So i have my one 12 inch kicker (15 years old) powered by my fosgate punch 45 amp which sounds really good for its age but its obviously a low power sub and amp and im kinda getting tired of it and i want a little better sound. The sub or its enclosure (non ported) is designed to be loud im guessing, but im kinda realizing i would rather have something in the middle of the road or in between loud base and nice deep base, so something that would go good with all variety's of music.

i dont want anything high end and expensive, but more like a better starting kit that somewhat fits what i described. so i think i want twin 12 inch subs with a with a new amp, or if you guys think a new single 12 would fit my wants better than twin 12's let me know, thats kinda where im stuck. i know twin 12's will cost more but thats alright. so thats my main question, what subs or sub and amp combo would fit my wants best?

next question is i would really like to learn how to build my own enclosure and i know with some subs there are sites that will tell you how to build the best enclosure for your sub or at least give you the dimensions, but i know the enclosure will make or break the sound, so if you recommend a sub or subs maybe point me towards that kind of a site if it exists? if im not mistaken for the sound i want, my enclosure should not be ported?

sorry for the long post, but thank you for taking the time to read it. i appreciate it.

 

So i found this site How To Article - Building a High-End Enclosure For a High-End Subwoofer System that tells me almost everything i need to know about sub enclosures. Accept the inside design of a ported box. anyone else interested in building their own box, this is a good site. So now i just need subs for the box :/ lol

 

as far as subs, honestly your price limit is a neccessity. If you want pure sound quality, go with a non-ported enclosure and 1 12in (i prefer 1 or 2 10's instead for quality). 2 12's give tons of base but sometimes overbearring if you want quality. If you want everyone to hear you then 2 12's. As for a sub, if you have money i recommend Fi Audio...one 12 from them is pure awesome...except i recommend a 15in BTL instead (from Fi that is). 15 will play all notes and all music with clear clean sound...as long as your amp can handle efficiently....which is the next expense. One Fi sub will need at minimum 1k watts RMS (if you run with a BTL series) but preferably 2k if you can get one. The only downside is that i have yet to hear anyone play these subs in a sealed box. Only ported but even then they played way more clear then all my systems i have had in the past. All my subs that i acquired are through local companies that design theirs for SQ. Sorry if this makes you lost lol

 

thanks for the reply, i guess i forgot to give my budget, i would like to keep it at about 500$ but i know that will be kinda hard. im 18 but having everyone else hear my bass is not really important to me (un common i know) but even 1 good 12 will still let everyone hear you. i never thought about 2 10's tho, and about the twin 12's thats what i was worried about, the whole being overbearing and overpowering the music part. but the 2 10's sounds like an alright idea, gives plenty of bass but keeps the good quality, but how do the 10's do with the low notes? is there a downside to them? but with my budget i guess what im looking for is just a decent starting system. and your recommendation on keeping the box sealed makes building it easier lol. So as far as good starting subs that offer decent quality would you recommend something from fosgate or alpine? i didnt look at the price of the ones you recommended but with the amp they require i doubt they fit im my budget lol.

 

LOL yea the subs i recommended maxed your budget out lol. Well 10's with lows is a stuckler, they can go low but wont give the deep bass sound as a 12 will on the same note...12's definitely can go lower and not bottom out (as easy). 10's play high much crisper but if you do go sealed then try one 12 sealed. you wont be disappointed either way. Alpine is a great SQ sub but i just never cared for the looks of it Rockford is..well Rockford i would go with an alpine Type-S and your amp could be a crunch...cheap and solid. If you build your box then not much space is needed for sealed. If you like low low then port it but for snappier beats then keep it sealed.

Now if you go 2 10's...then you will be suprised at how much they can put out. Lows are decent when you double up the tens and the highs are HIGH. SQ is great with those but then you start pushing your budget a little more. Either way i would go with alpine type-s subs unless you can afford a type-x.

 

yeah there's something to be said about deep bass as apposed to quick snappy bass, and i kinda prefer the low deep bass that i dont get with my sealed box. which is what the twin or single 12's would offer plenty of. and i suppose if the bass is overpowering thats why you have equalizers and tone control. so twin alpine Type-S subs in a ported box with a crunch amp powerful enough to push them will offer decently clean bass? or if i figure out thats too much bass then i would go with the single alpine Type-S sub in a ported box with the crunch amp? Then the question rises on how to build the ported box in relation to the square feet of the blazer correctly. so do you know of any good articles that describe that?

thanks for the replies

 

if you can afford it..go with dual alpine 12's. Like you said there is enough controls to turn the bass down or up. ported boxes are my favorite however, the only one i built by hand was amazing woodworking craft but crappy porting lol. Rockford Fosgate website has a good box building tool that helped me but the angle of my box was not quite the best for being ported (should have kept it sealed). Would you do Round ports or rectangular?? I dont know dimensions off the top of my head but they arnt to difficult if you build ports on the outside ends. Just as long as you make a path for the air to travel. I am sure you can find plenty of forums with examples of how to build a ported box for 2 12's....probably the most common build.

Good luck and hopefully you can post some pics of the process

 

yeah the twin 12's exceeds the 500$ im sure lol. thats alright tho, just gotta wait another month and save more :P i really like the alpine type-s speakers, i have them in my doors, along with the alpine head unit so it might as well be alpine all the way around. and im not sure on the circular or rectangular ports or on which side of the box they will be on, probably on the front but thats what i will look for in my research. i will definitely post pics of the build when it happens. oh and what wattage amp would you recommend for the twin 12's?

Thank you very much for all the help.

 

ughh no im really confused I stopped at cartoys on the way home from school so they could fix my battery post that they stripped out, so i thought i would ask about subs and amps. i asked about 2 alpine type-s subs in a ported box and he said DON'T go ported with alpine (why i dont know) and he said he wouldnt even go with alpine, but instead go with JL. And to power them he said get a amp that has 250watts per channel. he said the sealed box will still hit hard and i said i didnt really want the sub to hit hard but instead be a little deeper in tone, and he was still dead set on sealed. Soo im lost yet again. (i do know that the people at cartoys aren't some of the brightest individuals either)

 

lol again if you have money go ahead and think about JL...the guys knows subwoofer companies but he seems to be...biast (IMO). I have never owned an alpine anything lol so i can only go with what others say and i have never heard anything about Alpine. Best SQ for th buck...again this is my opinion. JL rocks, both power and wallet If you went to a dedicated car audio dealer/installer (custom installation) they will help you with what works best for what sub. But at least you know the general idea of what each type of enclosure does.

I personally dont care much for multi channel amps with subwoofers only (just my opinion again). Even if you have 2 of them, i would still go mono and get one with at least 1k rms power. Off brands are not that expensive for 1k wattage but not always true to the power rating. I had a Soundstorm 2600watt before and it pushed my 2 12in Toxik subs (600rms a piece) like no other...had roughly 1100 true watts rms (rated at like 1200) and only cost me $140.00 for it shipped to my house. Since that was stolen along with one of my 12's (the other got ripped apart from my dog ) i stopped buying audio equipment for secuirty purposes.