neo_styles

Interesting question to ask as I'll be needing a similar question answered myself with a single 10" ICON being powered by 2 Zed Minotaur at 4ohms. Was going to aim for rated, then slowly bring things up until I started to see things get stressed. I will let you know what I find once the second Minotaur is in my hands and running.

Oh, man...not THIS guy.. No no...not THIS guy

There's more factored into IA's pricing besides just the fact they can charge more. One is assembled with COTS components, one is basically done by hand. I'm sure you can figure out which is which. But comparing a ZV4 to a Judge is a one-sided fist fight and they really weren't intended to compete with each other.

Take a look at the Sundown SD-2. 4.75" mounting depth for you

Just went in and re-tuned both the front stage and sub using the test tones I made a while back on Audacity. Also set tones with the volume level at 40/50 vice 35/50 to hopefully bring RCA voltage up. I'm not going to go higher than 80% as of now just simply for the fact that I don't have a scope to verify that the signal isn't being sent clipped. What surprised me is that while, last time, I was able to bring my amp gain to match a voltage right at rated before the 0dB light came up last time, I was able to eke a good deal more this time around using a 50Hz@-6dB tone. Last time it was the same frequency, but a -5. Also, before, the protection circuit meant to ramp voltage down to protect the amplifier did not engage, even as I crossed the 750W threshold, but stayed at 750W just for good measure. At this point, the amp's gain knob is just below the 12 o'clock position. As for the front stage, I used a 1KHz@-3dB tone and again set for the amp's rated power of 125W@4ohms. The results, however, were both good and bad. While it feels like I lost sub output, I noticed the front stage was much more present and full. Methinks there's just a tradeoff here. I've also gained a shit-ton of volume out of the front stage, so maybe I have just been used to listening to a quieter front stage relative to the sub volume. Does that mean I've lost my bass entirely? Absolutely not. I still get that rich, low, environmental bass in its laid-back presentation. I think once the suspension starts to loosen up and I get the second Minotaur in there to feed the ICON rated power, I'll gain a bit more output. This all means I'm still reserving my final verdict, but so far it's pretty much still all positives

They just had a huge sale and probably got swamped with build orders. I ordered my 18" DP the first day of the sale and still haven't received it. I just know things like this take time. Don't want to wait? Lol buy Skar/Sundown.

Agreed Awesome, thanks for the input. Any 18s "better" than the evil? Something that could be powered by one BC5500d?Evil can. Could also look at the IA Warden and B2 XC

Lol neither did I until I had it in my hands. The Level 2 was only 20-something pounds, so this is almost double the sub. 2.5" coil to 3" and so on and so forth. Never knew what I was missing...

So I've made it pretty obvious that I was ordering a 10" ICON from SSA for a while, but haven't really put up my impressions of it yet. Well, just so happens that I got her in this week and have had a couple days now to play with it. But first, the pictures! Was too heavy for the wife to bring in...lol All concerns about this sub not being packed gingerly and braced to survive UPS' typical mishandling can now be dispelled. The foam blocks were glued to the shipping box itself and the magnet was held in place with more cardboard and a wood basin. I ended up pulling the sub out from the magnet side because I didn't want to damage the foam blocks Yay! I has a sticker lol. I'll save this for future use. This sub is sub-stantial (sorry, couldn't resist the pun). That's a gorgeous-looking motor. More on that later... I'm a big fan of these poly rings being used for spacers and the amount of side cooling this sub offers. The wiring is Audio Technix 10ga that I had lying around. Foam pad meant to prevent lead slap. Ends up being quite effective, IMO More shots of those poly rings that I happen to love (inherently resonance-resistant), but what stands out to me is that coil. Just like it's peeking up to say, "hello...I'm about to give you delicious, clean bass." Believe it or not, this is my favorite feature of the whole sub (aside from how it sounds, of course. Instead of just taking a foil sticker and slapping it on the bottom end of the motor, it's encased behind some clear plastic. Now here's where things got weird. I had an enclosure built previously for my 10" DC Audio Level 2 and was having issues getting the ICON to fit because of the double baffle as well as the inner baffle being about 1/8" too small for the basket. At first, I thought I was going to have an issue, but then a voice inside me said "turn it around, man...let that beautiful magnet be the centerpiece." So I ended up with this: And it literally slid right in there. Mounted normally, the rubber gasket was starting to bunch up, causing issues with it seating flush. But I think reverse mounting was the winning ticket. Here's some more shots: Placed in for a test fit. The enclosure is just narrow enough to fit in between the two standoffs for the rear deck. And the finished product: XS D2700 in the stock battery compartment sitting right alongside a Zed Audio Minotaur III. In the future, I will have a second Minotaur and be able to feed the ICON up to 2.6k at 4 ohms. Talk about efficiency and the essques! So here's my first and second-day listening impressions. I'm just going to copy them out of my MAF build log: SO! First day of listening to the ICON in the car. Keep in mind that Aaron actually recommended using the SMS enclosure with its 32Hz tuning and I, stubbornly, went with the dcar box anyway (seeing as how I had it at the house)... Umm holy shit, guys. There's something awesome about this ICON. On paper, it might not look as awesome as some other subs. If all you look at is power ratings, 1250W isn't an incredibly huge amount. And it looks like a Fi . But I'm telling you all that this sub has character. It has low end and in magnitudes greater than I was ever able to experience with the Level 2. I know it's not a fair comparison seeing as how the coil sizes are different, power rating is almost twice as different, blah blah blah, but it was the last sub I ran in my setup. So there. Even running the Level 2 at 2 ohms with twice the power I'm feeding the ICON at 4, the DC can't keep up. This ICON got lower, louder, and cleaner across the spectrum than the DC ever did in an enclosure DESIGNED for the DC. Today's demo discs were Hardwell Presents Revealed, Volume 4 (mainstream EDM) and Chase and Status - Brand New Machine (Drum & Bass). Hardwell's album produced a good amount of bass. Nothing exceptional, but what you would expect out of radio-friendly EDM tunes. The standouts here were Hardwell's own "Never Say Goodbye," Martin Garrix' "Animals," Armin van Buuren's "This Is What It Feels Like," and pretty much all of Chase & Status' new album in terms of bass reproduction. In a contest of lows, Chase & Status all the way, which really helped show how low this sub could dig. Low, loud, and clean are definitely the ICON's M.O. here, but what amazed me was how much more transparent my sub stage has gotten, even over doing everything I could with the DC. If the ID10 was like getting into your car first thing on a cold morning and the DC was like the first few minutes after running that defogger, the ICON is like the same windshield on a perfect autumn afternoon. TL;DR = ICON>Level 2, though not a fair comparison. Gets louder, lower, and does it cleaner with a certain sense of character that can't really be described. --- Yes, yes it is. I still want to do another tune with it, but I've been very impressed with it in terms of clarity of signal and ease of use. You would be tickled pink with it, man. I didn't choose the ICON life, the ICON life chose me --- More ICON listening impressions today. Listened to a couple more albums: Chase & Status - No More Idols Nero - Welcome Reality Excision - X Rated Bass is still full, surrounding, clean, low, and (dare I say) WARM. I have yet to go back in and re-tune the front stage for the increased sub stage output, but there's something almost analog in the way the sound of this sub is. It's never overbearing or as in-your-face as the output should be making you feel, which is something I really like. That's not to say it doesn't get loud, but it does it in a way that just feels nice. Listening to one of my favorite tracks of all time, Chase & Status' "Flashing Lights" was just a pure joy and the ICON handled it effortlessly. Nero's "My Eyes" was just like I remembered hearing it live. I almost closed my eyes and saw Hard Day of the Dead's light show going on from when I saw them a few weeks ago. In a week or two, I'll start putting in some acoustic and live instrument tracks to see how it keeps up with those. --- More listening impressions will come in over time. I'm looking forward to the suspension to loosen up and see how this thing does after a break-in. Also very happy that I'm getting this response with only 750W available for the sub (4 ohms). Being able to give her rated and more is going to be a real treat.

By the same token vehicle transfer fiction is going to change vehicle to vehicle so an arbitrary suggestion based on that unknown variable is going to be just as wrong as basing the enclosure on anechoic response alone.And the better solution to the TS problem is to publish both small and large signal parameters rather than none at all. Transfer function, right? Sorry, just making sure I'm not misreadingYes, I hate posting from my fucking IPad mini because I typo all the time......but it's so damn convenient. Same issue I have with the Galaxy S4

I would say the Evil, hands down. I see too many X coming up in classifieds to make me comfortable recommending them. My box builder is happy with his, but those X won't have a fair fight against the 4" coil Evil. Plus, I love single-sub setups.

By the same token vehicle transfer fiction is going to change vehicle to vehicle so an arbitrary suggestion based on that unknown variable is going to be just as wrong as basing the enclosure on anechoic response alone.And the better solution to the TS problem is to publish both small and large signal parameters rather than none at all. Transfer function, right? Sorry, just making sure I'm not misreading

Congrats! I have an almost 6-year old and a 2-month old, so I feel your pain. Proper budgeting of time will be needed and you will want a break every now and then, so now you have a project to distract yourself with. Good luck

ICON 10 arrived this week. I'm all smiles

Why? Because Volvo... Totally didn't realize this thread got pinned. I feel special, now Put my ICON 10 in today and I understand now...there's no way you can tell someone about this sub enough to prepare them for actually running one. Lowest, cleanest, most well-rounded sub I've run to date. And from what I keep hearing, it only gets better.

Really stout wire. I have 0ga CCA runs for my Big 3 wiring and it makes the 4ga runs of OFC I have going to the amps seem absolutely weak in comparison. It'll be even funnier when I do the next build with SHCA 0ga for the power/ground run and 8ga for the Zed amps...

Shares board? Yes. Shares parts is where things get fuzzy. Haven't heard any complaints from people running a 2200, but what's your budget/power demand/desired ohm load for your project?

Welcome, bud. Looks like you live where they're transferring me to next year. Maybe we'll run into each other at an event

Sounds like Best Buy in a nutshell to me.

Won't know for a while, but I have a new 18" DP that should be here any day now that I ordered right when the Black & Blue started up. From what I've seen, they're just as beastly as they were before.

Bingo. If you had ordered an hour ago, they would have shipped it today, too.

Forgive me. I'm on forums where people try to start flame wars because they haven't heard of a particular brand. Monster was basically like AudioQuest is now: one of those brands being pimped out by BestBuy and other Big Box stores. The quality is there, but the price point is far above what they're actually worth. Try not to get caught up in the game of the prettier the cable, the better it performs. I have those Monoprice Premium RCAs (cost me a whopping 6 bucks) plugged in my HT receiver right now. Zero noise, fat wire used inside and nice insulation, and the outer casing shows no signs of failure, even after five years of being installed. I have no reservations recommending them.

Just a heads up: even a 29Hz tuning will cause the effects he was talking about. Plus, the lower you tune, the more top-end you sacrifice. I have a hard time going into the upper 80s right now with this tuning, but my mids play low enough to compensate.

Yeah...with a response like that, I'm out.

Would it help if I told you they build out of the same house that makes Monster equipment?