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Help me choose best SQ sub for my setup.

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Finally getting all the pieces together for my build. The only missing piece(s) to the puzzle is the subwoofer(s). I will be attempting to go with a 3-way fully active front stage which will consist of Scanspeak D2004/6020 tweets, Dayton RS75-4 midranges and Peerless 830883 Midbasses powered by either a JL XD600/6 or Sundown sax100.4&125.2 ... I'm not necessarily going for a strictly SQ setup, but i am trying to build a well balanced and accurate system. With my tweets on-axis in the a-pillars and midrange/midbass in the kicks, along with plenty of eqing, i hope to achieve quite good imaging for everyday listening. I want to keep this system for a very long time and enjoy it to the fullest.. Now my previous systems consisted of stock speakers and horribly tuned enclosures. I believe I've never experienced real lows. I listen to mainly rap, hip-hop and r&b, so i do want the lows to be there, yet not over excessive and exaggerated.. I've had 2 JL Audio 10w6v2's in a sealed box thrown in my HUGE trunk with no sound deadening whatsoever and it somewhat didn't over power my stock speakers. So i guess i'm looking for something pretty louder than that. I initially intended to get one sub, 12 ported or 15sealed/ported, but i came to realize i can always turn the volume down and EQ it to my preference because i didn't want the subs to be really loud and i'd rather have the extra headroom rather than not to. And i want to be able to have good low extension at low volumes.. So here are the few subs i've been deciding between.... SSA Xcon, TC Sounds LMS-R, IA Flatlyne, FI Q. All about the same price range. I have about 4 cubes or so to work with. All will be either powered by 1200-1500 rms Thinking 1 15" Xcon@29hz vs 2 12"LMS-R sealed vs 2 12" FI Q's sealed vs 2 12" IA Flatlynes either ported@28hz or thought A LOT about doing an infinite baffle with these with about 600rms. But i'm not sure how the output will be with them IB, but read a lot on IB and it's supposed to be SQ heaven, when properly done. I know there are many deciding factors but i'm just torn between these subs. I want the best accuracy, tonality and transient response out of either subs.. I plan on deadening the car very well and electrical will be upgraded. Hopefully some of you guys have heard any of these subs and can offer some advice.. I'm just a 20yr old who loves and appreciates the music i listen to ! Thanks. :woot:

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I wouldnt run the tweeters on axis in the a-pillars. More than likely they will be much louder due to the fact that the path length will be much shorter than the midrange and midbass speaker. You will certainly have to test placement of the tweeter and find the sweet spot. You will more than likely need a heavy dose of T/A to get the soundstage and imaging right. Do you have a T/A processor? If you do not have a good processor you may want to consider running the midrange and tweeter in the kickpanel and the midbass in the door. This mounting option has more potential to image and have a good soundstage than what a-pillar mounting the tweeter does.

I have a JL Audio 13w6 and it sounds very good. Definitely is not a SPL subwoofer, SQ for sure. From my experience, generally, a 15" ported will be louder than two 12" sealed. But that is very dependent on the drivers being tested and a boat load of other things. If you want to go sealed check out the Fi Q with the high QTS option. If you have the room for a 15" ported than you have the room for two 12" ported. I would go with two 12" ported over a single 15" ported. Again this is based off of my experiences, I had both.

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Couldn't agree more that you won't want your tweets on axis. I'm also confused by your goals. A single 8" sub in a sealed box can over power stock drivers EASY.

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Couldn't agree more that you won't want your tweets on axis. I'm also confused by your goals. A single 8" sub in a sealed box can over power stock drivers EASY.

I disagree about the 8. It may overpower stock speakers playing at a reasonable, non-distorted level but not if they're blasting. I've heard stocks keep up with a an HDC ported until almost max volume. It sounded bad but you could hear it over the bass.

And to the op, cone area is your friend. 2 12"s ported can surprise you if you've never heard anything like it before.

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I wouldnt run the tweeters on axis in the a-pillars. More than likely they will be much louder due to the fact that the path length will be much shorter than the midrange and midbass speaker. You will certainly have to test placement of the tweeter and find the sweet spot. You will more than likely need a heavy dose of T/A to get the soundstage and imaging right. Do you have a T/A processor? If you do not have a good processor you may want to consider running the midrange and tweeter in the kickpanel and the midbass in the door. This mounting option has more potential to image and have a good soundstage than what a-pillar mounting the tweeter does.

I have a JL Audio 13w6 and it sounds very good. Definitely is not a SPL subwoofer, SQ for sure. From my experience, generally, a 15" ported will be louder than two 12" sealed. But that is very dependent on the drivers being tested and a boat load of other things. If you want to go sealed check out the Fi Q with the high QTS option. If you have the room for a 15" ported than you have the room for two 12" ported. I would go with two 12" ported over a single 15" ported. Again this is based off of my experiences, I had both.

Reason for thinking of running the tweets there, would be because i have read that midbass in the doors can be good, but even with a lot of deadener, might still get rattles. T/A processor i'm hoping to pick up first, would be a Pioneer Dex-P99rs.

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Couldn't agree more that you won't want your tweets on axis. I'm also confused by your goals. A single 8" sub in a sealed box can over power stock drivers EASY.

I am aiming for the best possible SQ i can get from this setup. I don't want to sit here and say i want a SQ system, that "also will get loud when needed", because i generally won't be trying to impress people with the output capabilities of my setup, rather than the imaging and staging and overall of how good it will sound. The 2 10" w6's i had, i guess i'd say got about a little less than half loud of what i want my next to sound like, but that's at max volume i'd be playing them.. And that was with stock speakers and no power to them. With power going to my new front stage i'm sure it's going to be a lot louder and more clear, reason why i feel i should go with 2 12's or a 15. I know a lot of factors will determine the end result and i'll have a lot of EQing and tweaking to achieve the sound i want. I suppose i would like to get feedback on how good each of these subs sound if anyone has heard them in person. I do want to save as much space as possible though, and i've heard the LMS-R has amazing low end in sealed boxes, but the upper end not so good? I'd like a comparison between each sub vs the other.. I'm really intrigued buy the IA Flatlynes as well, but the Xcons have always been favorite. Sealed/ported and properly built boxes will also be major factors, and i know each of these subs i feel like i'll love, but i want to see if there are people who have opinions on any and feel if that sub would exceed vs the other.

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Couldn't agree more that you won't want your tweets on axis. I'm also confused by your goals. A single 8" sub in a sealed box can over power stock drivers EASY.

I disagree about the 8. It may overpower stock speakers playing at a reasonable, non-distorted level but not if they're blasting. I've heard stocks keep up with a an HDC ported until almost max volume. It sounded bad but you could hear it over the bass.

And to the op, cone area is your friend. 2 12"s ported can surprise you if you've never heard anything like it before.

Say i go 2 12" xcons ported, i do feel like they woulod be superrrr loud. I could tune at like 28hz and i know i can always EQ it. But more power would be required as well.. 12" Flatlynes would only require 1500rms if not that, how much better is the SQ with the IA's over the Xcon's, ported..? I'm just really torn between the subs, haven't had a chance to demo any at all, but have read A LOT over the past few years.

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You're going to buy a super expensive head unit !!! Are you sure you need that ?!

A single 15" xcon ported at 30 hz will be enough for you. It's what I think, but I'm not an expert at all.

Listen to M5, bro !

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You wont have to send rated power to the Xcon, but would have the option of upgrading later if you wanted.

Xcons sound great tuned low, very flat response.

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Couldn't agree more that you won't want your tweets on axis. I'm also confused by your goals. A single 8" sub in a sealed box can over power stock drivers EASY.

I disagree about the 8. It may overpower stock speakers playing at a reasonable, non-distorted level but not if they're blasting. I've heard stocks keep up with a an HDC ported until almost max volume. It sounded bad but you could hear it over the bass.

And to the op, cone area is your friend. 2 12"s ported can surprise you if you've never heard anything like it before.

Say i go 2 12" xcons ported, i do feel like they woulod be superrrr loud. I could tune at like 28hz and i know i can always EQ it. But more power would be required as well.. 12" Flatlynes would only require 1500rms if not that, how much better is the SQ with the IA's over the Xcon's, ported..? I'm just really torn between the subs, haven't had a chance to demo any at all, but have read A LOT over the past few years.

I have read time and time again that the xcons don't need TONS of power thrown to them to sound good.

Don't feel like you have to power each subwoofer to it's max, there is no need to.

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Whoops, didn't mean to put the p99rs.. The head unit i will be getting will most likely be a Pioneer Deh-880PRS. Nowhere near the expense of the p99rs.. But so yea i kind of would rather go with 2 subs, over one. If i happen to go with dual 12"xcons, i would simply get a 2000 watt amp. but man does 1500 and 2000wrms seem like overkill for my preferably SQ setup. But then again, i always can adjust gains.

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i'm hoping to pick up first, would be a Pioneer Dex-P99rs.

You're going to buy a super expensive head unit !!! Are you sure you need that ?!

This is a VERY nice unit !!! And is my next purchase for my next step in Sound Quality ... :fing34:

But I'm with Notorious on this one. That unit is VERY expensive. Are you sure that unit is for you ??

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I wouldnt run the tweeters on axis in the a-pillars. More than likely they will be much louder due to the fact that the path length will be much shorter than the midrange and midbass speaker. You will certainly have to test placement of the tweeter and find the sweet spot. You will more than likely need a heavy dose of T/A to get the soundstage and imaging right. Do you have a T/A processor? If you do not have a good processor you may want to consider running the midrange and tweeter in the kickpanel and the midbass in the door. This mounting option has more potential to image and have a good soundstage than what a-pillar mounting the tweeter does.

I have a JL Audio 13w6 and it sounds very good. Definitely is not a SPL subwoofer, SQ for sure. From my experience, generally, a 15" ported will be louder than two 12" sealed. But that is very dependent on the drivers being tested and a boat load of other things. If you want to go sealed check out the Fi Q with the high QTS option. If you have the room for a 15" ported than you have the room for two 12" ported. I would go with two 12" ported over a single 15" ported. Again this is based off of my experiences, I had both.

Reason for thinking of running the tweets there, would be because i have read that midbass in the doors can be good, but even with a lot of deadener, might still get rattles. T/A processor i'm hoping to pick up first, would be a Pioneer Dex-P99rs.

Sounds like you are dropping a lot of cash on equipment. Dont skimp on the install. The only way to run a midbass in the doors would be to build a door pod.

Are you 100% stuck on mounting the tweeter in the a-pillar? How big are these kicks going to be with a mid and a midrange mounted in them. The Peerless 830883 has a 7.18" OD and the Dayton RS75-4 is almost 3" OD. Pretty f'n big!

Consider this. Mounting the midbass in the kicks and both the tweeter and mid in the a-pillar.

Like this:

29818120011_large.jpg

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P880 is amazing!! Xcon sealed with 500 watts is insane... Vibrates everyone's ears and nose if played loud enough and with some EQ'ing ...

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Couldn't agree more that you won't want your tweets on axis. I'm also confused by your goals. A single 8" sub in a sealed box can over power stock drivers EASY.

I disagree about the 8. It may overpower stock speakers playing at a reasonable, non-distorted level but not if they're blasting. I've heard stocks keep up with a an HDC ported until almost max volume. It sounded bad but you could hear it over the bass.

And to the op, cone area is your friend. 2 12"s ported can surprise you if you've never heard anything like it before.

Hearing it "over" the bass is NOT keeping up, lol. Keeping up is when your lowest note the midbass plays is the same volume as the highest note your subwoofer plays or at least they are adjusted in such a way that the transition is "seamless". Terrible description, but you get the picture. As for whether an 8" driver can do it will depend on where you think you need to cross your mids over for it to sound right. Easier for me than most considering I want the front stage to play as much of the frequency range as possible. If you didn't care, then of course the mids will have more output at a higher cross point.

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29818120011_large.jpg

Overkill ...

No way. Mid and tweet combo'd together is better than mid and midbass together.

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oh ... sorry bro, I was referring to the kick pannels ... not the A-pillars.

I should have made that more clear.

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oh ... sorry bro, I was referring to the kick pannels ... not the A-pillars.

I should have made that more clear.

Lol hell yeah man. Those kicks are ridiculous. I also should have specified that the picture I posted was to represent a mid/tweet a-pillar install NOT those kicks.

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oh ... sorry bro, I was referring to the kick pannels ... not the A-pillars.

I should have made that more clear.

Lol hell yeah man. Those kicks are ridiculous. I also should have specified that the picture I posted was to represent a mid/tweet a-pillar install NOT those kicks.

Of course then I'd prefer vertical, equidistant, on axis, with nothing behind them and no reflecting planes near them. :P

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