you make good points: "sounds best" is very subjective.

Although distortion is a problem with bandpass enclosures, that can be fixed by purchasing a sub that has been properly matched acousticaly. i'll use the solobaric L5 as an exmple: if you buy the BPE (bandpass enclosure) from kicker, they have the sub and box acousticaly matched for you (not to mention they build them too), that takes much of the guessing out of it.

And, as far as blowing ur sub, which i've done a few times i usually try to match amps based on their respective RMSs'. That tends to help with blowing up expensive merchandise.

Yes, they take up more room, but you can always put them in a closed enclosure if u dont like it.

shokor

 

But it is still totally possible to blow a 500WRMS sub with a 500WRMS amp. You could have a leaky box. Or you could be playing music below your tuned freq. and cause the driver to unload. etc. etc. etc. etc. All box variables aside. If you send the signal into clipping, the sub won't last long either.

 

the kicker sub L7 is one of the best subs on the market today.... no they do not need alot of space. Alpine are you kidding? those subs S"UC" why dont you buy some jensens while your at it.....

 

yeah, it's possible to blow it up (anything is possible), but my point was that if the sub+amp operate within a similar rms, the user will not have to worry about MAJORLY mis-matching parts...let's say a 1000 watt phoenix gold amp (rms 700 watts), with a 1000-watt kenwood amp (rms 400 watts).

also, i was assuming that the guy wont be playing his amp and sub AT rms, or even slightly lower...on average, ppl whom i've seen use about half of the total usable (rms) power potential of the sub and amp. Try driving your car at top speed all the time...it wont last nearly as long.

using a leaky box? well, that's like saying that the tires on your car will wear out much faster if you dont put air in them. :P

as far as the acoustics, any sub worth it's price in bubble gum, will be resiliant enough to withstand frequencies outside it's "ideal" range.

shokor

 

ur right, they dont NEED a lot of space, but the more space u give them, the harder they hit. i'm glad someone finally agrees with me about the solobarics!!

LMFAO @ jensens!! hehe, too d*amn funny!!

 

Sorry buddy you are SOOO very wrong, the 12" needs a 20 cube box to attain a .707 qtc, I guess if you don't care about sound quality go ahead and stick it in a small box. i guess to some people sound quality just doesn't matter. The OLD solo was made for small boxes and had respectable sound quality, but the new ones are pretty much just made to get loud... they do that pretty well, but are not the best at that either...

As far as best sub on the market... not even close.
If you want a better sub you don't have to look far.
RE XXX
JL W7
Adire Brahma
Eclipse Ti
ID Max
JBL GTI



As a matter of fact i would EASILY put the Alpine Type R ahead of the Solo in sound quality, altho the L7 will out do it in SPL.

 

Apples and oranges.

The "IDEAL" range becomes much more narrow in a ported enclouser. Try playing a note that is 10-15 Hz below your tuned frequency. I'm not trying to argue with anybody, but a lot of people don't know how to set their gains properly or know that their box may have some leaks in it. I'm not saying they are stupid in any way, shape or form. They just don't know. That's were we come in!

And the L7 is a great woofer, but it DOES require a large box to give good SQ. Rtompson is correct. I'd take the Type R's for SQ anyday over the L7's.

 

A sealed box with a leak in it will not cause a sub to blow, but it will cause it to sound like crap. But playing your sub below the tuning frequency of a ported box WILL cause the power handling to be greatly reduced... it is very possible to unload the sub the sub with way less than its rated power. Plain and simple DON'T play the sub below the tuning frequency, it will be VERY hard on the sub.

 

the way a leaky box would cause a sub to blow is that it would not have enough pressure in teh box, so the user wouldnt know how much power the amp is getting, thereby, blowing it up...

long shot...but still can happen

as far as the frequency...the kicker box is set up for the sub frequency.

 

I agree with this 100%. I liked the old Solos. The new square subs don't impress me at all. Granted they play loud as hell but loud as hell doesn't mean they sound good. They have that "one note" bass sound to them. Every note from them just goes BOOM BOOM BOOM and thats it. At least thats what I hear from them.

 

the subs you mentioned are good, well besides the alpine ones.... to each there own... ive had diomands, jl, hell even the focals. the kickers are the best dollar for dollar in my opinion. then again i would never ever spend five hundred dollars on one sub. already have and very unsatified.

 

what about the 10" 800 watt Pioneer Premier IMPP sub? I have the 12" 1000 watt version, and it sounds better than my friend with 2 JL W3s with a Rockford Amp. NOTE: I have not installed this sub in my camaro, was in my 95 Monte Carlo.