First-the enclosure specs for 15 inch xcons have a standard and optimal size. What are the key differences in the two?

 

Also-I had to sell one of my amps to get through a hard time. My question is, powered by a fosgate t1500bdcp amp, should i run one sub ported at 2 ohm or both of them sealed at 1 ohm?

Use an enclosure design for your goals, don't base anything off power.

Will do. Hopefully ill have Alton helping me with a box in a bit. Thanks.

First-the enclosure specs for 15 inch xcons have a standard and optimal size. What are the key differences in the two?

 

Also-I had to sell one of my amps to get through a hard time. My question is, powered by a fosgate t1500bdcp amp, should i run one sub ported at 2 ohm or both of them sealed at 1 ohm?

 

The difference between the standard and optimal sizes are as simple as the names sound.  The standard size is a size that will work fine without issues but isn't 100% optimal for the driver whereas the optimal size is what SSA feels is the optimum enclosure specifications for that driver.

 

As mentioned by ssh, and per our other conversation, power doesn't determine any of the enclosure specifications and in the grand scheme of things doesn't even play that big of a part in output.  Not big enough for a daily vehicle anyway.

 

Gimme the dimensions and other pertinent information and I'll be glad to help work something up for the XCON's.  

The box will be a "wedge" design with the slant on the back side as to fit against my back seats.

45.5" wide

16" high

12" top panel

17" bottom panel

Hopefully that makes sense im not sure how to label them or how to figure out how big the "slanted" panel should be. Just let me know if you need any other info.

Thanks!

You've got just right at 4.8 cuft. of space to work with.  Each sub has .2 cuft. of displacement so that leaves only 4.4 cuft. NET to work with.  That still falls in the range of usable for the subs in a sealed enclosure so if that's okay with you I'll start drawing a sealed enclosure up with those dimensions.

Yes please!

ALso the bottom measurement of 17 inches is a definate. It was hard to measure the top to make them perfectly straight up and down. Does that make sense?

Basically if the top of box is going to lean out on the front because of my measurements, feel free to adjust.

Also im considering putting some polyfill in to help a little. Thoughts?

Alright.  There's no way for me to know if everything lines up without having the vehicle to look at personally.  You should mock up the profile of the enclosure (16" H x 12" Top X 17" Bottom) by cutting out some cardboard in that shape.  Then you'll know for certain if everything lines up at those dimensions or not.

 

Polyfill shouldn't hurt at all.  Listen to it without any first, then add about a half a pound per cubic foot.  Listen to it again and adjust the amount to what sounds the best to you.  Just keep the maximum amount you add to 1 pound or less per cubic foot, there is no minimum.

I did a mock up and those dimensions look like gold to me. Thanks again bud.

I did a mock up and those dimensions look like gold to me. Thanks again bud.

I see your from Johnson City,I used to go there to the mall all the time when I lived in Oak Ridge.

 

Always nice to see people from TN posting.

 

I did a mock up and those dimensions look like gold to me. Thanks again bud.

I see your from Johnson City,I used to go there to the mall all the time when I lived in Oak Ridge.

 

Always nice to see people from TN posting.

 

For sure. I've been here around 10 years now. We just bought a house in fall branch. We like it well enough. Where you at now?

I did a mock up and those dimensions look like gold to me. Thanks again bud.

I see your from Johnson City,I used to go there to the mall all the time when I lived in Oak Ridge.

 

Always nice to see people from TN posting.

For sure. I've been here around 10 years now. We just bought a house in fall branch. We like it well enough. Where you at now?

Middle south close to Chat-town in the valley.

Right on. If you ever visit JC again hit me up. I work literally right across from the mall in Pauls Mall.

Right on. If you ever visit JC again hit me up. I work literally right across from the mall in Pauls Mall.

Cool man!

Here's the enclosure.  It's 4.4 cu.ft. NET and matches your given dimensions exactly.  The angle that the top, bottom and back need to be cut to is approximately 17.5 deg.  If you have a table saw you should have a pretty easy time of getting really close.  If you're using a circular saw to make your cuts I suggest getting a tool like THIS ONE and it should make it easy enough to get really close as well.  Otherwise you may have to just practice on some scrap pieces until you get it close enough.  Also, if you're using a circular saw make absolutely certain you're using a saw guide with cuts this long, especially when cutting angles.  It's tricky enough to cut straight lines with a circular saw with a standard cut but go to cut angles and it's almost impossible to make a good cut without a guide.  If you don't have one I can point you to a link that explains how to make your own very easily that cost next to nothing.

 

 

Onto the enclosure pics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can't wait to see how it turns out and what you think of the XCON's in the sealed enclosure.  Let me know if you need anything else.

Thats awesome bro, thanks so much! I look forward to getting it built and put in. You are always kind and willing to help, I cant thank you enough. Im excited to hear them!

I do have a table saw and my dads mitre saw if necessary.

Awesome!  Glad to help out!

Got the box in and playing. I wired to 1 ohm. They sound great. Not as loud as i had hoped, but again they are sealed. Had to dial my gain way down as 1/3 gain was over driving the subs. I guess because the box ended up being only 2 cubes per sub?

How about some pictures.

Got the box in and playing. I wired to 1 ohm. They sound great. Not as loud as i had hoped, but again they are sealed. Had to dial my gain way down as 1/3 gain was over driving the subs. I guess because the box ended up being only 2 cubes per sub?

That depends on exactly what you mean by "overdriving" the subs. Technically speaking they should have better mechanical power handling in the sealed enclosure versus that of a ported enclosure across the frequencies they play and especially below the tuning frequency of the compared ported enclosure.

Anytime someone mentions anything about poor power handling characteristics in an otherwise acceptable environment for the subs to be playing in my first thought goes to ensuring all the wiring and connections are correct and secure. My second thought goes to questioning how perfect the enclosure is sealing. Any air leaks at all affect the performance and can cause unpredictable results. Especially even on a ported enclosure, if the air is allowed to escape anywhere other than the port it's going to suffer. On a sealed enclosure you should be able to push in on one driver and observe the other one moving outward and staying there as long as you're holding the first one in.

Double check the wiring, connections, crossover settings and the seal of the enclosure. That and a better explanation of what you mean by "overdriving" and we'll be in a better position to help out more.

That looks small for 2 15" Xcons. I had just one in a 3 ft3 sealed box for some times, and it was nice !

 

In your case I would have gone ported with one sub and sold the second sub ! To each is own : if you like it like that, keep it like that and enjoy your system !