Fi Car Audio

Nice!!! Well, with what you have now, it is still stock electrical friendly for the most part. Stepping things up to BTLs being done right will have you dig into your pockets for extra batteries and a good alt as well. In all honesty I dont see a single BTL18 doing too much more than the pair of Q15s either (in most situations). A pair of BTL15s with a healthy dose of power would... but youd need to do the electrical as well. Im all for selling subs, but you already have a solid setup going. Is it still lacking in output for what you need? Im sure a bunch of ideas will be posted shortly though Thanks, Scott

In all honesty, given that you like drum and bass music, I would try to step up to the 12" if at all possible. I had a friend I lived with quite a few years back that produced music for many of the top UK/European artists that did drum and bass music. He also did tons of promo and shows in the US for them and the few good US drum and bass people. I have heard more than my fair share of it (and got to where I could tell the difference between it and the other 30 genres of music that had subtle beat and sample differences... coming from a hardcore/punk kid this is a feat...lol). The output and depth of the 12 would be appreciated Im sure. The weight difference between the 10 and 12 is a few ounces... not even a pound. You could easily overcome the box difference simply switching from 3/4" MDF to 3/4" Baltic Birch as well (just as strong or strong, but a fair amount lighter). Leaving just the size of the box as the issue. If not, I could tweak the 10 to be a little more for your exact application too. Thanks, Scott

Toshi, Yes we can send kits to you. I will have too look around as the D4 was not a very common coil for the SX, we did a few, but 90% were D2 and 9.9% were D1. Very very few D4. The D1 coils will work with the PCX2400 as well... you would simply have to wire all of the coils in series for a single 1 Ohm load (vs the series/parallel combination with the D4 coils for a single 4 Ohm load). While 1600W wont push the subs to their limits, it should work fine and sound good doing it. Please send an email to [email protected] with your address so that I can find out the shipping cost for them to you. You need baskets, gaskets, terminals, and screws for them as well? Thanks, Scott

Emailed you back. In all honesty, it sounds like things check OK with the sub. I have no clue what it could be since you have already swapped in other things. Only thing I can think is to send it back since you feel thats the problem and we can check it out. Thanks, Scott

Tweeter was repaired and sent out 2 days ago. It should be to you via the USPS in another couple of days. Measures good as new Thanks, Scott

Lots of SUVs like subs up ports back. I have no specfic experience in a Yukon, so I cant say. Ill have to ask Shawn as I know he has done a couple installs in them. Still seems too low being tuned to 32 and peaking at 41 for a daily setup (lower pressure). But your experience far outweighs my "feeling"...lol Id try subs up ports back, and as tejcurrent mentioned, areoports are a very easy/quick way of tweaking things to find peaks and to swap between that and a "better" daily tuning, although you seem to be tuned there already.

You should be fine with that amp and the standard version of the sub. Is .93 cuft after sub displacement? You can always add about 3/4 - 1 lb of poly fill loosely fluffed to the enclosure to bring down the QTC of the smaller enclosure. But its hard to say if itll need it or not given your specific taste in sound until it breaks in (which does take some time on the Q). Sealed is considered by most to be the most accurate and natural sounding setup. Most SQ people run sealed (I prefer sealed for pure SQ setups as well). Up or down isnt an issue, but the sub does need to have space between it and whatever else it is firing into. I like to use 1/4 of the subs diameter as clearance... but most people simply make sure that there is no mechanical interference at full excursion and use that (not optimal or suggested, but it is better than having it run into the floor when pushed harder). As for upgrading to a 2400D and a pair of subs, its still 1200 or so Watts to each, and most likely the BP isnt necessary either. In the 1000-1200W range most people are fine. Its only the ones that push things 110% all day and dont like to back down until something breaks that I would recommend it to at that power level. Saves you a little $$$

Definitely a huge step up from a sinlge 12 BTL (or even the Q15) to a pair of 18s. Do you have the space for them?

Yes, but they have an adjustable F Mod as well. This gives you a a little more tweakability vs the regular versions. With the box size you currently have, you really can only go with the 12s. The 15s need a little more air space than that to perform...

The BTLs do not inherently sound "bad" as they are an SPL sub. I havent a clue what is going on in some of the TTB boxes I have seen. Most seem to work rather well and are efficient, but some of the odd ones would look to be more picky about Qts and Vas for a given size like a horn or TL would be (especially when they are hybrids of them). At least you have heard a change with the one you have in a different enclosure. Are you thinking of upping the size as well?

Got an email back to you... but yes, a standard 9V battery will pop them enough to let you know which way things are moving. More voltage = more movement. Again, this is only a pop test, do not apply for more than a second as it can p!ss the battery off or in some cases the speaker (with high enough voltage on a small enough speaker). ****Dont use this technique on tweeters as it is a DC pulse (0 Hz) and can screw them up****

What size are they and what are you looking to get out of them? (SQ, SPL, just a solid daily sub) We can change sizes of them as well with a basket swap.

Let me know when it comes in.

Yes, if the box is 39 deep, it isnt an issue to have a 25" long port that terminates down the 39" side (without having an L shape). Basically I like to keep at least twice the port width from the end of the box. If you have a 5" X 25" port, Id limit it to 29" long before it starts to act non-linear with respect to the box building programs dimensions. You can continue on, but most simple enclosure programs will not model correct beyond that. Subs went out several days ago (kits a couple of days later)... I think they are 38lbs ship weight (I ship as the same weight if its BP or not, although it adds about 1/2 lb of aluminum). Thanks, Scott

Let us know your rough dimensions you want to work with and we can come up with something for it. Its easier when we have sizing to come up with a port that makes sense dimensionally for it.

It should be fine power wise with that as I believe it does about 1200W into 1 Ohm. With 4 cuft I would definitely have up to about 4lbs of polyfill on hand.... try the sub for a while as is and let it break in. Then after you are used to what it sounds like, try stuffing it with the loosely fluffed polyfil to bring the Qtc of the enclosure down and increase the bottom end performance some. Thanks, Scott

I will leave this one to others to comment on. I like the Qs sound and their output is normally great for their rated power. With the power you are wanting to use, it is beyond the Q. As for the BTL sounding like crap... I havent heard or noticed that... but I value others opinions more than my own given that they are paying customers and I seem to own things Im sure others will chime in shortly. As for the box, whats the specs on it? BLs would work fine in the 8 cuft setup for sure.

We currently dont use rubber surrounds... I do on some OEM, but it isnt my preference for most of my personal companies products (subs anyway) With 1 amp per pair, the SSDs would do well with the power. The SSDs are far from an "entry level" or low line. They are quite tough and are geared towards specific applications... not just a cheapo sub. As for tuning high, its not an issue if thats what you prefer sound wise, but it is with that amp (and a few others) that do not have an adjustable subsonic filter. What happens is that below the tuning frequency the port acts as a hole and the sub flops basically in free air. With a filter that is factory set at 28Hz, it doesnt offer much help when you are tuned to 38. Id prefer setting it to about 35 Hz with only the 12dB/Oct rating it has. If it was a higher slope (18 or 24) you could set it a little lower. Thanks, Scott

Posting the email here just incase anyone else might have an issue and need to check things or test as well. With a battery (9-18V normally from a rechargeable battery or even from your car (but fuse it to be sure) you simply attach a positive lead from the battery to the positive of one coil of the sub. Then the negative of the battery and "touch" it to the negative side of the coil on the sub. This should make the cone move in a direction (normally out). Do this to the other side of the sub as well making sure to connect it correctly with respect to polarity. It should move the same direction. Then wire your sub up how it needs to be (either in series for a 4 Ohm load or parallel for a 1 Ohm load) and make sure that when you touch the leads to the battery that it moves correctly. If it does not move, you most likely have wired a coil out of phase... simply swap one the other way and try again. ***Please not that the leads need to be disconnected from the amp and that you are only touching to see it move, not connecting it for any period of time as it can damage the speaker and will damage the battery*** You can also use a multimeter set to resistance/Ohm setting to measure that the coils are OK. Cross the leads out on the meter shorting them and make note of what the meter reads (should be 0 but many read some internal resistance as well). The check each coil (D2 reads approx 1.5 Ohms). Subtract the initial reading from what it reads when hooked to the sub. If it is close, its fine. Also check to see if you push EVENLY in the center of the sub to make sure that there are no noise or rubbing or anything odd... Please let me know a little more about the setup as well as it could be a settings situation. Ported, sealed, amp settings, subsonic filter levels (if ported). We will get it solved. Thanks, Scott

Congrats!!! What did you end up hitting?

Please send me an email to [email protected] with your zipcode and that its for a XXX15 (I have D1 and @ coils) and I can get you a quote for either the kit or the sub shipped back to you. Thanks, Scott

Are you going to be running just the one amp then to a pair? If thats the case, then the SSDs would work well. But, as with the RF amps (and Kickers) they dont have an adjustable subsonic filter and are set at 28 Hz at 12 dB/oct which is far to low and shallow tuned that high. I would recommend getting an add on filter (even the $35 Harrison Fmods that are adjustable set to 35 Hz would help greatly) for any sub combination with those amps. 12 dB and 10 Hz off is too far to be good. Please let me know if I can help with anything else. Thanks Scott

Quite a few people on here have Q15s sealed, but Bryan C in FL seems to have the most experience with a pair of them. He has turned some amazing numbers in dB Drag as well (for a sealed SQ setup in a G35). Hopefully he can chime in. We have quite a few SQ people running them (and a few from the Buwalada/Hybrid camp in both sealed an IB). People seem to like them sealed.

Stainless are good (thats what we use as they are harder and allow us to torque things down better). Good stainless screws are not magnetic either... cheaper ones are. But even at that, its no issue at all (or steel for that matter).

Do you have a multimeter? In all honesty it sounds like it is wired out of phase between the coils. You can pop test the coils (first individually) with a battery checking polarity and making sure that they move/pop the same direction with respect to that. Then wire it back up (with it not attached to the amp) and pop them again to make sure that they move the same way. If it does not move, reverse one set of leads and check again. A multimeter will tell quite a bit too. Is it a ported enclosure? If so whats it tuned to and what amp do you have (does it have a subsonic filter, and whats it set to as well?) Its hard to tell what the problem is without being there to track it down. But we will work through it and get it figured out. Thanks, Scott