Thread: Need help to choose amps and subs

Originally Posted by guitar333

I wouldnt over power it, but its hard to tell how much power your exactly giving it because of impedence, wire, voltage differences etc.

the 2 compvr's will sound better than the one l5, IMO

Put the 2 compvr's in a bandpass and use a kickerkx800.2 (400W RMS X 2 @ 2 OHMS) and you will be bumpin.

If not, the amp I recommend for that l5 is the kicker kx600.1 (600W RMS x1 @ 2-ohms), and you will have to get a specially cut bandpass, if you plan to use the L5 (if you dont make your own)

333rd post

I'm gonna wire the sub as 2 ohms. Why the kicker amp? I used to have (for a week -))) kx600.4, and that one just burnt after I gave it a little load, so I am very carefull about kicker amps now

What size of bandpass box would you recommend for 12" CVR's?

Thanks everyone!

DO NOT USE ANY PRE-BUILT BANDPASS BOXES! They truly are crap. A correctly designed bandpass enclosure will be different for each speaker. Your best bet for clean, powerful bass is a slightly larger than recommended sealed box with lots of power on the sub. Even if you use an amplifier that is capable of twice the rated power that the speaker is capable of, and you set your gain on your amplifier correctly, this extra power gives you headroom during musical peaks, when a smaller amplifier might distort. A ported box is louder than a sealed box, but usually isn't as clean as a sealed setup. Also, a poorly built ported box will blow speakers, as will playing the speaker below the boxes tuning frequency. So basically buy as much power as you can afford, try to keep it balanced between mids/highs and sub, and use a sealed box for sound quality, ported box for loudness, if you just want it loud.

P.S. Maximum sealed box size for the 12 L5 is 2.0 cubes. So put it in 2.075 cubic feet, and power it with 600+ watts of clean power. I assume you are using the dual 2 Ohm L5? I recommend any older than 2000 Rockford Fosgate amp, or also Arc Audio make good, solid amps. IMO the new Rockford amps are crap.

Better, or just louder? Most people who get in my car swear that i've got a pair of 12"s or 15"s in it. I have 1 Elemental Designs 12O.44 in .9 Cubic feet, with 500-600 watts RMS on it. One good woofer in a correctly designed box, with loads of power to it, WILL slam, if done correctly. What crossover point/slope are you using? Is it active or passive? The L5 probably as loud as the two 10"s with the same power because with the 10"s you've simply got more cone area.
Possibly your friend was clipping the hell out of his amp to get louder? A bandpass box exhibits a high peak in the 50-70Hz frequencies, but trades off it's low end extension to do this. So it may be louder at certain freq's, but the low end is non-existant. Also, you can't hear a woofer distort in a bandpass enclosure too well.

Well, there is another option for your two kicker CVR's. You could build a pressure box. (the two subs in seperate chambers with a 8 inch channel btween them and the speackers facing each other). This is a massive setup, but my friend was using 4 jl 8w0's and was hitting 150-160 db cleanly with a kicker zx360 at 2 ohms. that was pushing about 1100 to the four speakers. Your two tens should be able to do at least that and maybe into the 160's without much distortion. The sealed box will sound better. Also, it takes less power to move diaphrams in a ported box because you are not compressing the air behind the speaker nearly as much, but you dont get the same quality of sound from them.

I am a JL fan, and I personally would recommend a JL 1000 watt amp or mabee even the Crossfire BFA1000 (or is it BFD).
Just my 2 cents

150-160db, with 4 8"s? I'm sorry, but i don't buy it. What RTA/mic were they using when it was metered? You said two seperate chambers (sealed?) firing into another chamber (ported). --That's a bandpass box.