I've currently got 2 x 12" Infinity Reference subs wired in Parallel to a large american amp running the speakers @ 2Ohms.

They're in a HUGE sealed box side by side with seperate chambers inside.

Basically its roo heavy, I took it out for a trip to Santa Pod and the car is soo much easier to put around corners without all the weight in the back.

What I need to know is whether its feasible for me to utilise one of these subs and build myself a well designed band pass box with a sealed rear chamber and tuned port on the front chamber and get similar performance with the enthusis on reducing the weight.

The current box is just a wooden box, would I be right in assuming that even if I build a new single sealed box and stuff it well use all the right materials that it should actually sound better than 2 in the simple but large boxes thier in?

Alternatively if anyone has a better idea then I'd like to know please. Decent bass similar to what I have now but with less weight and room taken up in the boot.

 

Bandpass is a difficult art - I'd suggest getting in contact with a specialist. I know AMG Audio might be able to help?

 

is bandpass going to be my only option? I was thinking of trying a well stuffed single 12" box first, I have a feeling that a decent band pass box will be heavier anyway.

Cheers

 

Stuffing might work, but being honest I've never tried it.

 

Another possibility is using a single dual voice coil sub isnt it? to use the power I have from the sub to keep the load at 2Ohms rather than the 4Ohm load it'll get from just the single channel? ideas? is DVC worth it?

 

It's not that simple...

Running a DVC 4 ohm sub will mean you're extracting the same power from your sub, but you need all other things to be equal. The SPL generated by a driver will depend upon many things, including efficiency, surface area of the piston, maximum excursion, cone stiffness, box, ...

Are you looking for the same sort of output that you had from two subs in a large box from one sub?

You'll need to up the power that you're giving that one sub compared to what you were giving the original two. Doubling surface area gives you an extra 3dB. Doubling power gives you 3dB. So, all other things being equal, you'll want to double your power into the single sub to stay where you were...

 

i can probably live with just the one sub as it is in a half size box, what i'm trying to do is improve its efficiency rather than just "put it in a box", by being smart about box design and filling etc, I appreciate that I wont get close to what I had before but I think I can get a long way past simply putting one sub in one box.

My subs are 4Ohm each, running off of a 500w@2Ohm amp, which with just one sub gives 250W@4Ohms, so if I'm running just the one then i'll be reducing the surface area and power, what i'm "thinking" is that if I get a DVC with 4Ohm's per coil i'll get a 2Ohm load thus giving me 500w from the amp so i'll end up with the same power and then designing a box to suit I should be closer to sounding like the 2 i had rather than being closer to just having one wired up in a regular box.

Well thats what i'm asking anyway, I've read all the stuff and "think" i understand the science partially.

 

Also, I'm trying to go for a compromise, I "know" I cant get the same sound without spending a lot more money but I really can't be keeping that huge box in the car, so the plan is to scale down, get smart and still have a nice sound.

 

I see where you're going with this; I'm just doing the same.

My amp will chuck about 500W out into a 2 ohm mono load. The sub will either be a CMP x2 from Crystal (dual 2 ohm, not ideal) or a Diamond Audio M612 d4 (dual 4 ohm). The diamond only needs around .6 cu ft!

I haven't heard what it sounds like in that small a box, but reports are very good. That's probably what I'll end up going for.

I expect to lose output, but not SQ.