fosgate p1 subwoofer

I have a Fosgate P1 10" sub that I would like to
Put in a ported box. What's your input on this sub in this type of enclosure?

The P1 10 inch is a great subwoofer. It wont be "powerful" by any means, but paired with a good amplifier it will add good definition to your stock system.

I had a 10 inch P1 installed in my car running off a T500-1bd amplifier at 4 ohms in a small bandpass box and it was enough to surprise people that it was just a little 10.

Honestly, for a subwoofer that small I would go with bandpass or sealed because if you do ported you would have to find a box tuned high as 10 inch subwoofers are not made to hit low notes. Especially this one.

Also, bandpass will allow for a better range of frequencies and there wont be as steep of a slope as there is with ported. Ported boxes are good, but you notice when it hits the note it is tuned for its much louder.

As for the subwoofer itself, its quality stuff. Had mine running roughly 230wrms from the amplifier and while it couldnt handle full volume very well, it ran like a champ and still is. The coil can handle the power, but the structure is not built for it.

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8 speaker stock bose system
(1) 15 Fi BL dual 1 ohm
(1) RF T500-1bd running half ohm
Stock electrical system with 5 gauge power wire and alternator/ground power wire upgrade

c280bump wrote:

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Also, bandpass will allow for a better range of frequencies

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What do you mean by "better"?  Bandpass enclosures have the worst frequency response of any alignment.

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To the OP:  Just follow the user guide.  It calls for a small vented system of around 0.75 cuft.  Do that.  Tune it the way they recommend.  Don't over power it.

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DYohn] wrote:

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c280bump wrote:

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Also, bandpass will allow for a better range of frequencies

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What do you mean by "better"?  Bandpass enclosures have the worst frequency response of any alignment.

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Are you sure? In my experience, bandpass with smaller subwoofers sounds better than a low-port tune (most pre-fabs are from 32-45hz) and this subwoofer really shines above 50hz.

You may be right, but Id still suggest bandpass or sealed for this subwoofer.

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8 speaker stock bose system
(1) 15 Fi BL dual 1 ohm
(1) RF T500-1bd running half ohm
Stock electrical system with 5 gauge power wire and alternator/ground power wire upgrade

c280bump wrote:

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DYohn] wrote:

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c280bump wrote:

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Also, bandpass will allow for a better range of frequencies

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What do you mean by "better"?  Bandpass enclosures have the worst frequency response of any alignment.

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Are you sure? In my experience, bandpass with smaller subwoofers sounds better than a low-port tune (most pre-fabs are from 32-45hz) and this subwoofer really shines above 50hz.

You may be right, but Id still suggest bandpass or sealed for this subwoofer.

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Uh... yes.  I'm sure.  Do some research.    Bandpass enclosures have severely limited frequency response, although they can be made to get louder than other alignments with the same driver.  As far as this woofer, do what the manufacturer recommends in the user guide that came with the woofer.  There is nothing to be gained from trying to push an inexpensive woofer like this beyond what it was designed to do.  Nothing but distortion, that is.

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DYohn] wrote:

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c280bump wrote:

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DYohn] wrote:

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c280bump wrote:

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Also, bandpass will allow for a better range of frequencies

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What do you mean by "better"?  Bandpass enclosures have the worst frequency response of any alignment.

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Are you sure? In my experience, bandpass with smaller subwoofers sounds better than a low-port tune (most pre-fabs are from 32-45hz) and this subwoofer really shines above 50hz.

You may be right, but Id still suggest bandpass or sealed for this subwoofer.

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Uh... yes.  I'm sure.  Do some research.    Bandpass enclosures have severely limited frequency response, although they can be made to get louder than other alignments with the same driver.  As far as this woofer, do what the manufacturer recommends in the user guide that came with the woofer.  There is nothing to be gained from trying to push an inexpensive woofer like this beyond what it was designed to do.  Nothing but distortion, that is.

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Well, being that I have this subwoofer and have for about 2 years now, I can say that bandpass or sealed is where it will perform best. Bandpass will make it much louder than sealed, but it did not sound as good in a ported enclosure.

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8 speaker stock bose system
(1) 15 Fi BL dual 1 ohm
(1) RF T500-1bd running half ohm
Stock electrical system with 5 gauge power wire and alternator/ground power wire upgrade

If all you want is loud, sure a bandpass can get loud.  Like I said at the very beginning: follow the manufacturer's recommendations.  The user manual says put this speaker into a sealed or a ported enclosure and it gives recommended specs.  Use them.  The OP said he wanted a ported enclosure.  Go for it.

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c280bump wrote:

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DYohn] wrote:

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c280bump wrote:

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Also, bandpass will allow for a better range of frequencies

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What do you mean by "better"?  Bandpass enclosures have the worst frequency response of any alignment.

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Are you sure? In my experience, bandpass with smaller subwoofers sounds better than a low-port tune (most pre-fabs are from 32-45hz) and this subwoofer really shines above 50hz.

You may be right, but Id still suggest bandpass or sealed for this subwoofer.

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the word "bandpass" by definition limits the frequency response above and below the tuning frequency. above 50Hz is getting close to not even being "sub bass" which is what "sub woofers" are meant to produce.

with that said, everybody has their own definition of what sounds good so ill just leave it at that.

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50hz is fine. In fact, you will find alot of songs bass are around 45-65hz. And while everyone does have their own definition of what sounds good, some subwoofers perform better at different frequencies than others. In general, smaller subwoofers do not reproduce low frequencies very well if at all in most cases because of the small cone area which is why I do not recommend ported for this subwoofer because unless you build it and tune it yourself, it wont perform well with a factory low tuned port that will find with most pre-fab enclosures.

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8 speaker stock bose system
(1) 15 Fi BL dual 1 ohm
(1) RF T500-1bd running half ohm
Stock electrical system with 5 gauge power wire and alternator/ground power wire upgrade

true a 10" woofer is less efficient than a 12 or 15 but using a properly tuned and designed ported box is the best way to overcome this inefficiency without sacrificing frequency response. a prefab ported box probably wont sound as good but that is because they are usually tuned high, which is the same you recommend for a bandpass and the only difference is that its hard to hear distortion in a bandpass box because the woofer is sealed off and you only hear the port mostly. so i guess in that sense it does sound better but only for a limited frequency response.

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Iv never seen a factory box thats worth any money tuned higher than 45hz. You can find really small ported boxes tuned to like 70hz, but they are usually built for cheap stuff.

Iv been running test on my P1 and its in a 2.2cu bandpass right now, and its peaking all through 50-65hz. To me, that is the perfect range for this subwoofer.

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8 speaker stock bose system
(1) 15 Fi BL dual 1 ohm
(1) RF T500-1bd running half ohm
Stock electrical system with 5 gauge power wire and alternator/ground power wire upgrade

If what you want is nothing below 50Hz or above 65Hz, then more power to you.  To me, that is terrible response and typical of the crap "one-note wonder" sound of a bandpass enclosure.  If you are competing, then great.  But if you listen to music, it is crap.

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If you want below 50hz, then you dont get a 10 inch subwoofer. Im trying to point out that this subwoofer does not reproduce lower frequencies very well, below 40hz is close to inaudible for this subwoofer without pushing it beyond its limits and 45hz is about as low as it will go and still be audible.

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8 speaker stock bose system
(1) 15 Fi BL dual 1 ohm
(1) RF T500-1bd running half ohm
Stock electrical system with 5 gauge power wire and alternator/ground power wire upgrade

"Enclosure Types:
When laying out a system, you need to decide what type of enclosure to use. Some people believe that a certain type of enclosure can magically increase the output of a woofer. The best an enclosure can do is to allow the woofer to produce what it's capable of producing. A poorly designed enclosure essentially works against the speaker to prevent it from producing its maximum output. A good enclosure works with the speaker to allow it to produce its maximum output. It's also a bit of a myth that bandpass enclosures make woofers produce far more output than other enclosures. They cannot. Look at it this way... If you had a bucket of sand, you could pile it high or spread it out over a wider area. It can't be both tall and wide. There's a limited amount of sand. It's essentially the same with speakers. You can build a bandpass enclosure to produce a tall peak or a wider flatter response. You can't have both.

A sealed enclosure will be the smallest (for a given response shape) and will have good low frequency extension but may not have the best low frequency extension. If space is limited, this may be your best choice.

A ported enclosure will generally have a better low frequency extension for a given response shape (alignment) but would require a larger enclosure. If you made the enclosure as small as the sealed enclosure but ported it to gain the low frequency response, the output would deviate from the desired flat response.

A bandpass enclosure can sound good and give you a flat response but most of the generic bandpass enclosures are not designed for a flat response. They are designed to impress you in the stores. This means that they are built to produce a large peak at some frequency near 60hz. These enclosures will work well with something like rap music but generally won't sound good with other types of music. If you use a bandpass enclosure, it should be designed specifically for your speakers.

If you're building your first system, I'd recommend a sealed enclosure. It is the simplest enclosure and will be the easiest to get right. A sealed enclosure only needs to be the right size and well sealed."

copied straight from THIS WEBSITE which is a good source of basic information. the type and design of the box in combination with the individual sub determines what frequencies are audible. if you arent getting anything below 45Hz then you are in the wrong box.

what is the point of having a sub woofer to fill in the low frequency audio if you are just going to stick it in a box that totally eliminates the low frequencies and makes it perform like a giant mid bass? you arent even giving the sub a chance to perform based on an assumption which is based on one or two bad experiences with small subs in a ported box.

dont get me wrong, ive had a few bandpass boxes in my days and they sounded alright for some rap and dance music but i got tired of hearing the subs hitting nice and then drop to nothing when the bass went too low even though other normal systems would hit those notes easily. i would rather hear clean bass, barely audible or not, than hear barely audible distortion.

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I recommended bandpass OR sealed. The only reason I recommended bandpass was because this is a very low power subwoofer and if you add it to a good factory system like mine, in a sealed or ported enclosure it just doesnt add enough definition for me. Honestly, it sounded louder and better in the sealed than ported but it performs the best in bandpass.

And Ill explain why again, because this subwoofer in any enclosure is not going to hit the low notes good at all. It is a small subwoofer that is rated for 150wrms and is not meant for that.

And my P1 in my bandpass hits drum kicks in rock songs alot better than a sealed box so no its not just good for rap music. Im sure the frequency response will vary from box to box depending on its tune, but the 2.2cu bandpass I have for this subwoofer is almost perfect for it. Like I said, that 50-65hz is where this subwoofer is going to perform best because of its size and the fact that it doesnt take as much power to reproduce those frequencies as it does with 30-40hz power of which this subwoofer will not be able to handle. Iv done sweeps with this subwoofer numerous times, and anything below 40hz will be inaudible without pushing it past its limits because its too small to accurately reproduce those kinds of waves.

If you want bass in the 40hz range, go with 12 inch not 10. 10 inch subwoofers are generally not made for that unless you get a higher power one.

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8 speaker stock bose system
(1) 15 Fi BL dual 1 ohm
(1) RF T500-1bd running half ohm
Stock electrical system with 5 gauge power wire and alternator/ground power wire upgrade

Here is a video made when I had it in my car playing some coheed and cambria:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaOCEwyB-9Q&feature=g-upl

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8 speaker stock bose system
(1) 15 Fi BL dual 1 ohm
(1) RF T500-1bd running half ohm
Stock electrical system with 5 gauge power wire and alternator/ground power wire upgrade

i tell you what, i just happen to have an 8" P1 sitting at my shop doing nothing. ill build a 32Hz ported box for it and stick it on my 1800 watt PPI at 8ohms which should give it about 250 watts.

im not going to tell you that it will blow my ears out but the low end response will exist. if the subwoofer is even half way decent then it should sound fine. ill put it through the paces, rock, metal, rap, dance, acoustic, etc and ill see what i come up with.

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c280bump wrote:

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I recommended bandpass OR sealed. The only reason I recommended bandpass was because this is a very low power subwoofer and if you add it to a good factory system like mine, in a sealed or ported enclosure it just doesnt add enough definition for me. Honestly, it sounded louder and better in the sealed than ported but it performs the best in bandpass.

And Ill explain why again, because this subwoofer in any enclosure is not going to hit the low notes good at all. It is a small subwoofer that is rated for 150wrms and is not meant for that.

And my P1 in my bandpass hits drum kicks in rock songs alot better than a sealed box so no its not just good for rap music. Im sure the frequency response will vary from box to box depending on its tune, but the 2.2cu bandpass I have for this subwoofer is almost perfect for it. Like I said, that 50-65hz is where this subwoofer is going to perform best because of its size and the fact that it doesnt take as much power to reproduce those frequencies as it does with 30-40hz power of which this subwoofer will not be able to handle. Iv done sweeps with this subwoofer numerous times, and anything below 40hz will be inaudible without pushing it past its limits because its too small to accurately reproduce those kinds of waves.

If you want bass in the 40hz range, go with 12 inch not 10. 10 inch subwoofers are generally not made for that unless you get a higher power one.

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This is just not correct.  I have a system made with 10's that will hit below 20Hz all day long.

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And are they 150wrms subs? I doubt it. Its completely correct. A 10 inch subwoofer cannot accurately produce 20hz, no matter what subwoofer it is. It can however, if it can handle the power required to go that low which this subwoofer cannot.

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8 speaker stock bose system
(1) 15 Fi BL dual 1 ohm
(1) RF T500-1bd running half ohm
Stock electrical system with 5 gauge power wire and alternator/ground power wire upgrade

c280bump wrote:

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And are they 150wrms subs? I doubt it. Its completely correct. A 10 inch subwoofer cannot accurately produce 20hz, no matter what subwoofer it is. It can however, if it can handle the power required to go that low which this subwoofer cannot.

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You are wrong on this.  Power handling does not matter at all to frequency response, and I know of 4" drivers that can reproduce 20Hz.  Please stop spreading misinformation.

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