Printer Friendly Forum Posts - my bass question

I currently have two 15 inch kicker comp vr's in the trunk, i have one mtx 8000 12 that was destined for my girlfriend's car, but never found it's home, would I have any increased sq by switching from my current setup (2 15's in 2.0cubes (each) getting 600 watts at 1 ohm from a directed 600d, the old, good model) or go to the one mtx, it'd be going into a sealed f/g enclosure, any size, has not been built yet, and recieving 400 watts at 2 ohms. I anticpate the loss of spl, but since recieving so many tickets, I rarely turn 'em up any more, soooo. what do you think?

I can see the start of a lot of different opinions with this question. Like you stated, you will lose a lot of spl. Going from 2 15's to 1 12 is a lot of difference. But the sq part, I don't think it will hurt you. The biggest thing is: will you be satisfied with the "feel" of the bass you will not get with the 1 12? If so, you should be ok. For me? I wouldn't do it.

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'85 Toy

And right you are, supradude! That there will be opinions, that is...lol. I say go for it for a lot of reasons: 1. You are older now. 2. You are running not much more than 200 watts now as it is (a guess, of course, going by your comment that you are purposely keeping it down). 3. There should be a significant change in sound going to one sub, and that change will be for the better. 4. The power will be cleaner at 2 ohms. 5. This gives you a chance to build another enclosure and reset the system, which you want to do from time to time just for the sheer joy of doing it, if for no other reason. Your cost will be minimal as you already have the pieces of the puzzle and power is already set up.

the second question is then....do I run the one mtx 8000 12" or just one of my 15" comp vr's? they are both dvc 4ohm. Which is the better speaker in what respects. I assume the kicker is a better SPL and that the mtx is better for SQ, however I base this on nothing other than gut intuition. A little help please?

I can't figure out what the point of switching is? Do you want to switch just because you have something?

About your getting tickets issue. Well, go to your amp and turn down the gain a little bit. Or even easier, just turn that little knob, or push that little button that attenuates the volume posted_image

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How loud did you have the system to get pulled over?? People in my area never get pulled over for loud stereos.

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you are missing the point. I have no problem controling the volume of my stereo, the violations have come, three in as many years and different counties here in Florida. I have never metered my car, but I'd estimate that at it's loudest it's probobly 130 dB, so I guess it was around 100 whe nI got tickets. But that has nothing to do with this. My question is, since I don't use all the SPL that I have at my disposal, why pay for it in trunk space. So, if I went to one sub, I want to know what would happen to my SQ. That is basically the issue. And pimpcavy, the tickets were all situations where my system was up from distance driving (interstate) and the nI'd get to the light at the exit ramp, or a gas station, and forget how loud it was. All with all four windows down. The moral of the tickets is I don't play the system that loud anymore hence......

I agree with Stevdart suggestion of "go for it" and the reasons he gives.

Additionally, I think you should model it out in a program like WinISD if you actually are interested in the kind of relative SPL / extension difference you can expect. I wish more people would use modeling programs to help them understand the effect of system changes like this.

Myself? I would probably put the 8000 in a 2ft^3 sealed box. It should sound excellent and get quite loud. ~105db+ at 40hz w/ 300w BEFORE cabin gain. Any louder and you'll have permanent hearing damage after not listening for all that long.

I don't really like hearing damage, do you?

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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder

This may come from the fact that im' nuts posted_image

, but if there's back seats, adjust the floor so the 15's go under there, and the 12 in the trunk. Could make your night life more interesting posted_image

. But seriously, I would go with the 12 as well, but that probably has to do with the fact that I like 12's more than I do 15's mostly for the sake of clarity and I too, have limited size.

SQ will likely improve going to one more expensive sub meant for more SQ applications. You should know that a large part of the equation will be your enclosure design.

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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder

I gonna be stright up. I would go with the single MTX, But in retrosprect I would vent the box. In a sealed box, A sub that is tuned love 26-32 hz, will typically be clean enough for day to day listening, and still really pound when needed

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2009 0-1000 Trunk WR 154.0DB 2009 1001+ Trunk WR
2007 USACI World Champion
2007 World Record
2006 USACI Finals 2nd Place

For someone coming from 2 15"s, vented might be the right move.

Model it out.

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New Project: 2003 Pathfinder

the only concern I have about going vented is that I wanted to do this in the rear corner of the trunk, fiberglassed. I was going to relocate the jack and use the whole quarter panel to cheat more space without going out inot the trunk. Is it possible to port an irregulaly shaped f/g box. I guess I could build the box, adjust to a specific volume and put the port on the outside of the box?!? Any one have anyexperience at something like this?

As my illustration suggests, the port tube can be totally inside or partially outside the enclosure. You can use available space as you see fit, and the results are limited only by your imagination and the space you have to work with. The tricky part is figuring out the net volume of the enclosure. You'll be considering volume of an irregular shape, displacement of driver and bracing, and displacement of the portion of the port tube that is inside the box.

posted_image

I think it can be don fairly easily with a lot of packing peanuts and patience. So how does this sound.

First pick a sub, either the MTX of one of the two CVR's, I am leaning towords the Kicker as no one has spoken fondly for the MTX and I know the Kicker already.

Build a box to the specs suggested by WINisd, but slightly oversized,

get the box to the correct post displacemt size with filler

Add port totally external.

is there any thing I need to think about in the design phase about constraint from the port? ie, proximity to walls of trunk, proximity from sub, direction, straight or bent, anything i don't know?

If you build the back and extend the sides out, then you can determine the exact volume needed prior to installing the front of the enclosure. Provided the front is flat and made from MDF. Then you can trim any excess from the sides and fiberglass two pieces together.

i may have misinturperted your last post avalonxls, but you said 2kickers? i've heard people always compare 1 sub (of one brand or size) with a comparison of 2 subs... it doesnt make sense. i hope im mistaken because you wont gain all that much out of the second sub and you mentioned needing to play it lower anyways.

with that said, with my knowledge of what a set of 12" CVR kickers sound like, and what i've heard from a about the same middle of the line MTX. i would go with the 8000, i've also heard good things said about it.

imo - i would look at how much volume you have to work with when your done with the peanut experiment, and then choose a sub, there are a lot more than MTX and Kicker to give you better SQ, similar price range and smaller enclosure size.

GL

2 15", wow. I don't understand how you can hear anything anymore. I used to have a bandpass box in the trunk of my Saturn with 1 cheap MTX sub in it powered by a 150 watt mono Kenwood amp. That box in the back of my trunk rattled my car around and with the gain set to about 30%, was too much base for my taste. I even had MB Quart speakers in the front with lots of power and the base was still too much. I guess some people like to shake their inner organs loose. I'm 28 and my hearing is already going a little bit. I can imagine that if I were running a more powerful system, I'd probably be deaf by age 35.

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posted_image

Plan, Research, Do

r7, you are way off. I have two kicker cvr's. I am thinking about using a single sub in the place of the two, I have two kicker cvr's and one MTX 8000. I am not buying anything nor looking for advice on other subs. I am simply looking for anyone's opinion on the comparison between a 15" Kicker cvr and a 12" MTX 8000.