Nathan L

I Haven't had any subs in a long time but my WRX really needs one with all the road and engine noise.

I used to face my subs forwards but a lot of the installs I've looked at have them facing backwards.

Does it really matter ?

Thanks

Nathan..

chiark

It will matter, but it depends on the sub. The "rule of thumb" is that you should fire the sub into the biggest available air space. Although saying that, my infinity 120brs liked to have some "front loading", or something close to the front of 'em to provide suspension.

It's a black art - but after advice I ended up firing backwards "out of" the boot.

Cheers,
Nick.

Nathan L

Nick

Thanks for the reply.

Many moons ago I used to have 2 12" MTX Black Gold (?) Subs which the dealer advised me to face forwards. Sitting in the back seats you had a massage when the stereo was turned up

All I'm looking at now is something like an Alpine Type R or Kenwood 12 inch sub in a small ported box to go with some Infinity fronts. It doesn't need huge volume but it the head unit struggles at the moment.

When I get it I shall fire it into the boot and see how it sounds.

Cheers

Nathan..

smurph

Do you mean with the magnet showing??

Oh and don't buy a kenwood sub wateva you do......pile a cr@p, nearly as bad as sony.

smurph

p.s - feel free to make me an offer on my 15" jonah lomu

[Edited by smurph - 2/24/2003 7:01:17 PM]

nom

Depends, as Chiark says, is what I find...
Pointing in different directions makes a difference to the bass produced - I have found that backwards (into the boot) produces more 'noise' for the same power, but it's not so deep. Firing straight into the back of the seats allows the sound to go wayyy deeper than into the boot does, but the higher bass in 'knocked out' and it takes wodges of power.
I have mine facing into the car, but that's only since I changed to subs that could go that low, otherwise it was a waste of "what's available". And probably changes from box to box, dirver to driver, etc.

chiark

Definitely changes from box to box and driver to driver. Never really understood how the t/s parameters could be used to work out whether "front loading" will work or not, but I'm nowhere near able to understand the physics involved...

Nathan L

I suppose it would also make a big difference what size and how many subs you have. An 18" sub facing the seats with a suitable amp is going to be much better than a 10" with an amp like mine facing the seats.

What size Amp and Speakers do you guys have ?

Is one 10" or 12" Sub with a 200w amplifier going to be enough in a Scooby sized car ? The last car I had subs in was a small hatchback and that had 2 10" lol.

Nathan..


[Edited by Nathan L - 2/24/2003 9:47:47 PM]

nom

Well, now it gets on to what sort of music too!
For speaker size, I have found I don't like anything above 10" - too 'slow', but that's just me . 10", as far as I am concerned, can get as low as a car can produce anyway (the realistic absolute depth being limited by the size of the car, and also the reponse of the source...), certainly far below audible levels.
So I have a pair of 10", JL Audio somethings I think, firing into the back of the seats in a sealed box made to the specs the manufacturer recommends. They're powered by a 'made to spec' Genesis lump - each gets around 250w continuous (peak around 500)the way they are set up. Most of that goes into the 'weight' end of the sound rather than boom - the crossover is set to 40Hz, so the highest they get is around 100Hz, I'd say, but there's very little over 80. The power doesn't go very far at that sort of frequency

ChrisGTi

I have 2 800watt Rockford DVC 12inch subs, with approx(according to the Rockford Birth certificate) 400watts going into them off a Rockford Amp, they pack a serious amount of bass, Oh also have u considered sound deadening, well worth spending £100ish doing it, makes a hell of a difference. Also u don't look like a muppet when you have your stereo on and the whole car is vibrating outside, so all passers by can hear is rattling number plates nd tyre well etc.

Oh and to be honest i wouldn't touch anything more than a 12inch sub, i had 2 rockford 15's before these 12's and yes they were loud and bassy, but they couldn't keep up to any sort of "quick" music such as house/trance. They are better for R&B type stuff with a bit more depth, rather than punch.

Hope that helps
Chris

Luke

What about corner loading??? I like using small 8.inch DVC JL's in the car. Very small custom made cabinets that sit in rear passenger footwells. Run from a dual mono genesis, crossed over with active Nakamichi unit.

This gives me fast bass that goes as low as i need...... (I dont have little blue lights on my washers!!)

But best of all. Invest in loads of sound deadening material. Keep the sound in the car.

rockinRu

One 15" Brahma on a USAcoustics1000F.The sub is in a 3.5 cube box with two 4x25" ports.

Whoever said 12's and 15's are sloppy hasn't ventured beyond Sony sub's...They hardly keep up with Adire's Koda 6.5" with 7 mm's of LINEAR xmax...heheh...

But generally speaking,firing back will bring max spl in a trunk.But for sq...like Nick said;it's a black art.totally up to the listener.you'll need to experiment.

chiark

Good to see you back Steve

So you rate these Brahmas then? Should be changing car, which is just the impetus I need for major reinstall including *gasp* perhaps a new make of sub...

rockinRu

You run JL sub's,right Nick?

I don't remember the line you had pictures of...but a Brahma 15 can do what a W13 does at a fraction of the cost.The 12 isn't far behind in spl.Sq is the same.

The XBL2 motors aren't over-hung or under-hung...you'd be hard pressed to throw the vc out of the gap...your only limit is your amp.None of the "cross-drilled former" tricks are used in this motor.
These sub's are built with cheap,off-the-shelf parts.And they shove a massive motor on these parts.this motor drives the cheap parts to distraction...but has already rivaled an expensive "legend"...

If Dan would break down and spend mad money like JL did on all-custom parts for this XBL2 motor(wait,he did;the Brahma Extreme...$2000...)

cussonyu

hi

i got some questions hope anyone could give me some suggestion.
i driving a wagon i got a cheap 12" 450w sub and 400 amp, they are from my old 190E, they were put just under the first aid kit, they did running very great on there. then i made a MDF board as a stealth shelf for my wagon, the bass is ****, would it be help if i make a thicker board or is there something i miss!!

p.s. i cant use a box coz i still need some space.

Thank you

Cusson

Luke

use a small 8.inch boxed!

chiark

Cusson,

You need to provide some form of "enclosure" for the sub. Even if it's designed for what's known as "free air" or "infinite baffle", the back of the sub has to be completely isolated from the front. Easy to do in a saloon, not so easy in a wagon

As Luke says, a small 8" sub in a good box will give surprisingly good results...

Steve,

I'll have a look at these Brahma thingies. I fancy a single 12"...

Cheers,
Nick.

steve McCulloch

Nom

Any chance of aa listen of your set up at some point

I fail to remember the amount of times I have changed the subs....

nom

Steve - whenever you next make it to London & the stereo is actually in one piece! (Managed to stick a bit too much thickness of sound deadening in the boot, now can't fit my (almost) beautifully made dual sub-box in quite )