ShagggDiesel

You can NOT use SPL scores to dictate how a woofer will perform in a musical application, so numbers mean nothing except for SPL competition. Correct, but musical isn't what this users concern is. Therefore I didn't take that much into consideration. But the same concept still applies to a certain degree.

say a 12" BTL vs. an 18" BTL. Yes the 18" will be louder, only because it's cone is larger and it displaces more air. Depending on the enclosure! As I tried to state above

Just because the size of the woofer is bigger, doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be "louder" and sound "better". Ask any big timer on here. It's all install dependent. Look up the guys with the SA 8" woofer pushing 150 db.. That's a whole woofer size smaller than an 18, and there are 18's out there doing in the mid 130's. Consider your budget, space, and power. I'm willing to put money on it that I could find an install with one 10" driver and you would be more satisfied than some installs with this 18" monster your craving for. But each has their own. If you're going for mainly "looks" to show off that you have an infant for a subwoofer and output isn't a huge concern, by all means go for it. But if your goal is truly output, put this into consideration and rethink your install. Putting a 12" model of the same driver as the 18 in a box with recommended space and tuning, as compared to the crammed and not in sufficient space, will out perform the 18 any day. Just my .02. Take it how you want to. And I wish you the best with your final decision.

Thanks for the info guys. Just wanted to clear some things up and further my knowledge, and as always, the SSA forum family helped a ton.

Like I said, this isn't to help me out with a situation I'm in, it's just to build my knowledge with the subject a little bit for future references. But let's say in one box I have a $30 12" Dual subwoofer from Wal-Mart, and in another box (exact same dimensions) I have something like a Fi SSD, What would the difference be?

I haven't had much experience with the science behind port tuning/building, but I've been doing a little research and some calculations and have a question concerning port "size". Let's say I have a 1 cu.ft box, and I want to put a aero port in it with a tuning of about 33hz. I used a calculator and I came up with a 2" diameter port with a length of 6.3 inches.. or a 3" port with a length of 15+ inches.. My question is, what's the difference in having the 2" short port as opposed to the 3" long port and achieving the same tuning? To me it would just seem logical to go with the small and short port to save space and material, and just be an overall convenience.. but this is one of those situations where I feel it's too good to be true. What are the pro's (if any) and cons to using the smaller port as opposed to the larger? Note: This is not a situation I'm in, I'm just using a simple 1cu.ft enclosure as an example. Thanks ahead.. I'm probably going to bed soon so if I don't reply tonight i'll check back on this thread tomorrow morning. -Shag

TUNED.

I'm looking for strictly output here. I have room for about a 4 cuft box to house 2 12's or 1 15 in a ported enclosure. My question, if I gave the same amount of power to 2 12" SSD's as opposed to one 15" BTL, what would have the greater output? It's roughly the same price for each option, so that's why I'm wondering.

Well it's not looking like a good idea to put the battery in the trunk. I don't think I want to risk the releasing of hydrogen gas and acids in my car hahah. I think I'll just wait to purchase a deep cell and do the big 3 in the mean time. Thanks for the input though guys. Probably saved me a lot of trouble lol

I have the battery running in my room hooked to a 3 amp 15v battery charger running to a 1000w sony xplod amp to a kicker CVR. It has yet to release anything but electricity to my amp. Is the smell and leaking an issue with all marine batteries? It's been in my room for about 3 days and has done fine.

Currently I'm running off ALL stock electrical in my 99 Grand Am. I found an extra car battery in the garage the other day, and got to wondering. I know that deep cell batteries such as the optimas and kinetics are optimal, but would a regular crank battery help my electrical system out at all? It's not reccommended I know, but I have it and if it would help then I don't see why not until I do get a deep cell. Additional Info: Big 3 is NOT done yet. Running a 1000w Memphis Class D @ 1ohm 1 run of 1/0 power to a dist. block in the trunk with a run of 4g to the sub amp and a run of 8g to the mid/highs amp. Got the 1/0 ground from the amp to chassis Stock batt and alt

I think I've checked every fuse that is in my car. LOL

OK so I wired the ignition, and the 12V all together and the unit comes on and works fine with the key is turned on. Only problem, when I turn the key off, it resets the whole unit, so I have to adjust EQ and settings everytime I turn the car on. This is the only way I've been able to get the unit to work though. I DID however try switching the 12v and ignition wires (red to yellow and yellow to red) from the harness to the unit, and it would come on for about 3 seconds and turn off and not turn back on.. but if you pressed "source" the clock would come on for a few seconds, but thats it. There is nothing wrong with the ignition lead or anything from what I can see, and other hesd units work fine. Any ideas on what to do?

I know that.. I re did the wiring on the harness to the wiring on the HU.

What's the problem with wiring the ground to the harness? My last HU was wired to the harness and it grounded and worked fine. Also, the 12v and ignition are color matched. Red - Ignition, Yellow - Constant 12v. I'll try crossing them but I don't think thats an issue. And since my ground to the harness worked with my last HU, I assume it would work with another?

I sold my old HU to a buddy the other day, so I went to wal mart for a quick fix and bought a 100$ JVC something-or-other to replace it. I wired the ground, the 12v, and the ignition, and nothing happens when I turn the key. I didn't wire any of the speakers, for I am just running RCA's to an external amp to power my mids and highs. I've checked all fuses, including the one in the HU itself, and re-wired everything just to be sure. After that didn't work, I took it back to wal-mart to replace it, and when I wired the new one up, still nothing, so I know it's not a problem with the HU itself.. Any ideas on what could be the problem?

from what I can see, and from what you've told us about previous systems you have heard, any of those setups are going to blow anything you've heard away. You could pull from a hat and I can almost guarentee you'd be satisfied

Thats kinda funny. 33hz is a good medium to me. Its all your preference so its hard to say what you will like to hear in your vehicle. X2. 33hz is a good medium for the lower range tunings (30-35) and sounds optimal for your install. Most of the Z15 installs I've seen have been 32-34 hz and they have been satisfied. Only way to really judge is to try it out for yourself in your vehicle. But for my opinion, 33hz should sound just fine. Anything lower will sound muddy and empty on most notes, and anything higher will be lacking the lows in your rap songs. Plus that tuning should sound alright with the other genres you've mentioned as long as you set your levels to balance out. (Bass control knob, etc) I also agree on the insults part, haha. Quite funny.

Where in KY are you? I'm about 35 mins south of Lexington. I'd love to hear this machine

I have no input, but I saw the title and got 50 Cent stuck in my head LOL. (50 Cent - 21 Questions) Anyway, good luck with the purchase and install. Like denim said, check out the IA section for builds

X2. That's where I got all my 1/0 and terminals and whatnot. GREAT prices and quality product. Got 35ft of 1/0 for approx 70$

Yes! I'm thinking about picking up a couple of them just for the heck of it! Might put them in moms Sienna hahaha

I was at wal mart the other day picking up some speaker wire for an install i was doing for a friend. I was looking at the HU section just out of curiosity. I found a unit that is made specifically for iPod/iPhone playback. It had a FM tuner, aux in, and the faceplate flips down with a iPod/Phone docking station. I put my iPhone on it to see if it would work with it. It charged my phone and played the music just fine. The price on this unit was 100$ even. I know dual is probably one of the most frowned upon audio companies out there.. but I've been looking into a new HU with a budget, and 95% of my music is played from my iPhone, so I dont need all the fancy features. For the price, it seems like a nice deal. What are your alls suggestions? It would be for temporary use anyway until I get some bank for a nicer HU.

I think next time I'll just get a blank black hat and have my mom embroider the Fi logo on it.. I just like to support and rep companies I like.

What does a backorder of magnets have anything to do with my t-shirt and hat...? pretty sure those don't need a custom build...