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I like to have close to 100% satisfaction with everything i build, so for me, it wouldnt matter what size the enclosure is, i would want a wooden crate. In the last 3 months, locals around here have had 4 DD9515's and 2 SSA Evils destroyed in shipping. Its not a matter of if the shipper will drop the package, the question is how high are they going to drop ot from and how many times will they drop it..

I am closing this topic, as I am done dealing with the insane amount of effort (and stress) that has gone into this one order. The BBB claim has been addressed, the paypal charge back has already yanked the money from our account. Neal said it best, it is not worth it anymore and not worth risking such a nice SSA sub in this customers hands.

Im thinking a speaker box, ported more than likely but I could be wrong. :

the kickstarter is at $5.5m with 8 days left. ridiculous. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1003614822/ponomusic-where-your-soul-rediscovers-music My understanding is he wanted a player that was better than MP3. I sure as shit can tell an mp3 from a CD with my good headphones or my Martin Logan's. The Logan's are particularly cruel to production and compression. They make some of my most nostalgic albums sound like flat shit because of it. Just cruel cruel speakers. The flip side is, some of those really well recorded albums have so much hidden content that they sound remastered compared to listening on junk speakers.

This is just my opinion so don't take it as fact or from SSA: You said the xcon had way more output at lower frequencies than the other drivers, but that the other drivers sounded better at high frequency? The flip side of that coin is that those other drivers don't have the output that the xcon has at lower frequencies. I would consider that part of the design of the driver, and not a problem. That may seem frustrating to you because you may have expected it to excel at everything. I'm sure there's plenty of people that say the driver is very capable of playing up to 80hz with no problem and if there is any problem than it's in the design of the enclosure or amp settings, and they very well could be correct, but with ALL the drivers I've ever used I've always been the happiest with crossing them over in the 50-60hz range, and leaving the rest for midbass drivers. With the sub at 80hz 18db or 24db slope there always seemed to be a muddle sound in the higher bass region to midbass. I've experienced this with all kinds of drivers, not SSA in particular, ported enclosures, sealed enclosures, big boxes, small boxes. Then I lower my LPF and instantly everything was clear and the midbass was crisp. My point is this was universal for all drivers I've used from Sundown, Fi, SSA, and so forth. I don't see it as a problem of the driver, but rather trying to use it outside/near it's intended usage. Don't try and use something outside it's limitations to make up for another's lack in ability.

I agree with Julian 100%. These are VERY basic questions that you should know by now. Not to sure how you have built your system without knowing how to see how much space you have with 3 dimensions. You definitely should know how to do this. I would suggest downloading the Torres box calc and also using Stephan's port area calc. It'll allow you to be able to somewhat design a box and and figure out your answers pretty quick. That way you don't have to ask questions and wait for a reply. Lol that was a bad come back you obviously don't know Julian's past setups. Also not trying to start anything between me and you but just trying to let you see our side and too help.

I don't think you buy a Nissan GTR and ask the dealer how do you put it in 2nd? All Julian was insinuating is that maybe he should have done a little bit more research before making such a big purchase. And having such an "large" equipment list. That was my point exactly, if you need to ask some serious basic questions without doing at least the bare minimum of research you probably shouldn't be doing it. We aren't here to spoon feed you information. And to say to come back when I've ran as big of equipment at that is laughable. I've been in this hobby for nearly 9 years with multiple large setups.. 8 xcon 10s on 15k, 12 12s on 20 k.. etc If you can't do some basic calculations or even plug them into a calculator you shouldn't be delving this deep into a hobby where a miss calculation can ruin thousands of dollars worth of equipment. So yeah. Lul

I agree. You say you don't have any air leaks in the enclosure but the problems you're describing are classic leaking box issues. Push in on the cone of the sub and hold it in place for several seconds, it should have a bit of resistance to moving. Now when you remove your hand the sub should move fairly slowly back out to it's rest position. If it goes back quickly but doesn't follow your hand you're probably okay but if it doesn't go slowly at all and follows your hand straight back then you're enclosure isn't as well sealed as it should be. This isn't super scientific nor is it completely definitive, but it can give you a place to start. Even if the enclosure isn't leaking there's still something very suspect going on here. These subs are designed to be very accurate with quick response. Aaron's analogy in my signature is a great explanation of it. The enclosure is EVERYTHING to how a sub performs.

here are some other ideas/questions. but i think the problem is enclosure related. you sure the xover setting is accurate, markings on the amp are usually off. what about the front stage? have you tried moving the box around the cargo area? have you tried changing the phase (if the amp has a setting?) or swapping the polarity? I set the lpf on the amp all the way up and used the lpf on the hu to take care of crossover duty.Front stage is ID XS65. Awaiting the sds order to maximize their potential. Not much mid bass right now. I moved the box around and faced it different ways and ended up with it up against the back seat(no third row) firing back toward the hatch door. Any other way and the output would drop significantly. Swapping polarity made very little difference, though I didn't play with the phase knob at all. The box was made of 3/4" mdf, all glue, no screws. No air leaks or rattles coming from the box. I'm thinking sealed isn't all it's cracked up to be. Though according to ebp on this sub ported>sealed. I also used your duct seal idea and am running my tweets up high in the door with grills off and the difference is pretty impressive. Gonna try a pillar a few inches above dash next week or so. I might need to start a build log or something the way this is going. Never done that before though.

Something seriously jacked with your install. No way should that driver have ANY problems with transient bass notes. I am ultra critical in that regard being an upright bass player and dig the one on my boat big time. Your impression was wrong. A better box will give a better response.

Sad, but some people feel it necessary to act in such a poor manor. Even worse is when they consume so much of your time when you could have been helping others who have a better apperication for your time and help. I would venture to say the way he acted, it might be in the best interest of SSA for him not to own an SSA sub.

I have a order from SDS due to arrive on Wednesday so I'll be addressing my doors/mids fairly soon.

^^^ I definitely agree that you need to look more into the front stage and the midbass setup than at the sub. The majority of everything that you hear from a drum set rests in the midbass region. Sure, there's plenty of bass there but it lies mostly in the harmonics and the deeper bass notes overlap the bass and midbass regions. The subwoofers can and should help with this but the entire duty shouldn't rest solely on them.

Ported tuned in the high 30s is probably what you need. And honestly subs shouldn't be playing up to 70. I would upgrade my front stage before making a definite answer

If you aren't happy with the transient response from the xcon (which by the way is due to the box). Do NOT buy the Magnetar. You won't be happy.

Why not build a ported box for that XCON?

Guys I want to add a 4th SP4 to my current setup and was wondering if I have enough space in the cargo area of my SUV to do it. I have the following demensions...46W x 44D x 25H.....And how much port area to get them really going with about 16k of power?

I'm looking toward sub or enclosure. When the xcon was swapped for the mtx boxes, those things slammed the higher bass notes pretty well. Wasn't too loud on the lows but it shook my steering wheel. The only thing that was changed was sub and box. All other settings and equipment stayed the same. What's the chances that the sub I got could have had something wrong with it, or it was a poor recone when I got it? I didn't buy from ssa :/

Well, I don't plan on swapping out the X65s anytime soon. I've had four different sub set ups in this truck all on the same amp and the xcon was the only one to have the problem I am talking about, so I'm not sure mid bass is going to fix it.

It'll get closed unless you upload the pics soon. Also make sure to have you're name and date.

wow, you cant calculate those dimensions yourself and see if you have enough room. Let alone plug them into a box enclosure calculator.

If you're asking some super basic questions then you probably shouldn't

Not saying you wont get good midbass from those drivers even if you deaden, they aren't meant for that. These drivers have a higher sensitivity and are made to mate up with horns. The CTX mids is Image Dynamics heavy duty midbass driver, just my understanding from my days on the ID forum when it was still up and running.

I gave that test a shot. I pushed the cone in about 1 inch and held it for about 5 seconds. When I quickly released it took about a full second for it to recover. This is really getting strange. If there is a weak link in my install somewhere, I definitely want to find it. I might note that I bought it off a guy on craigslist. He had a 15 and an 18. They were brand new and he claimed he was a dealer. It was wrapped in plastic and in the shipping box. It also looked and smelled like new so I felt pretty comfortable with the deal.

Well lets see if you look at what I am already running maybe I should.....BTW when you get on my level gear wise come see me!!