Icon 12 review

[Notoldjustfeellikeit 0]

I have been working with my new Icon 12 D2 sub for a little while trying to get the sound like I want.  I started with building the recommended enclosure from SSA the optimal one.  I built this before I had the sub so I threw in my trusty old infinity perfect and too my suprise it sounded great even though the size of enclosure is outside of what infinity recommended way back then.  i expected it to be too low and limit the frequency response but just the opposite happened.  This new box extended both the low and upper range of this sub.  The upper range, above 50hz has been lacking in my little honda accord.  with that in mind I had high expectations for the new sub.  I finally got the Icon installed and wired in to my brutus 1500d at 1 ohm.  Excited to listen I put in some tracks I am familiar with and was immediatley dissapointed the 50hz plus response I had gained with the infinity was once again gone.  No impact at all with kick drums etc.  thinking it just needs some break in time I left it alone for a few days, playing with different types of music  from rock to bass tracks.  The output with the bass tracks is phenomenal but the tight hit in the chest with drums just isnt there.  So I tried out my old Punch 250m2 after 20 years this amp still works, though it is showing its age, thinking maybe the hifonics is messed up, compared to my Rockford even with the same subs I just never really liked its sound.  Anyway, same response problems, so I get out the tone generator and start going through it.  response starts at around 25hz but really wakes up at 29-30hz  from 30hz to 45hz output is impressive, from 45hz to 50hz it drops off by about 12db, from 50hz up there is almost no output from the sub.  Explains the lack of kick drums as they typically start at 50hz.  I have a couple different boxes laying around so I grab a smaller 2cuft ported box I had with a 4" aero port, I dont remember the tuning frequency but I thought why not try it.  Frequency response is better, still not great but better the uppper curve drops off at 55hz now rather than 45hz.  Kick drums have a much better impact now, though still far below in output from the low end bass notes from bass heavy music. 

Next I try out a leaky old 1cuft sealed box, a premade box so not the best quality.  Output overall is much less than the ported enclosures, as expected, but response is better extending up to 60hz now, with a large peak from 40-45hz , not sure why it so peaky, maybe boundary loading from the car, all the crossovers, and eq settings are set flat at this point.  

My thoughts on the sub so far, its well built and handles power well, though it does seem power hungry  700 watts from my old amp is barely enough to wake it up.  Both voice coils ohm out the same, though not right at 2 ohms but 2.5ohms.  I think it has potential but for my musical tastes, which includes everything except rap, its not great-so far maybe after it loosens up some more it will level out in frequency response.  For bass heavy techno and rap this sub in the 2.5cuft enclosure tuned to 30hz is very impressive in output and clarity based on past db measurements I have taken this single sub is in the 135-138db range with about 1000watts from the Hifonics 1500 maybe less.   if I had the room this sub in that box with another 10" sub running from 40hz up would be an interesting experiment to try.  

I will continue tuning it not sure at this point if I want to go sealed or a smaller slot ported box, a different amp is in my future as well.  

[Tirefryr 1,742]

You need to tune higher or go with a sealed enclosure.   You are asking a sub bass driver to handle mid bass duties.  I get the desire for that big kick drum, but the application is incorrect for this driver it appears.

[Notoldjustfeellikeit 0]

different enclosure tuning makes a huge difference but man to recommed an enclosure design that only plays a narrow band of 15hz is unrealistic especially for a driver touted as an sq class driver.  if it cant play from 30-60hz with authority theres little that can be done to make it sound decent,  no 6.5 door speaker no matter how good its installed is going to make up for a subwoofer that plays such a narrow bandwidth.  Im not building a concert hall, to be honest I have way too much bass for an all out SQ system , but thats how I like it.  For now I have it in my smaller ported box and its miles better than the enclosure that SSA recommends as optimum for this sub.  It blends pretty well now from 30hz to 60hz then from 60hz up the door components are taking over.    Im not knocking the sub itself but SSA really needs to update their enclosure recomendations and make it easier to contact them, I tried and sent an email before I built the box but never got a response.  

[Notorious97200 339]

So you want your sub to play mid bass ?

I loved my Icon and found it was quite musical ! Sorry to hear you don't like it so much.

(did you checked the settings on the head unit ?)

 

[Notoldjustfeellikeit 0]

1 hour ago, Notorious97200 said:

So you want your sub to play mid bass ?

I loved my Icon and found it was quite musical ! Sorry to hear you don't like it so much.

(did you checked the settings on the head unit ?)

 

Not at all, most people define midbass as 80hz to 2-400 hz depending on who you ask, some will say as low as 60hz if midbass was 45hz amp companies wouldnt put 45hz boost settings on sub amps that 45hz boost is what gave the old Rockford punch amps their punch .    Maybe I wasnt being clear, Im not knocking the Icon itself but this is the new version of the sub and SSA still has enclosure build specs for the older model and it really doesnt work well in the larger box.   I played with winisd some last night and it shows a small 1.4cuft tuned to 30hz box for a flat response, that doesnt seem right either.  I checked the tuning on my smaller box and its still in the 30-32hz tuning range same as the larger one but it extended the upper frequency response nicely.  Most of us like to feel the music as much as hear it and with the response cutting off at 45hz in the larger box there was no impact, no feel when listening to music with bass drum tracks.  The smaller box extended the repsonse to 60hz without losing the bottom end and the impact that it was missing before is now there, and it sounds good doing so.  

I checked amp settings, settings on my Kenwood excelon head unit  even turning the crossovers off didnt change the upper response range.  That was my first thought initially because the rolloff was so steep it sounded like a crossover issue.  I havent ruled out the amp as a possibility for some of the weird response curves.  I will update this when I get around to making more changes to the setup.  I think this sub is very capable but also much more sensitive to enclosures than any of my previous subs, it certainly is a different animal from the days of the original Kicker subs from a company named Stillwater Designs.  yeah I know showing my age now.  This sub reminds me of Lanzars first high end sub and the first ones I ever saw that used dual spiders and heavy aluminim baskets, which by the way a lot of companies are still using that same baket design from over 20years ago.  you could change its sonic signature with relatively small enclosure changes also.  

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

First off, thank you for grabbing an Icon.  As said above, it sounds like you are wanting it to reach up in the mid-bass region.  If you want, you can drop it to 1.65 cubes after displacement.  But I personally did not find any major drop off or lack of kick in a 2.25 cube box.  

Looking forward to more findings on your end.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

22 hours ago, Notoldjustfeellikeit said:

different enclosure tuning makes a huge difference but man to recommed an enclosure design that only plays a narrow band of 15hz is unrealistic especially for a driver touted as an sq class driver.  if it cant play from 30-60hz with authority theres little that can be done to make it sound decent,  no 6.5 door speaker no matter how good its installed is going to make up for a subwoofer that plays such a narrow bandwidth.  Im not building a concert hall, to be honest I have way too much bass for an all out SQ system , but thats how I like it.  For now I have it in my smaller ported box and its miles better than the enclosure that SSA recommends as optimum for this sub.  It blends pretty well now from 30hz to 60hz then from 60hz up the door components are taking over.    Im not knocking the sub itself but SSA really needs to update their enclosure recomendations and make it easier to contact them, I tried and sent an email before I built the box but never got a response.  

Y9u have to realize the enclosure recommendations are not going to necessarily be perfect for every application.  They are simply  playing the numbers.  This enclosure is going to be best suited for the vast majority of users, unfortunately, you don't apply.  You're tuning an enclosure too low for what you want it to do.  There are many factors that come into play.  You could have a cancellation issue, a phase issue, impedance rise, etc. . .   I get what you're saying, but you can't always expect it to be that simple. 

[bluedreamz 15]

If you want upper end kick try a fully loaded gcon 12 - the icon is just too soft suspension with high motor force and excursion meant for smooth bass. Demon 12s might work too I have a pair I might trade for your icon if we can work out shipping