Ok Im not a real knowledgable person on subwoofers. Ive always bought JL's cause most people say they are the best. However I have heard some systems with Apline/MTX/Infinity etc subwoofers and they pound just as hard it seems. So whats the real difference?

also whats the difference in 2 ohm and 4 ohm. I see amps which say 150 watts per channel at 2 ohm or 300 watts to one channel 4 ohm. What does all that mean? Whats the best set up?

finally I want to get a 12" sub for my 93 Accord Coupe. I was going to go JL again and not sure about all the new models out. Whats good? 12w6? 12w3? And how many watts do I need pushing that so its getting it all it needs?

Thanks for helping a newbie stereo guy out.


[Modified by RATEDR, 6:52 PM 10/8/2002]

 

I'm not really the person to answer your question, I just wanted to say not to go with anything from MTX. I just got screwed by them on an amp that I have, their customer service sucks and their products just don't last

 

The difference in subs is the material they made out of. Also power ratings and specs for their enclosures.

As for the impeadence, ohms, it is generally better to get an amp that can hadle lower impeadence. This will allow you to power more speakers with less amps. For power ratings, they usually rate amps at 2 ohms stereo or 4 ohms bridged mono. Always look at the watts RMS or Continuous. Dont really pay too much attention to max power since it only occurs in spurts.

JL subs are the most well rounded subs out there. I had a 12w6 in a sealed box. It bumped hard and was very accurate and clean. I would either go with the w6 or w3 series in a dual 4 ohm coil sub.
MTX and Kicker subs are nice too.

From my experience, it is better to buy highend components because you will end up wanting them if you first buy the lowend ones. This should help you save some cash.

Hope this helps.

 

I have 10" infinity perfects in my car, I love the clean bass notes, even at extreme volumes. the only reocurring problem i have had with them is tinsel lead shorts. I have been through five of them in two 1/2 years. however they come with a factory 4 year warranty so I have been covered. the first one they didnt even ask for me to send the blown sub back, they just sent me a new one, but every one after that i have had to pay to ship the subs which is not too cheap. I am in no way a fan of running any amps or subs at an impedance under 4 ohms. although manufacturers make their equipment to drop into a 2 or 1 or even .5 ohm load, does not mean it is good for them. I have talked to many vendors(trained in this matter) of miscellaneous high end stereo equipment, and all of them say the same thing, if you have a coice between a 2 ohm load and a 8 ohm load a smarter person wil choose the 8 ohm load. true you wont get as much power, so just buy a more powerful amp. but the amp will run much cooler, put out a lot cleaner sound, and last you a lot longer. the ideal load of subs is 4 ohms. I love the sound the jl w7's put out you could get the 13.5" w7's if you wanted. just dont close your mind to the possibilites. Boston acoustic also makes bad *** subs (or anything for that matter).

 

Yeah, thanks guys. I forgot about Kicker and Boston's...2 real good companies as well. I gues slike anything there are so many companies out there competing for our money...I just want something to sound good/clear, pound hard for both rock and rap and last. Quality is first and foremost...I dont want to be blowing subs.

 

you might want to buy your subs from a chain retailer like best buy, circuit city, or tweeter, and get a extened service plan with them, tweeter even goes up to 10 yrs.
then you can blow as many as you want without any worries.

 

just depends on what you like, go with what you feel. some people are more in to sq and some are more into spl. Myself im into spl so id probaly say get a DD, brahma, or if u want a little of both get a IDMAX. those are pretty sweet.

 

I like the fosgate HE
http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S...0&I=575RFP3410
and if you have freinds that work in bestbuy or circuit they can get it for $50.
i like dual 10s in a sealed box 1cubic each box with plenty of polyfill in it.
a $100 cheeese 1000watt amp from ebay (like crunch) works freaking amazingly great.
and also dynamat the trunk.

 

although crunch amps are good for the money, I would rather push he's(rfp3810)with a rockford amp like a 360.2 or 500.2. yes poly-fil is worth it's weight in gold and can be bought in any arts and crafts store for much cheaper than crutchfield sells it.

 

What is ploy fill?

 

How much polyfill is too much? I have some in my box but will more be better?

 

poly-fil is polyester filling, what it does is slow down the sound waves inside the box, by doing so, the sound waves act as if they are moving inside a larger box. Larger box= deeper bass so, more poly-fil= deeper bass.

poly-fil is the stuff found in most pillows.

 

You can use 1 to 1 1/2 lbs of poly-fil per cubic foot.

 

Keep in mind the size of your box.
Polyfill aint gonna do jack if your box is the wrong size.
Rule of thumb, Smaller box= tighter bass, Bigger box= deeper bass.
Look at the recomended box size for the sub you have and go from there.

 

CHEESE= extended warranty
Best buys has a good extended warranty for subs, $19.00 extra, $3.00 employee discount.
But this is a REPLACEMENT warranty, meaning if you blow your sub, or if you poke a hole in it and wanna get a new one, they will give you credit for the amount you orginally paid for towards the purchase of a new sub.

It worked great on my gf cellphone. I paid $300 for her old 6190 with $200 rebates. I swapped the phone 4 times and got credite for $300, now she has a motorola v70. the cheese on the cell phone is $70

 

The box is the correct size but on the smaller end of the recomended size. I have some polyfill in it now but debating about adding more. The more I add, the looser the bass? Right now, the two tens are super tight, punchy bass which is perfect for me.

 

I prefer the term "smoother", but yes, it won't be as tight.

 

maybe off-topic..but an E12K would be even, if not beaten the JL W6 in SPL and SQ, or only $135

 

hehe, yeah we used to call it cheese at my best buy too.

we would not give ppl a new sub if they punched a hole in it though, I recommend an ac wall socket, that tends to blow a sub within 3 seconds

 

good tip. but one of my freinds poked a hold in it and he got a new sub, he called it a tear hehe.

WHAT do you guys think about lining the inside of the box with DYNAMAT?