Working on redoing my previous setup to adjust it for my new car.  My previous car was a mustang and i had the setup in the trunk on about 1400w at 1ohm.  Sub is a 12" ICON in a sealed enclosure.

 

For the new car, its a hatchback so it should be louder anyways.  The alternator/battery isn't as strong as the mustang's was and its not really something i'm looking to upgrade right now.

 

On the mustang I was running a cap which helped with the dimming (yea yea.. i know about caps, but it worked out for that setup).  On this car, i'd like to do away with the cap.

 

The thought is to run the amp (audioque 1200d) at 4ohm instead of 1ohm.  It would drop the power down to 510w (conservatively) instead of the 1400-ish at 1ohm. 

 

How much would that effect the output of the sub?  I've seen posts about the sub still performing well at lower power, but i'm unsure if it would be a noticeable difference, especially since it would be moving in to a hatchback setup.

1) The cap ONLY helped your headlights and could have hid faults that could have hurt your amp. Lucky.

2) Doubling of power is "audible" however you are also changing cars. Comparable would be a possibility if the enclosure and such are optimized.

2) Doubling of power is "audible" however you are also changing cars. Comparable would be a possibility if the enclosure and such are optimized.

 

How could I optimize the enclosure for a hatchback type car?  I'm still wanting to stick with a sealed enclosure to keep the footprint small of it, but suggestions on how to set that up properly would be appreciated.

Worrying about louder and small enclosure are effectively opposites. Biggest gain you can make is to port that enclosure.

If it is ONLY sealed then play with orientation and location of said box.

Worrying about louder and small enclosure are effectively opposites. Biggest gain you can make is to port that enclosure.

If it is ONLY sealed then play with orientation and location of said box.

 

alright.  Thanks.  Pretty much I was assuming but figured I would ask first.  I dont think I have the room to port it or go with a larger enclosure. 

 

I'm just hoping reducing the power to the sub will work out with it being a hatch.

 

Thanks again for the info/help.

The Icon does not need bonkers amount of power.  I vote to try it sealed @ 4 ohms, maybe add some polyfill or acoustastuff and see how you like it.  If you feel the drop in power to the subwoofer is effecting the output to your disliking, then switch back to 1ohm mono and set the gains consevratively. 

 

If it helps, for many stretches in the past, I was using an Orion 2500D at 4 ohms mono (600ish) or US Acoustics 2075 at 4 ohms mono (240ish), and the output was not SPL figure worthy, but plenty in a smaller car.

Edited February 24, 201411 yr by Aaron Clinton

The Icon does not need bonkers amount of power.  I vote to try it sealed @ 4 ohms, maybe add some polyfill or acoustastuff and see how you like it.  If you feel the drop in power to the subwoofer is effecting the output to your disliking, then switch back to 1ohm mono and set the gains consevratively. 

 

If it helps, for many stretches in the past, I was using an Orion 2500D at 4 ohms mono (600ish) or US Acoustics 2075 at 4 ohms mono (240ish), and the output was not SPL figure worthy, but plenty in a smaller car.

 

 

Thanks Aaron.  I think I'll give it a shot.  I'm not trying to compete with it or anything like that.  Just want to make sure it sounds solid and is still very punchy for daily use.

 

The Icon does not need bonkers amount of power.  I vote to try it sealed @ 4 ohms, maybe add some polyfill or acoustastuff and see how you like it.  If you feel the drop in power to the subwoofer is effecting the output to your disliking, then switch back to 1ohm mono and set the gains consevratively. 

 

If it helps, for many stretches in the past, I was using an Orion 2500D at 4 ohms mono (600ish) or US Acoustics 2075 at 4 ohms mono (240ish), and the output was not SPL figure worthy, but plenty in a smaller car.

 

 

Thanks Aaron.  I think I'll give it a shot.  I'm not trying to compete with it or anything like that.  Just want to make sure it sounds solid and is still very punchy for daily use.

 

Sounds good.  It's a zero cost option. 

I had an Icon 15" on 650 w in a sealed box : I loved it.

Maybe you can try to use a round port : it can save you some space, and will be louder ;-)

I had an Icon 15" on 650 w in a sealed box : I loved it.

Maybe you can try to use a round port : it can save you some space, and will be louder ;-)

the net volume of the sealed enclosure is likely too small to simply add an external port. 

 

I had an Icon 15" on 650 w in a sealed box : I loved it.

Maybe you can try to use a round port : it can save you some space, and will be louder ;-)

the net volume of the sealed enclosure is likely too small to simply add an external port. 

 

how volume would need to be added for the port to work out?

Ported enclosures usually require more internal volume AND a port.

 

 

I had an Icon 15" on 650 w in a sealed box : I loved it.

Maybe you can try to use a round port : it can save you some space, and will be louder ;-)

the net volume of the sealed enclosure is likely too small to simply add an external port. 

 

how volume would need to be added for the port to work out?

 

 

check out the box size requirements for a ported and sealed box for the icon. 

 

 

 

I had an Icon 15" on 650 w in a sealed box : I loved it.

Maybe you can try to use a round port : it can save you some space, and will be louder ;-)

the net volume of the sealed enclosure is likely too small to simply add an external port. 

 

how volume would need to be added for the port to work out?

 

 

check out the box size requirements for a ported and sealed box for the icon. 

 

 

gotcha.  Already did that.  I wasn't sure if you had something else in mind since there's uses a rectangular port.  I'll be sticking with the sealed box since i think the ported would take up about half of my hatch area.