All,

I am looking into running 2) SA-12s in my 2012 Volkswagen Jetta GLI. I do not want to loose my entire trunk with a large ported enclosure and also, I prefer the sound of sealed enclosures. I am not a SQ freak but I like the tight bass, with some boom if I crank it up. I am limited to 1000-1200W RMS.

They will be getting 600W each @ 2 Ohms. My question is this - the Sundown website recommends 1.0 ft^3. I listen to mostly rap, R&B, electronic, with some metal mixed in there.

1) Should I be going slightly larger than recommended to retain my lows (e.g. 1.25 ft^3)?

2) I can't find much info on the SA-12s in sealed enclosures. Anybody running these sealed? How do you like them?

3) Any other recommendations if these are not the right subs for me?

I'm looking for a nice pair of subwoofers around the $200-250 price range each, with 500-600W RMS each, decently loud sound in a sealed enclosure. Other drivers I have considered but decided against for one reason or another:

1-15" FI-Q Sealed @ 1000W ((I figured the displacement of the 2 SA-12s would better suite my taste))

1-15" SSA GCON Sealed @ 750W ((If only the GCONS were 600W RMS so I could run 2 of them in a sealed enclosure))

2-12" Type-Rs Sealed @ 1000W ((i've always had shit luck with Alpine))

2-12" JL W3s Sealed @ 1200W ((I was immediately turned off when I saw that the JL Website recommended running their 600W JLW3 subwoofers at 400W-500W as opposed to their advertised 600W???))

Thanks in advance,

Snapper King

sooo.... I'm getting this feeling that you have the wrong idea about specs of a sub... What does the RMS a sub can handle have to do with the amplifier? You could run 2 Gcons on that power... There isn't a necessity to run the subwoofer's rated power as an exact match... Overhead is nice but not needed either... Under-powering doesn't really exist either...

Reason you don't see SA series in sealed applications frequently is the fact it is geared slightly more towards ported but not 100%..

I just built two sealed enclosures for a guy for his 2 JL w3 12's, both the same to go on opposite sides of his car. Each being 1.3^ft without displacement of the sub, I tested my Sundown sa-12 in there and it did suprisingly well. You will need quite a bit of power to get decent output out of this sub sealed...

I ran 2200 rms and it was clean and loud for a sealed.. But not a "wow" type.

Overall I would say the Sa-12 did great in the sealed. It was pretty acurate Overall

Is it safe to say that I'm better off with 2 GCONS @ 600W Each?

I had my SA-12's in the recommended 1cu sealed before I switched to the recommended 1.75cu ported and the difference is night and day.

I also had a few different amps on them and noticed between 350wrms each and 900wrms each there wasn't a HUGE increase in volume but it was noticable. I would say get a sub that is more suited for a sealed box because you'd be cheating yourself if you didn't port the SA-12's. That's my opinion.

Edited June 4, 201213 yr by An-i-no

In this case I would go with 1 15 sealed, either the icon or the fi q (high qts option).

What are some other options for a pair of 12s that will sound really good in a 1.25 ft^3 enclosure with 500-600W RMS? I'd rather not run a pair of underpowered subwoofers. Based on the comments thus far, it seems like i would have to dump a lot more than 1200W RMS to make the SA-12s perform well in a sealed enclosure.

Again, I'd like to stay away from name brand overpriced garbage. Preferably SSA, Sundown, Fi, Skar, etc.

I had my SA-12 running in sealed first. It was getting around 750w and sounded good. But, now it's ported and sounds much better. Can't beat it for under 200 bucks.

Just buy 1 SA12 and run it ported. That will take the same space as the 2 12's sealed.

I have my SA 12s in a ported box, with about 820 watts RMS. They sound great, wish I had more power.

In your list I'd vote Gcons.

I'd rather not run a pair of underpowered subwoofers.

And to clarify, there is no such thing as underpowering. You surely don't run full tilt all day everyday listening to test tones.