SQ vs. SPL?

so i've gotten out of the performance tuning market and would like to start with amateur sound competition. I have a decent platform to start with (1998 Buick LeSabre Custom) and currently I am running 2 12" Alpine Type Es in a sealed box, with a crappy sony amp i had lying around (it hits pretty hard for the age/condition). its a small box, but i'd like to upgrade to something thats louder.

what i was planning was an interior speaker upgrade (obviously), since i have the 6 speaker package. also i'd like to upgrade the 2 12"s to a single Solo Baric 15" L7 in a ported box w/ a Power Acoustic SL2000 (i think thats the model number) which will both save me room and allow me to upgrade later if i like the sound. But, i have 2 questions:

1. Since i really don't listen to 1 type of music, will this box allow me to keep the tight punchy bass i got with the sealed box, and also give me the deeper bass that really gets heard down the block (hence the title SQ vs. SPL)?

and 2. the amp is rated 900 watts RMS but the sub is rated 1000 watts. will this be a problem? i searched around but maybe since this is such a basic question and beat to death i havent really gotten a straightforward answer for it.

any and all advice will be appreciated. I hope to learn a lot from these boards!

is that 1000 watts in rms or burst? i dont know alot about the L7 so correct me if im wrong. if it is rms then 900 watts will do just fine. i have listend to power acoustic subs/amp and didnt like the subs, havnt heard a power acoustic with any other sub so maybe there subs arnt good. REMEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the L7 has to be broken in!!!!! dont throw it in your car and crank it to the max, it will take about 2 weeks to be broken in. and as far as SQ vs. SPL the L7 doesnt have the greatest SQ from what i heard, might of just been the box but the SPL is really good. what music genre do you listen to the most if you listen to everything? if you listen to jazz or country with tight bass i would go sealed but if you listen to rap or rock i would go ported. hope this helped ya out a lil bit.

the speaker is 1000 rms and 2000 max, and the amp is 900 rms into 4 ohm and 2000 max. they also have a 1980 watt model so i apologize if i get the specs wrong at the moment. i'm responding from my pda.

and i listen to mostly hip hop and rock, which is why i asked. a lot of rock i listen to has that punchy tight bass and hip hop, with the lower, deeper bass that travels down the block. i was going to add a bass processor just to experiment if it didn't sound deep enough.

i picked the combo because i'm sort of on a budget at the moment. i'm also saving up for a good alarm w/ remote start and 2 way and the possibility of mobile video. plus, i don't want to take up all the room in my trunk with a ported bandpass. i was going to do 2 15"s with the 2000w amp, but the speakers and box was going to run me close to $650 versus the $350 i would spend for the solo baric. plus the size difference. if i wanted to i would add the same speaker and amp combo to upgrade.

oh well, i heard those L7z really hit when pushed. i used to work at a benz dealer detailing and a customer came in for parts w/ a kicker sponsored blazer w/ 3 15" L7s. the thing was crazy, so i figured i'd give it a try.

]and w wrote:

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uld like to start with amateur sound competition

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What exactly are you looking for, SQ or SPL?

stevdart wrote:

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]and w wrote:

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uld like to start with amateur sound competition

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What exactly are you looking for, SQ or SPL?

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a good mix of both to start with. still somewhat undecided, but everyones gotta start somewhere...

and that L7 is the new 2006 model with 1000 watt rms with 2000 watts max, and the amp i was looking at is 900 watts rms into 4 ohm with peak power at 2000 watts, so i fail to see how this amp won't push this sub. please elaborate   As for it not being able to hold ground in the competition circuit, well that remains to be seen. my installer took 3rd in state (IL) with all Power Acoustik equipment, and hell, you cant beat the price. like i said i'm on a budget at the moment.

i'll post specs for both:

Power Acoustik SL2-2000:

and the Kicker S15L7-2 (2006 model)

jonathancullen wrote:

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REMEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the L7 has to be broken in!!!!! dont throw it in your car and crank it to the max, it will take about 2 weeks to be broken in.

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haemphyst wrote:

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jonathancullen wrote:

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REMEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the L7 has to be broken in!!!!! dont throw it in your car and crank it to the max, it will take about 2 weeks to be broken in.

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THAT'S CRAP... No woofer needs to be broken in. WFO from the day I first turn it on!

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neh, i guess i was just looking for something to start building and add onto it over the winter. i was looking at the hifonics but have never heard them. and i don't mind spending a lil more, but that was the base price i was trying to stay around. when i first decided to do the 2 15"s (before making the decision about the L7) i was suggested to go with the power acoustik amp, so i stuck with it just for price.

meh... what suggestions do you guys have, since you're all seasoned in this area? im really looking for something tahts just a solid starting ground, upgradable, and hits hard. plus i tend to do my own installs when i can- minus box building.

nouseforaname wrote:

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and by the way, your debating SQ vs. SPL.........have you ever thought about SQL? 

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cloak559 wrote:

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nouseforaname wrote:

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and by the way, your debating SQ vs. SPL.........have you ever thought about SQL? 

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vtecnique, What vehicle is this going in? what equipment do you allready have? and what is your budget? Once we know these things we can give you some suggestions...

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all but the budget was put in my 1st post.

1998 buick lesabre custom.

6 1/4 in the doors (i fi remember correctly) and tweeters above them in the arm rest portion of the door, 6x9s in the rear deck. all stock speakers at the moment....

sony head unit. one of the better models (if there is such a thing). the thing i like about sony head units is the ease of staging the sound level with the DSO option (does that make sense?) i'd like to replace it with the pioneer AVC-N2 but it's not my priority right now. once i get into mobile video and start playing around with screens and the like, that's going to be my 1st upgrade.

4 GA wiring to a crappy sony amp ive had for close to 3 years. it's been to hell and back and just keeps working. so i figured i'd put it to use for the time being. its powering 2 12" alpine type Es in a...oh...lets say small sealed box. it hit decent and very clear but some deeper bass sounds distorted. i want the best of both worlds. can it happen?

as for a budget, after xmas time will be best time to start getting crazy. before then i just want to lay a foundation and do a good alarm and minor mods. i guess price isnt really an option, but as always a penny saved is a penny earned

there ya go-

nouseforaname wrote:

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sony amp, type-e subs, small sealed box.....deep bass sounds distorted? get outta here.

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no, seriously... it does  lol

nouseforaname wrote:

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sony amp, type-e subs, small sealed box.....deep bass sounds distorted? get outta here.

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you would never think this would you :) lol

as for the breaking in the L7 i read the manual and it says that i has somthing that needs to be broken in. and alot of people on other forums say to break them in, but thats cardomain so most of them arnt the brightest xD

the TC3000 looks sick. i may possibly go with 1 of the 15" and a 2000 watt amp. next would be getting a box built for it.

how difficult is the WinISD software to use?

this gets more complicated as the days pass. long gone are the days of just throwing a couple subs and amps together for a good system...

cloak559 wrote:

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...But if you dont want to learn it there are a few people online that will design you a box for your sub at no cost...

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Really? 

Here's a quick shortcut way to get a good idea of what kind of box you'll need for a particular sub...

1.  Select New Project at the top left of WinISD Pro.

2.  A pop-up dialogue box appears.  Select the tab New.

3.  The Driver Editor box appears.  Type in the name and model of the sub, then select the tab at the top Parameters.

4.  Now enter just three pieces of information:  Qts, Fs, and Vas.  But first move your cursor to the Vas window and then just to the right of it where the unit is displayed...it will show ft^3 or liters.  You notice that the cursor becomes a pointing finger when it hovers over that unit, which means it will let you click to another unit.  So click until the unit of measurement appears that matches the unit of measurement in your spec sheet.  Now enter Qts, Fs and Vas.

5.  Click Save, and then again in the box that appears, Save again.

6.  Go back to the original dialogue box by clicking New Project.  Scroll through until you find the name of the sub you entered and saved into the database.  If you named, for example, the brand Kicker and the model L7, it will appear as Kicker L7.  Select it.

7.  Go through each question in the ensuing dialogues and just click Next., but read what the program is asking you so you can get an idea of what it wants to calculate.  When you get through to the end the program will model your sub.  (Although you didn't make any choices, the program will make the default choice based on its own calculations of those parameters.)

8.  You can always go back to the Driver Editor and enter the remainder of the parameters later.  That can be found in Utilities, Database Editing.  You will most likely find some subtle changes when all the parameters are calculated.

That should get you started.

im going to download WinISD this weekend and play around with it and probably try making my own box over the wintertime. i'll post more questions as they come up. thanks for the help guys.

i think im going to go with the TC3000. still undecided about what amp though.