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Help me choose a system

I only use 1 sub in both of my trucks. My Ranger has a 10 with 25mm xmax. It is plenty loud & goes low. I have a 12 in the F250.They are all I need without overwhelming the fronts in both trucks. For a SPL system I'd get the 2/18s. For a SQ system I'd just use 1 sub.
 



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I'm more on the loudness side. You can sound good with big woofers. This is for daily driving, but for the kind of music I listen to it's perfect. I'm actually kind of scared about how loud these are going to be.
 






They will be loud as hell. I'd guess 145 to 150 DB in the right box.
 






The guy who sold them to me hit a 151.7...
 






I guessed real close didn't I. Your right about being loud. 150 db is very loud.
 






I used to install professionally and compete, and IMHO, either is too much unless you are competing in DB drags. If you want to have that much low end, you would need MANY midbass/mid/high drivers to keep up with the "actual music" so you could hear it. In my competition setup, I had a single 12" in a small, sealed enclosure, with 6 1/2 midbass drivers, also in sealed enclosures, and a separate amp driving the tweeters. I had much more power going to the midbass drivers than the sub. Granted I was competing in sound Q, not DB drag, but it still stands to say that what you are talking about would sound horrible for day to day music listening, at least that's my take. FWIW, a friend of mine did 3 12's in a Camaro, and ended up taking them out after a few months because even turned down, the bass was overwhelming on a day to day basis. He had the money to change his mind, though. If you don't I would consider carefully before putting this much into your truck! Generally speaking, the quality of the subs will matter more than the number of them. Car audio is one of those things where you definitely get what you pay for. I've seen 2 10's outperform 4 12's, and sound better to boot. The enclosure design can also make or break your install, making expensive subs sound horrible if improperly designed and built, or making cheap subs sound decent if properly done. Just my 2 cents.

thats why i have a gain knob, turn it to the left no bass, turn it to the right, makes your ears bleed.
 






The guy who sold them to me hit a 151.7...

how much power are you going to be running to these subs, i've had the btl's previously, but sold them off, the quality just wasn't there, didn't get loud enough, put the DC's in the same exact box and gained db on the same amp
 






how much power are you going to be running to these subs, i've had the btl's previously, but sold them off, the quality just wasn't there, didn't get loud enough, put the DC's in the same exact box and gained db on the same amp

About 2800w to both. It's plenty of power. How much power did you have going to the BTL and what level DC was it?
 






2500 watts per sub for the btl's, and the DC's are 18" level 4 xl's
 






2500 watts per sub for the btl's, and the DC's are 18" level 4 xl's

I thought 2500 watts would be plenty for the BTL's. I've had Fi before, and I really like their stuff. Never had a BTL though. I've heard good things about DC, but I didn't want to pay their prices. Got both of the Fi BL's for $300.
 






thats why i have a gain knob, turn it to the left no bass, turn it to the right, makes your ears bleed.

And my guess is your subs hate you for it?

Gain is to set the amplifier's max output to the max output of the headunit... more than likely you're clipping the subs...
 






And my guess is your subs hate you for it?

Gain is to set the amplifier's max output to the max output of the headunit... more than likely you're clipping the subs...

Yep, we used to call that the distortion knob, and unless the customer specifically stated that they wanted it installed, left it out. If we did install it, we would bump the gain down a few notches.
 






And my guess is your subs hate you for it?

Gain is to set the amplifier's max output to the max output of the headunit... more than likely you're clipping the subs...

um no clipping here, term lab shows if i was clipping and i've got a light on the amp, and i don't clip, i can clip it if i wanted to, but you just have to now the limits of your setup, and properly set it up, my gain is set to match the pre out voltage on my headunit, and therefore i cannot go into clip unless i turn the gain up more on the amp itself
 






Yep, we used to call that the distortion knob, and unless the customer specifically stated that they wanted it installed, left it out. If we did install it, we would bump the gain down a few notches.

alot of amps have a bass boost knob, that will cause distortion, thats completely different from a gain knob
 






alot of amps have a bass boost knob, that will cause distortion, thats completely different from a gain knob

Very true, but the true gain knobs actually turn the gain down from where it is set on the amp, where boost knobs turn it up. The vast majority of these are the boost type. Either way, most customers don't take the time to learn how to properly use their equipment, so you have to dumb it down for them to keep them from blowing things up and letting out the magic smoke. :)
 






Very true, but the true gain knobs actually turn the gain down from where it is set on the amp, where boost knobs turn it up. The vast majority of these are the boost type. Either way, most customers don't take the time to learn how to properly use their equipment, so you have to dumb it down for them to keep them from blowing things up and letting out the magic smoke. :)

ya not alot of people know what there doing, but ya for mine the knob is turned to max then the gain on the amp is set, so i can only turn it down from where its set and not up, most people forget about that, and end up clipping there stuff
 






um no clipping here, term lab shows if i was clipping and i've got a light on the amp, and i don't clip, i can clip it if i wanted to, but you just have to now the limits of your setup, and properly set it up, my gain is set to match the pre out voltage on my headunit, and therefore i cannot go into clip unless i turn the gain up more on the amp itself

Also, I would not trust the little telltale light. I've seen too many of them lie. The only way to truly make sure you are not clipping is by tuning with an oscilloscope. And BTW, your head unit can introduce a clipped signal. Even through high-volt pre-outs, so even if your amp is tuned perfectly, there is still the possibility that you could clip.
 






i've clipped it before, but it was because i have a adjustable voltage regulator and was seeing how far i could push the system, had it up near 15.4v to get more out of my amp, made more power, but it was dirty power, but i know my subs can take it, they will supposedly take 10,000 rms burps and its not a everyday thing, just burping it makes it go into "soft" clip as hifonics calls it
 






Wow, a lot of convo on here.

Something I saw that I agree with and seen it done. Head units CAN clip before the signal even gets to the amp.
 



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alot of good info, though for those trying to make a decision it rough. I have recently decided to try to down size my 4 12"s to something that makes me happy. I am pricing the box now to see if a JL 13.5w7 is what I am looking for, I want clean bass but need my trunk back! anyone running 12w7s?
 






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