-it-done-for-now mode. I'm also going to get a black shroud of some kind to cover it all instead of the blue blanket.

My old box was basically as big as the rest of the cargo area. so I trimmed down quite a bit.