i want to replace my factory sub, and use a mono amp to power it. regaurdless of price, and manufacture, what would you recommend by looking at specs? what sub would perform best?

JL specs
Kicker specs
Tang Band specs

and if you guys know of any other 6.5" subs on the market, please share. i know its not a very common size.

 

KICKER!!!!!!!!! K is the way

 

I'm really tempted to try the tang bands in the back of my integra and powering them with an Eclipse XA1000(deck is an eclipse CD5000). I'm just concerned about the mounting depth and the grill. They're sold out of the 6.5s right now, but I'm thinking of getting the 5.25s. Gonna have to do some measuring tomorrow.

I don't want to glass anything, and I don't want a box in my trunk because I need space for my outdoor gear. This might be the best route for me.

 

i bought the kicker on ebay yesterday, the 160 for the JL was discouraging.

however, i wanted to give tang band a chance, but they're unheard of in the audio industry.

when it comes to big bass... ive heard the common names, CDT, ED, ID, JL, Diamond.. and then your mainstream brands... kicker, alpine, RF...

but when it came to this 6.5 sub.. i went with the kicker, since i got it for 60 shipped. the Elemental Design wans't avail (discontinued), and there isn't many other companys to work with.

also, by taking a quick measurement, ball pack, the factory plastic enclosure is .33SQFT, a little big for that 6.5" kicker, so i'll be using a small amount of polyester stuffing to take up some of that airspace.

 

The Kickers will perform well, I would try to get them in some form of fiberglass enclosure for best performance. I have had good results with the Kicker CVTs and Kicker MBs, the JL 6W3s perform but they are pricey. The best sounding "small" sub I have used to date are the Focal 5.25" subs, amazing how good those little things sound.....but BIG $$$$$.

Kirk R

 

How do the kicker CVT65 sound in the doors ??

 

the kicker CVT65 is a subwoofer.. just small. hence the name 65... its a 6.5" speaker.

i assume all the CVT's are similar, being subwoofer frequancys... so for them to be in doors, they would have to be crossed over, and ran very low. i don't think they would sound very good, unless you don't like to hear words.

if you want a door speaker, look into component speakers, that operate mid bass in the 65hz-20khz ball park. where as a subwoofer usually works in a 28-300hz range.

 

and im kinda in a bind right now. the speaker is going into the factory sub enclosure, which is plastic. im thinking about dynamating the whole box, thats the best i can do, but making a new box, or something to replace it, is out of the question.. i don't have the money right now for a custom box, just to hide it inside my center console.

here's the enclosure, and maybe you can offer some advice...

sub 1 *
sub 2 *
sub 3 *
sub 4 *
sub 5 *
sub 6 *
sub 7 *

also, taking a very rough estimate of the box, im guessing its about .33SQFT. the sub recommends i think .28-.32... so i'll be adding some polyester stuffing to tighten up the airspace. however, its vented now... plugging the port won't be a problem, but should i grind down that baffle port?

 

Polyester stuffing will make the woofer "think" it is in a larger enclosure, but I would try it. I would recommend trying it ported, sealed, with stuffing and without, see what performs best. If you are interested, you can find the true enclosure displacement by using packing peanuts. Fill the enclosure with peanuts (or similar media) to fill entire space, then pour them into a small cardboard box. Take the internal dimentions of the box (height X width X depth and devide total by 1728 = cf displacement). You cant change the displacement, but you can insert materials in the box to either make it appear larger to the woofer (BlackHole or similar), or make the internal volume less by placing something in the box (expanding foam, etc). Play with it.

Kirk R

 

up at the top, there's the pic from the Kicker site, and its specs.. it says vented/ported isn't even recommended.. so im hesitant. i doubt it would instantly blow, but why would you put diesel fuel in a gas engine? im just trying to follow the directions.. lol

would it be ok to run ported, even if its against manufacture suggestion?

 

seal the box. cut the port out on the inside. then glue the box back to gether and then fiberglass the outside with 2 layers of glass. Will make it stiff. make sure to sand the out side of the box with 50 grit drill a few tiny holes so the resin can go threw and adhere well.

 

Ok here is what you can do. Take the box screw a few screwws back together. Tape off the port outlet on the side of the box. Where the sub goes fill the box with pop corn then emty into a box or round cylinder and measure out the volume .
Says you need .2-.85 cu feet. Looks like you have mroe then .20

 

i want to get away from glass. its messy, and im not that good at it to feel confident in that modification.

so would another option be dynamating the box? it should give it some support, and be better than just the heavy molded plastic as it is....

 

So I put the 5 1/4" Tang Bands in the back of my 94 integra. I'm very happy with the bass output, but when tuned for more bass, you can hear the rattle and distortion that I never heard when I had a glassed enclosure in my old 92 hatch, or even when I had a 10" truckstyle L5 in my integra. I'm having to tune it lower so it just sounds like rear fill instead of good sounding bass. Any suggestions? I'm thinking I might as well spend the effort and make a false floor or glass up a box again and just go with a 10" sub.

 

I wouldnt expect too much from 5 1/4s for subs in a free air aplication. If you build fiberglass enclosures, you could most likely get a big increase in output and performance, but again, they are 5 1/4" speakers. It takes roughly (4) 5 1/4" speakers to equal the cone area of a 10" woofer, and the 5 1/4 will have significantly less excursion than a 10".

You can get performance out of a small driver, just dont expect too much.

Kirk R

 

^Yeah very true. I just didn't want to spend time fabricating anything, and I wanted to avoid having a loud sub since the JDM front already attracts Honda enthusiasts. I didn't want to add people who wanted some beat to the list of potential thieves. I really just don't like the rattling, which kind of disappears when you hold the panels against the sides.

 

mat1
mat2
mat3
mat4
mat5
mat6
mat7
screws
polyfill
polyfill2
testfit2

ok. the sound deaden'ing material i used was raammat. its 60 mill thick.. some great stuff, and the glue is very sticky. i only used it on the flat structural area's of the box, and i didn't sweat much of the corners since the plastic is most thick on those area's anyways.

also, i used about 4 oz of polyfil.

the sub is mounted with ny-lock nuts, that way they don't back off.

dont mind the green tape on the speaker wire, i still need to plug the hole where the wire goes through... but i had to get a sound test...

im using a 4 channel diamond audio amp. when im done, i will have 1 and 2 channels on the front doors, and 3/4 bridged for this 6.5" sub.

anyways, the test run, i gave it about 1/2 gain of my amp, which is about 150watts. amazing. hits VERY hard. but lacks low end bass. which is understandable for a 6" sub.

long story short, worth the time and effort, worth the 65 bucks on the sub, but the factory amp won't push it... i woudln't even try. i bet that factory amp is pushing 60w max to that sub.

 

Nice.