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Happy wife sometimes leads to very unhappy self. Anyway, as for the enclosure linked, hard to speak on it as I have not used those sub woofers to know their preferences.

yeah, i've always built ported enclosures and have always been left somewhat satisfied. they get low as hell and loud, but they lack when it comes to playing a wider fq range. like you said, high excursion 18's sealed up, yum! i bet they get pretty low and sound good with almost anything played. my next project for sure, great job man

You have a problem with SSA or what ? The topic is about the Xcon, not about another sub. Tell us what you dislike, or what you like about this particular sub : the Xcon. OP, you can't be disappointed with 2 Xcons. You'll love them, like everyone I gave a listening session on mine.

A Mini RE Audio XXX 15 Review Ok well i have been lucky enough to have the chance to play with an origional RE Audio XXX 15. I once had this in the boot and passed on the opportunity to buy this exact driver and i now regret that but ill come back to that. First a little bit about the driver. This particular model dates back to 2005 and is radically different in design to the current generation of RE Audio XXX's. The current design uses a split coil while the first generation were a XBL motor design. While it is hard to find information on these drivers the first generation used an XBL^2 motor design. Following a fall out between RE Audio and Dan Wiggins (owner to the Patent of XBL^2) RE Audio redesigned the XXX. This is the first generation of RE XXX's which had an XBL^2 motor . It seems that these original XXX's are fairly sought after drivers and they are hard to come by. What is XBL and why is it beneficial? XBL^2 is a traditional underhung motor design. The design gives a very flat BL curve over the drivers intended frequency range which translates into excellent motor control of cone movement throughout the operating range of the speaker. XBL^2 motors are extremely good for SQ, even at high excursion, which makes it a good """"SQL"""" speaker motor design. I have not experimented with this driver ported, only sealed. And to be honest i see no point in building a ported box for this driver. In a sealed box you can achieve a very linear sounding response that is capable of very respectable musical output. I started with a test enclosure that was roughly 2 cubes. This was not ideal. Very tight but the extension seemed limited. Despite being a recommended sealed enclosure prior experience has taught me that very few 15 inch drivers will perform well in 2 cubes, its simply too small. The Driver: 2005 RE Audio XBL^2 15 inch driver. The motor is double slugs with a large chrome top plate. The basket is a standard 12 spoke basket that is common to lots of drivers. Medium foam surround. Dual 2ohm coils with felt pads on the back side of the cone to stop tinsel lead slapping at high excursion. The 2 cubes test box, very rough enclosure but that's the point of a test box. This was some time ago hence the Hertz HP1KD amplifier for power. Next enclosure was roughly 3 cubes, i was much happier with the drivers performance in this box. Last but not least properly installed in a carpeted 3 cube sealed enclosure with light polyfill stuffing. The driver is mounted inverted to highlight the chrome bottom plate and allow for extra motor cooling at higher output levels. The amplifier is a Digital Designs M3a wired at 1ohms. Now onto Listening impressions Morning Glow by Mayuko Aoki (Final Fantasy 12 Vocal Collection) This is an interesting track with a very prominent and hotly mixed bass line that incorporates low notes with tighter bass hits. It is actually a hard track to get sounding good as its very easy for it to become muddy sounding or the bass hits lose some of their punch and tautness. Its also a good indicator of sub bass gain as systems with slightly hot sub bass end up sounding like street beat systems playing this song. The RE Audio XXX had no problem with this song, the lows were accurately produced without sounding overblown. I was highly impressed with this track, not quite headphone perfect but the closest i have heard this track from a car substage. Urban Uppercut (Blood on the Asphalt [street Fighter II Rearrangements]) There are some seriously low drops throughout this track, hard to guess but id say into non audible range (sub 15Hz). You can only just hear them but it is more of a sensation. Tracks like this is where 30mm Xmax become very noticeable due to the air being displaced. Once again no drama's at all with the XXX. Not only can you hear the drops but you can feel the wave inside the car. Other drivers i have listened to a lot such as the Mach5 IXL10 have been able to reproduce such content but not with such authority. The best way to describe it is effortlessly and without strain. Black Coffee by Liz Tobias (A beautiful Friendship) A smooth jazz track with some beautiful female vocals from a local Adelaide jazz artist Liz Tobias. A good track to gauge double bass and kick drum. Not overly hard content for a driver to reproduce, ie not overly dynamic or low yet more often than not a driver will fail to sound musical and articulate. Its hard to describe but the sound is just not right. Again no complaints for the XXX. Musical articulate sub bass that integrated nicely with the mid bass drivers and added just the right amount of depth to kick drum and double bass. The thing that comes to mind when listening to such music with the XXX is that of an Iron fist in a velvet glove. It really is surprising that such a large brute of a driver is able to reproduce the finer delicate detail in a lot of music so convincingly. Angel by Massive Attack (Massive Attack Collected) An eerie and almost disturbing track. I think its best to describe the bass line as a pulsating foundation to the track with a slow bass guitar introduction followed by a deep kick drum and a very full body electronic bass. Yet again the XXX surprised me with good extensions and dynamics. Kaleidscope by Harmonic 33 (Extraordinary People) I remember using this track and naming it specifically in my review of the IXL10. And i will quote from that review "For all the ground pounder guys who are sick of chopped and screwed bass CD's go hunt down this song, the bass line comes from nowhere 48 seconds into the song. The lows are very prominent and dig very deep, you not going to reproduce such lows with budget subwoofer or ported enclosures tuned in the traditional 35-40Hz range. Reproducing the low notes with reasonable volume is difficult but the real challenge comes from doing so while remaining clean and tight with low group delay. To be honest this song is probably the song that made me begin to really appreciate what the IXL10 is capable of. Without a doubt the best reproduction of this track I have yet experienced in my car" The XXX is as good as i remember the IXL10 being. The difference however is that the IXL10 would play cleanly to about 130db before sounding strained while the XXX will just keeping going as the volume is turned clockwise. I could keep listing different songs but i think the theme will be the same and that is that i cannot fault this driver. Its not perfectly integrated with the mid bass but in my car that's a limitation of the mid bass drivers and a lack of processing. Even when it comes to output its very impressive for a sealed driver in a boot that is almost sealed from the old SPL days (ie sealed up parcel tray). im not going to speculate on a DB level as i have not measured it but its certainly loud enough to outrun the fronts without breaking a sweat. I think its also a good example to highlight the age old car audio myth that larger drivers (15s & 18s) are not as capable of tight or fast bass due to the weight of the cones as being false. If i had to list the cons of this driver it would be weight and power handling. I think you really need an amplifier rated at 1000 watts as a starting point for this driver and the larger the amplifier the better. This comes at a cost in terms of partnering equipment. Pros: - Output capability - Linearity - Detail - Extension Cons: - Physical size & Weight - Large sealed enclosure requirements - You will need a good electrical system & amplifier to make the most of this driver So to summarise. This is a beautiful driver. Im disappointed that i passed on the opportunity to buy this driver when i did. The build quality is high, the glue joins are neat. The cone is tasteful as is the XXX logo. The chrome motor looks amazing and its an XBL^2 motor design. Its certainly not a driver for everyone and it requires a powerful amplifier and in turn a solid electrical system. Its heavy and large. But providing you make these concessions i doubt anyone would be disappointed with its performance. I could not fault its performance and it managed to play loud while remaining musical without distortion or physical limitation. Having said this i do think its overkill for a daily music system. Im sure there are other drivers out there that are as musical without being as large or needing as much power but when the volume levels get high they are not going to be able to match the clean output that the XXX is capable off...

I had done the math to determine the volume of the air each could move at Xmax but I don't know if that actually tells me anything. All it really tells you is how much air they can move in a single stroke, albeit the 12" DCON does move more air than the 10" GCON according to the math, that's really all it can tell you. ^^^I agree, the difference between them will probably not be significant enough to be any sort of deciding factor. The two most important factors are price and space. Are you willing to pay a little more to use a little less space or are you willing to give up a little bit more space and save a few dollars?

There are more people that you might realize that run sealed Xcon's. Not sure why, but on average, the higher output people post more. We have plenty of people via email and the occasional PM that are running Icon's/Xcon's sealed and are super happy that are not as much a forum go'er's. In a generalization, many single sealed installs are people that want to do it once, get it right the first time, and not worry about it again until they replace their car. Puts a smile on my face eveyday!

If he wants 1.3/4(ish) then I would hope he has D2s or D1s.

There are more people than you might realize that run sealed Xcon's. Not sure why, but on average, the higher output people post more. We have plenty of people via email and the occasional PM that are running Icon's/Xcon's sealed and are super happy that are not as much a forum go'er's. In a generalization, many single sealed installs are people that want to do it once, get it right the first time, and not worry about it again until they replace their car.

Sound quality is subjective for the most part, but the Xcon can sound excellent with out question in the correct enclosure. It is impossible to predict termlab numbers with out testing or having a nearly identical set up in the same car.

Looks good NEM!!

i am really starting to lean into the sealed enclosure area. i love ported, but i think i would be much happier with sealed. i've too been diggin the x-cons or possibly the SP4's. i like what your doing, leaning away from the crowd. do your thing man

I wanna pour milk over Joss Stone and make her part of my complete breakfast.

No matter what you do, how bad ass you think you are, or how brass like your balls are, this wins.

And If I ever need to kill my own food, I will do it with my own hands or other tool. I don't see the gun as sporting. Even the prey has to have an opportunity to secure it's life. One must play fair.

Chsweet

Looks good tim, you need to come up to the NW show this weekend!

it maybe easier just to find the draw, its a pretty simple car, its most likely a relay that's stuck open. i tell my boss the same thing, we use one of those on #13 one of our 18 wheeler wreckers hes too cheap to pay someone to track it down... so it never gets done! looking good ,

I sure would,great company, product and service, may look into getting another 3500D later...

Read the rules to the classifieds section and it will quickly become apparent.

In very good condition, maybe $225-300 I would say, but some people will pay more, just have to catch the right person.

And of course that spec is missing a large portion as they were lost in the great data eff up

Well I have a lot going on right now, graduation, party, and getting college paid for. Just no real time yet. So I have had to take a little break.

The Xcon's will surely be accurate in the proper enclosure with proper amplifier settings. Out put should be no worry with a pair of Xcon 12's.

alright i guess ill go ahead and update.... shipped my alt to mechman... there gonna fix it and put a bigger pulley on it.... this way i should have no more issues with it.... i built another top for the batt box... plus i built some side panels.... all which will be painted white: holes cut on the side for the speaker wires, rcas, and remote wire: holes cut for the 4/0 power and ground: heres what the front is looking like....top and bottom are foamed up... gonna do sides soon have to get more foam lol....i still need to go get another sheet of 3/4" mdf so i can make the front cover then paint it white....port will be painted red or black still not sure... i have a show coming up on the 22nd i want to be done by....so thats my goal ....

That's actually a 2nd gen. The first gen had XXX on the cone, a boob cap, and different motor.

well found out my alt died so now i have to wait for that to get fixed.... braced the roof yesterday... I plan to use some expanding foam as well to help seal it off more.... started sealing off the sides yesterday ... but ran out of 2x4s.... i went and picked some more up today... and im off tomorrow so ill be working on it some more then: i need to cut off a little bit of the wood off on the bottom so the 2x4s sit more flush with the sides of the wall....

thanks yes here ya go alt hooked up with 4/0... there was no way i could fit 2 4/0 on the alts posts... they are way to short... i barely got 1 4/0 on the positive.... 4/0 runs ran thru the firewall and loomed dont make fun of the wire mess ^^^^.... thats what happens when u do a wire tuck to the engine bay... have to find spots for all the wires so under the dash worked lol.... right now its just laying on the floor.... dont think im gonna hide the wires either... this way if i ever need to get to them i can easily... this is a project car anyways lol.... piece for the cars electrical: going back to the wall... on the left of the wire there is spots in the body where i can ziptie the wires too... ill do that once i get further along... havent cleaned up the buss bars yet... we kinda just hurried through this to get the car running again so i could get to work on time lol.... ground 1: heres wheres ground 2 will go: ground 3: heres where ground 4 will go: ooo yaaa:

He and I built it the last 3 1/2 months...here's the build log link... http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/topic/55400-astro-ground-pounder-build-jl-18w6-us-amps-vlx-400s/

The sleeve took about 18 hrs total... 4 hours drawing / designing / layout... 4 hours outline (3 hrs not counting breaks) and 10 shading (8 hrs not counting breaks). So I would of charged someone between 1500-1800 depending on the person. Jordans cost was plane, hotel (offered to stay at my place) rental car and food. I am pretty sure he came out way ahead. The offer definetly stands for you to Steve, You get here and I will ink you for FREE!!

back cover painted: painted batt box didnt get a pic with the front side on: batt box screwed down: new top... not painted or mounted yet:

got a little bit of work done today: bracing for the batteries: top layer on... had to do half inch higher in the front to make it sit right lol back cover cut out:

http://youtu.be/5DO_4RwBVEc

Pretty wild flex, it does not really look like this. Just the camera.

Before I forget, when I carried the subs into the house and opened the box my wife looks at me and say " holy shit those are huge and what the hell are you going to do with those?" I told her the next time she gets out of line that she is going to stand in the corner holding one with her arms straight out. She did not see the humor.

damn you guys play the same ol stuff waka flocka southside anthem waka atlanta got a problem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC0LkPp7scM gucci mane candy lady http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVHGBluGuYY camron killa cam Jim jones weatherman travis porter waffle house gucci mane i think i want her camron they feeling us jim jones certified gangstas jim jones crunk muzik http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_85gIjUC_Q&feature=related