Putting the pieces together

[crazyder 0]

First off I should say this is a great site, especially having the manufacture forums.

Back early on in high school I was in a friends regular cab truck, with what I later learned was 500 watts going to the subs, and I guess you could say it left a footprint in my mind about car audio. Scroll ahead to me being 23 now and after spending a couple years in performance and looks category I have started to piece together my first car audio setup.

I have been trying to learn as much as I can for what seems to be close to a year now, I know some of you must be thinking 'what's with all the wait?' I have learned with especially performance it is not always the best of things just to jump without thinking, so I started off with a passive component set, then going active component set, to now a active diy set.

On Thursday I finally started the process of buying what will be my active 2-way frontstage of a Seas w18nx midrange/woofer and Peerless hds tweeters.

So now I come to the subwoofer. I understand what SQ and SPL mean, but I really have no understanding of what they are actually like, but I believe I am something like 70-30 sq-spl in what I want it to sound like, with that being said...I am looking for a subwoofer that can play the notes, make you feel the notes and just blend in well with a frontstage in a daily driving application. I am looking at the BL, Q, and SSD.

I listen mainly to rock from harder rock like korn to reggae punk rock of sublime, but with rap mixed in. I drive a regular cab 2003 silverado, so space is somewhat an issue, especially mounting depth. I have looked at the enclosure recommendations and in general I will probably want sealed, I understand the BL is supposed to be ported and I could make that work if need be. In terms of power it is still a toss up between Zapco and JBL, but lets just say upwards of 1000 watts. It is going to be 1 10".

What do you think would be a good suggestion for me?

a. 10" SSD with Copper Coil and Full Cooling

b. 10" Q no options (though could it be made to have a smaller mounting depth, how would it affect it)

c. 10" BL with P chamfer

Thanks for the help.

[audio-neon 34]

Personally I would go with the 10" Q or SSD.

Be glad you don't have my 10" woofers because the mounting depth on them is 9".

[JimJ 11]

I'd go with the SSD sealed, maybe two if you could fit them.

[J.C 0]

If your mostly lookng for SQ than SPL then go with the Q.

[kbkid 0]

In terms of power it is still a toss up between Zapco and JBL, but lets just say upwards of 1000 watts.

If you are willing to spend the cash, I think that would be a simple decision.

I'd like to also agree with the others and recommend the Q. It is such an amazing driver and you could definantly get away running it sealed.

[crazyder 0]

In terms of power it is still a toss up between Zapco and JBL, but lets just say upwards of 1000 watts.

If you are willing to spend the cash, I think that would be a simple decision.

Well in a way it is about the money. I am either going PX300.4 and BPX1100.1 combo (for me $900.00) or the DC Reference 1000.4 and DC 1000.1 (MSRP $2700), the cost benefits of the jbl vs. zapco internal processing. IMO they both are well built/quality amps and it is just making that portion tougher to decide.

Thanks for everyones input about the subs so far, I have read many good things about the Q, still just a little worried about how far I would have to move the seats up or lose the center jump seat with that 6.5" mounting depth, but that doesn't mean that if most feel it is the superb decision that it should not be considered.

Edited April 29, 2007 by crazyder

[Tremor1127 0]

a Q in a nice ported box with the zapco amp would be nice. an epic-160 or an epicenter would be a nice addition. i have the epic-160 and it works great for rock, (korn, godsmack, metallica). i couldnt live without it...

[Tremor1127 0]

where are you trying to put the subwoofers? i see you have space issues, explain please...

[crazyder 0]

It would be going behind the seats. When I say jump seat, the Silverado's have a fold down center seat that is also a console, that is where I would probably have the sub facing the rear and would give me the most mounting depth without moving seats from back wall to back of seat I have 9" of depth.

[crazyder 0]

So with 3/4" MDF and 6.5" Q mounting depth that would already be 8" deep without considering excursion and the gap behind the sub and box, so I would have to either fiberglass to save space or change location or angle of sub. I don't really want to throw out the Q just because it is too deep though, if that is the best sub from Fi that fits my bill I will make it work.

[Tremor1127 0]

if your going mainly for SQ and it has to be a 10", in your case, i would definently try to squeeze it in there. that pirticular 10" has the capability of getting lower and being more musical than all the rest i believe.

i would do away with the middle seat/console and put a 15" Q downfiring in its place...

[Fi Car Audio 64]

Like others have mentioned... a single Q10 ported, or a pair of the SSD10s sealed. I run the SSD10s (standard version at that) sealed in one of my setups and think that they blend well with my front stage and have plenty of kick and extension to them for a nice balanced setup. SPL... not hardly, but they definitely get things shaking when I turn the knob from normal position (set at about 3 of 10) on up to 10... or 11 as Friday drives home from work permit

9" of depth isnt too much of an issue... but what are the overall dims of the setup?

Thanks,

Scott

[crazyder 0]

DD standard cab box

Possibly something like that or more of a box shape something like 24l x 9w x 12h, so with wood and driver it would be .905 ft^3 of volume.

I am probably doing it backwards compared to most people in that I am selecting equipment first based upon reasonable idea of what I can fit and then making it happen when I will probably install it in June.

[theabunai 3]

With .905 I suggest the Sealed SSd's with copper coils...... MMMmmmmm good stuff there

[crazyder 0]

Well I just ordered a Q, thanks to everyone for their input and Scott for some behind the scenes help.

[theabunai 3]

and Scott for some behind the scenes help.

He is a sneaky little guy isn't he

Congrads on the new Q......

I will be contacting scott soon for 2 12" Q's with the BP option I'm gonna get jiggy with it

[filtor1 13]

Well I just ordered a Q, thanks to everyone for their input and Scott for some behind the scenes help.

Great choice. You will not be dissappointed.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Nice choice.

[crazyder 0]

So I guess I am just a little impatient with this question, or overly excited to where I am impatient.

Anyways, so I ordered May 3rd and got payment accepted May 3rd. Read in the forum it takes 2-3 days to build. Sent out an email 5 days ago about an update, to which I got an automated response about the delay in emails from May 4th-10th... I read on the forum that Scott was on a business trip, there was also a PM the day I bought my sub and no response back from either so far. Was there some trip where no one was "manning the fort" and is that what the delay is in building the sub/response back?

[Burbarry 0]

When they were out of town at nationals I ordered my sub and it took about an extra 7 business days before I got the sub at my house. I would say give it an extra 7 business days. You will not be disapointed in the wait I now I have not been or any one else that I know that has ordered their subs.

[Fi Car Audio 64]

Plenty of people manning the fort, but I really didnt have an easy way of getting to emails for orders (and I dont allow others at the shop to take care of the email/order side of things with customers). Looking over the build log, your sub is done, and will ship on Monday. I was unable to "update" the build log remotely due to security measures with our processor. I am now updating all orders as well as diving head first into the 300+ emails from last week.

Sorry for the delay

Thanks,

Scott

[Jybfan04 1]

Ouchhhh 300 emails is a tad bit...

[crazyder 0]

Alright cool, can't wait!

[crazyder 0]

Came yesterday. For some reason the email for the shipping I never got, so I emailed in the evening about it Monday to find they had shipped. Then I was at work when they came through (work for UPS), wish I could have just picked it up then, got it in the evening Tuesday. Total shipping time a day, nice, not so nice the box was a little beat up, the inner bottom holder was ripped on one side, so the sub was at a bit of an angle, but it looks fine. Now it may be another month before I actually am able to install it

Other than that excited, when i get around to putting everything together I will post a build log.

to everyone who helped.