15 " DCON question

[SS Teacher 177]

I'm getting close to ordering the 15" DCON and will be building my first enclose with my buddies tools and expertise, but I've been reading and researching just enough to be dangerous. I've been on carstereo.com, bcae1.com, diyma.com, and a few others.

While the smaller drivers t/s parameters do lean in favor of ported enclosures (along with much antecdotal evidence) the 15" appears to be more suited to the sealed enclosure. Example, the Fs of the 15" is 33.5hz and the 10" is 29.4hz. I haven't researched every subwoofer line, but this seems to buck the trend, big time, unless it's an error on the website.

My biggest fear in constructing the box is that I won't have anyway to adjust the tuning if I'm not happy with it. I was going to use the optimal enclose recommendations supplied by SSA, but the tuning might be below the Fs (which I read is bad). If I used round ports I could just add or subtract length to tune, but then I'm on my own as far as dimensions and designs, which pushes me in the sealed box direction.

I know t/s parameters aren't for newbies and there is a lot more to a speaker than numbers, but we are talking physics and mechanical drivers here.

Any insights from the masters?

If it matters....

ride = 2011 Dodge Challenger coupe

amp = 400 watts rms from Boston GTA 1005

goals = good sound quality and way more output than a single JL 12W0 in 1.4 ft3 sealed enclosure on 250 watts

[jokers10 19]

Why not use a recommended enclosure from the SSA webpage to be safe? There is a tab at the bottom of their product page for enclosure recommendations, and Pre-designed enclosures.

[ZRiCK 0]

I concur with jokers10.

[SS Teacher 177]

I'm sure I'm just overthinking, and if I have to wait another 2 or 3 weeks to order a DCONs, I will just overthink some more.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

I'm getting close to ordering the 15" DCON and will be building my first enclose with my buddies tools and expertise, but I've been reading and researching just enough to be dangerous. I've been on carstereo.com, bcae1.com, diyma.com, and a few others.

While the smaller drivers t/s parameters do lean in favor of ported enclosures (along with much antecdotal evidence) the 15" appears to be more suited to the sealed enclosure. Example, the Fs of the 15" is 33.5hz and the 10" is 29.4hz. I haven't researched every subwoofer line, but this seems to buck the trend, big time, unless it's an error on the website.

My biggest fear in constructing the box is that I won't have anyway to adjust the tuning if I'm not happy with it. I was going to use the optimal enclose recommendations supplied by SSA, but the tuning might be below the Fs (which I read is bad). If I used round ports I could just add or subtract length to tune, but then I'm on my own as far as dimensions and designs, which pushes me in the sealed box direction.

I know t/s parameters aren't for newbies and there is a lot more to a speaker than numbers, but we are talking physics and mechanical drivers here.

Any insights from the masters?

If it matters....

ride = 2011 Dodge Challenger coupe

amp = 400 watts rms from Boston GTA 1005

goals = good sound quality and way more output than a single JL 12W0 in 1.4 ft3 sealed enclosure on 250 watts

Yes, the Fs. of the Dcon 15 is higher, along with the Qts. of the 15" version being higher then the smaller sizes. This is due to some adjustments to the design to have a properly done 15" version while retaining a 2" coil and the Dcon motor structure. The 15" version did not debut with the Dcon line, it came later after design adjustments were made to reign in the larger moving mass with the existing motor design. This is the difference you will find with SSA, we don't release something unless it is up to our standards. (Side note: same thing goes with the delayed release of the Icon 18 and Xcon 10, we don't just stick a different size cone/basket on the motor and hope for the best).

So with all that said, the Dcon 15 will play well ported in slightly smaller then average boxes, and will be at home in average size sealed boxes. 34hz tuning is fine for daily listening.

[ricksi30 923]

Great driver that does excellent in a ported enclosure. I had two in a smaller than recommended enclosure and they sounded good. Once I got them into a properly sized box they really came alive. The DCON is an excellent sub woofer for the money.

[ssh 924]

Over thinking it.

A sealed enclosure in the SSA recommended specs should have plenty of output to your comparison, and sound very well. If the space is available, and your looking for a bit extra in output, then do a ported enclosure to their recommended specs, and as Aaron said above, tune to 34hz.

If you do decide to stray from their offered designs, and do it yourself: if you select a ported enclosure, don't forget to account for the displacement of the driver, bracing, and the actual port, otherwise the net volume will be lower then planned for, and the tuning of the enclosure will raise.