Help me chose a 12" woofer...

[JohnHinerman 10]

Whats up...first wanted to say thanks to everyone on the SSA forums.. Very glad I found it. A lot of good info and members here.... now that I'm done kissing ass lol .....

I need some recommendations..

I recently built an enclosure to replace the old setup in my Eclipse. I built it to fit how I wanted in the hatch, and did not have a pre-planned volume. When I finished this thing, I ended up with:

1.62 cu ft

Slot Ported @ 32hz

7.5" max mounting depth.

I layed out both 12" and 10" cut out patterns on it, and have a Type R 10" temp mounted in it so I could still play until I chose on a final driver. I'm actually very impressed how the Alpine is playing in this enclosure. 100x better than it did in the small sealed enclosure it was in originally.

The mono amp is advertised at 600w RMS, however birth certificate states 756w RMS. It does this at either 2ohm or 4ohm which opens up a few more options for woofer selection.

After searching for a 12" woofer with rec volume which works, mounting depth, and Qts, it seems that most of the woofers I have found want a little bit more volume. I emailed a few companies, but Skar was the only one that actually replied. Kevin from Skar replied quickly, and tells me that this setup would work great with the VVX12. To me it looks like a very good option, however I would like to see if anyone has any input before I actually order the Vvx. I've never seen a Skar woofer, let alone heard one, but people seem to think highly of them here. I would feel better if it was a US made driver, but he assures me they are top quality.

Anyway, I'd like to spend about $200 at the most, and if anyone has any other suggestions, or confirmation that the VVX12 might be my best choice, I'm open for ideas...

fwiw here is a picture of the enclosure. This is before the bondo, putty, sanding, and finished coating, but you get the idea...

[Impious 1,476]

How much port area do you have? Looks on the smaller side in the pics.

[///M5 2,833]

Kevin would say it would sound great in that box even if you told him it was half as big or twice as big. I hope he at least asked what you'd like to improve over the current Type R you have and tried to understand your goals....because if not there is NO WAY he could answer the question honestly.

That being said we also need that information to help. Let us know, there are definitely options.

[JohnHinerman 10]

grrrr How come my notifications never work??

Anyway, port 8x2x20something (can't remember, don't have my stuff here)

as far as improving, here is what was going on...

I had the Type R in a tiny enclosure, and it really just didn't not produce much SPL or play very low. It was a day I had nothing going on, so I broke out the MDF and saw's with the idea I just wanted something that was louder and played lower. I didn't plan on using the 10" Alpine in it when I was building it, I just didn't want to be without any low end in the mean time. Turns out, this little Alpine plays VERY loud and sounds pretty darn good. What I want is a woofer that can play rap like Zoe, Jeezy, or anything else, plus a bass disc here and there, and play it loud and clean. Right now my sun roofer pops out, visors shake, etc. At the same time I listen to a lot of rock music, so I would like to be able to dial down the sub level a few clicks and be able to enjoy loud harder music while keeping my kick drums and bass lines tight and under control (is this asking too much??)

Edited May 31, 2012 by jdblya

[16K 159]

wow that port is way to small lol...

[JohnHinerman 10]

wow that port is way to small lol...

I donno, it works pretty well

[lithium 358]

wow that port is way to small lol...

I donno, it works pretty well

physics would say otherwise

[JohnHinerman 10]

wow that port is way to small lol...

I donno, it works pretty well

physics would say otherwise

Back to the original posting, I'm just looking for a woofer... leave my port alone lol

[Kanaworm$ 292]

Why not keep the Alpine? Seems to me you achieved your goal with building the new box.

[JohnHinerman 10]

Why not keep the Alpine? Seems to me you achieved your goal with building the new box.

To me it just sounds like the Alpine is at its limits and a 12" would be nice to have...

[40oz 1]

I am also currently in the market for a single 12" and most of them ask for 1.75 cubes +. However the Sundown SA-12 recommends 1.5 to 2.0 cubes, so your enclosure fits that range. It's also a good match for the power you have.

Regarding your enclosure, if you are limited on space I think its best to go with an aero port since they need less port area than a slot port and there will be less possibility of port noise. The port also takes up less volume so you could probably bump up your net volume a little. I'm still only learning so I'm sure someone else could explain better or correct me if I am wrong. But since you already built the box maybe you are set on keeping. Either way good luck with your build.

[Duran 387]

Port your current enclosure correctly and you may be surprised

[///M5 2,833]

Port your current enclosure correctly and you may be surprised

And that would be better than changing woofers.

[ssh 924]

Sounds like your looking for an excuse to buy another driver instead of improving on the enclosure.

[JohnHinerman 10]

Ok nevermind.... I'm not looking for another speaker instead of a port. All I asked for was some speaker recommendations and everyone wants to just attack the port because they claim it doesn't work.

Sorry I asked.

[///M5 2,833]

Another speaker won't help. Randomly pick. You'll be just as good off as you are now.

And shame on Kevin for saying it'd work

[JohnHinerman 10]

Another speaker won't help. Randomly pick. You'll be just as good off as you are now.

And shame on Kevin for saying it'd work

Won't help? I'm not really trying to fix anything. All I wanted to originally do is put a 12" woofer in this box. There was never a problem. There isn't a problem with port noise or anything else like.

[ssh 924]

Ok nevermind.... I'm not looking for another speaker instead of a port. All I asked for was some speaker recommendations and everyone wants to just attack the port because they claim it doesn't work.

Sorry I asked.

I was simply suggesting that your port could be limiting the potential of the driver, regardless of the driver.

Imagine getting a sports car, then placing a block of wood under the gas pedal.

Now move the block of wood from one car to another, potential is still limited.

[ssh 924]

Another speaker won't help. Randomly pick. You'll be just as good off as you are now.

And shame on Kevin for saying it'd work

Won't help? I'm not really trying to fix anything. All I wanted to originally do is put a 12" woofer in this box. There was never a problem. There isn't a problem with port noise or anything else like.

Okay there isn't a problem, but a 12" driver is likely going to displace much more air then a 10" driver, so port speed will go up, but maybe you won't notice it, or it won't be enough to matter.

[///M5 2,833]

Another speaker won't help. Randomly pick. You'll be just as good off as you are now.

And shame on Kevin for saying it'd work

Won't help? I'm not really trying to fix anything. All I wanted to originally do is put a 12" woofer in this box. There was never a problem. There isn't a problem with port noise or anything else like.

Then why bother. Your only goal is to have a 12". That is flat out a waste of money.

[Impious 1,476]

Another speaker won't help. Randomly pick. You'll be just as good off as you are now.

And shame on Kevin for saying it'd work

Won't help? I'm not really trying to fix anything. All I wanted to originally do is put a 12" woofer in this box. There was never a problem. There isn't a problem with port noise or anything else like.

What they are trying to express is that the enclosure has as much of an effect on performance as the subwoofer itself.

You can change subs, but you really do not have sufficient port area for a 12" driver of decent excursion. As such, the resulting performance is going to suffer to some degree. Which makes the entire endeavor a little self-defeating. If your goal is simply to "fit a 12" driver in this enclosure, regardless of performance" (which is essentially what you are saying) then it doesn't really matter much what you pick to put in there. If your goal isn't to improve any performance aspect, then stick with what you have. But if your goal is to improve various aspects of the performance, then it would be best to start by designing a new enclosure.

You might not think the design of your enclosure has anything to do with this thread....but it does.