I am trying to decide between 4 10" subs or 3 12" subs (those are the 2 setups I am deciding between)...what would be the difference besides 40 cubic inches of 10's or 36 cubic inches of 12's...10s would be louder right? But wouldnt the 12's give more low frequency bass? so which is better...and its the bass I want, both setups would be pretty loud anyways?

 

I'm sure both setups will work for exactly what you want if it is just all out bass that you are looking for. If you are looking for the deeper frequencies, I'd go with 3 12s.

I know you said those are the only 2 you are looking at, but if it is just insane bass, why not 2 15s? I bet it would be just as loud, if not louder, with even lower frequencies. You may even be able to shatter your teeth!

 

I would definitely want 15s but they are 2 tall with an enclosure in the back to fit inder the cover in the hatch...

 

Actually, your math is a little off. 4-10in subs would give you 314.2 square inches of surface area. 3-12's would give you 339.3 square inches. Plus/minus a few square inches depending on the actual size of the cones.

 

I personally prefer 12's, but it depends on what type of sub you are getting (solobarics, standard circular subs...).

 

I was going to use infinity reference subs, had them before and they hit hard...I already have 2 10's and would just get 2 more and a second amp and a new box or just get a new box and 3 12's and a 2nd amp?

 

In that case, the two additional 10's powered by an identical amp would give you ~6dB more SPL. Only you can decide whether that's adequate and worth the expense to you.

 

but what would 3 12's give me?

 

if your not wanting any trunk space 2 15" would fit in the trunk, i've seen a few pics on here with 15" in the back

 

Can't be determined with no point of reference. I could determine the increase with the 10's because you get ~6dB additional SPL with each doubling of cone area, given the same amount of power is applied to the added subs.

If they're the same brand/model of subs, with the only difference being size, then I think the output of both systems would be comparable.

However, there is the situation you indicated in your initial post, where the 12's may play lower. Due to cabin gain, this shouldn't be an issue, you should be able to get the lowest frequencies desired using 10's. You could look at the Fs (resonant freq.) to see if there's much difference between the two, but that spec can be misleading. When you load a sub in a box, the resonant freq. goes up, so depending on box sizes, it's possible that a 10" with a higher Fs could play lower in-car than a 12.

There are a lot of variables that make it near impossible to predict which sub system would give you better performance, short of testing at least a single example of each in the car. That said, I suggest adding two more 10's and an identical amp, since you already bought half of the final solution.

 

15 will work you just willn't have any trunk space. I have none but my rear seats still fold back

 

willn't...lol makes sense but hahahahahh. im sorry i thought it was funny. seems like if u put the amp else where and u angled the subs im sure u can fit 2 15"s

 

yea that 15 does like pretty nice...I had 2 15 JLs in my previous ride and it just hurts not to have that kind of power anymore in my ride...always thought the bigger the woofer, the lower the bass...so I know 4 10s would be loud but thought 3 12s would go deeper

 

^^^ as stated, that's a common misconception... while some larger subs will play lower frequencies at a higher SPL, smaller subs can do the same... I had 2 6.5" subs in a 30Hz ported enclosure and they hit just as low and sounded better than my 2 JL 12W3's I had....

A lot of it is in the enclosure and install... I could easily make a JL W7 sound worse than a no-name wal-mart woofer just by the enclosure....

 

like sci said its all in the enclosure...there is an actual art to it... you need to know your physics.... i have had plenty of kids come in and by good stuff from me.. memphis, jl, hell... even a focal sub... i go with the usual sales routine and try to talk them into a box as well... "no thanks, me and my friends are gonna build one"
big mistake... hell... the wrong enclosure can even blow a sub after a prolonged period of time...

 

should I get ported?

 

yep do ported, but stay away from 15's. not very clean

 

^^^yet another misconception.... 15's or 18's are not "sloppier" than a smaller woofer... It's dependant on what woofer you're listening to...

once again, the SQ of a sub is dependant not only on what sub it is, but also on enclosure (IN A BIG WAY!!) and the rest of the install..

 

I'd say no. There's a trade-off to everything, and the benefits of ported subs are often outweighed by the negatives. Sealed enclosures are easier to build, usually much smaller than ported, are more 'forgiving' of size/volume compromises, and don't roll-off the low-end as steeply as ported.

Regardless, the most important thing is to use an enclosure that best matches the specific sub in question. Even those subs that are advertised to perform equally well in either sealed or ported, will usually function better in one type over the other.

 

well looks like I will be going with sealed 4 10s infinty 1052w reference series, will power with 2 crunch ground pounder 1100.2 amps at 2 ohms and hopefully will sound crisp and hit hard