why so set on a 12? not that a 12 is bad or limits your choices or anything. there are plenty of good 12's.

i am using a Dayton Reference HO 10 in .7cuft net tuned to 30hz. it's being powered by a Kicker ZX750.1 at 4 ohms, so i have about 400 watts rms available for it. doesn't sound like much, but trust me it gets plenty loud and low while sounding very very accurate. it'll play any type of music very very well. it'll sound punchy and tight when it should but still play low and drag a note out when it should as well. i have never heard such and accurate sounding driver. it's by far my favorite sub to date.

honestly though it's hard to recommend a sub to somebody(at least for me). there are so many good subs out there.

also, designing and building a ported box isn't a hard task you just need to understand how a ported box works and how to tune it. a lot of things have to be taken into account if you wanna do it correctly. honestly after trying ported, i will not go back to sealed, whether it be in a car or for HT.

 

where can I get educated on building and tuning a ported box?

 

bcae1.com is not a bad place to start

 

I'm also in the process of building a ported box. Here are some places I've visited other than bcae1.com:
http://www.carstereo.com/help/?car-s...iring-kit-help
http://www.audioque.com/aq/portSize.htm
http://www.reaudio.com/speaker_box/LPort_Box_Calc.html <-- Gives you a cutlist too!
http://subwoofertools.com/forum/ported-box.asp <-- also, gives you a cutlist
http://www.realmofexcursion.com/forum.html <-- good link for constructing your box

 

You'll be fine with a sealed system, no need to go ported if you don't want to. Lots of people have won SQ competitions using sealed systems, so they can certainly get low and have a flat response when implemented appropriately.

I suspect your issues with previous sealed systems were likely a result of driver to enclosure mismatches, and possibly also attributable to a lack of tuning (eq), as required to reduce midbass ("punchy") peaks which are higher in amplitude than the low frequencies due to the car's resonant frequency.

If you get the right sub and place it in a sealed enclosure of the appropriate internal volume, you'll get the performance you're seeking. You can also go ported and get great results like some here are suggesting, but that alone won't solve the issue. A person could still get the same result using a ported design, it simply depends on the entire system (sub, enclosure, processing, tuning and the vehicle itself).

 

thanks guys great info. Next up I want to learn how to properly tune my system. Where can I learn to do that?

 

how do people feel about alpine type r's?

 

they get loud.

 

do they sound good when they get loud?

 

i heard they can, but most say if you're looking for SQ to look elsewhere.

 

The type-r is a good and popular sub. I got it because it got really good reviews and not to mention I work for best buy so I get an employee discount lol...

 

thanks for all the responses guys. Im still debating on what to buy. I am so stuck between so many things. I apretiate all the help. If anyone has any more suggestions on anything let me know. I'll keep you guys posted on everything once I figure it all out and start the build.

 

where in NY are you? is that your car in your avatar?

 

no I wish it was mine lol. Found it in a google image search. Anyway I live in kingston ny.

 

cool. i live in hyde park. if you ever need help with any car audio i'd be willing to help you out. or if you maybe wanna check out my system(maybe you'll like what you hear and maybe want the same kinda setup). maybe it'll help you decide what you want.

 

awesome yeah I would defenitly wanna check it out. I play out in hyde park from time to time at the hyde park brewery. Maybe next time I have a gig there we can meet up.

 

cool, shoot me a pm or something sometime, and we'll try and meet up.

 

will do. I've been looking for other tc owners near me. Thats awesome I found you, you are really close. Do you go to the CIA, or do you just live there?

 

That's exactly what you need to do, in order to solve your bass issue. Listen to the systems of other tC owners (along with other small hatchbacks), and find one that produces bass that sounds like what you're looking for, when listening to songs you're familiar with. When you find one that doesn't have that "punchy" sound which you don't like, doesn't take up more space than you want to give up, and fits your budget, then you've found a solution that you know will work for you in your car. This way you'd also know exactly how much airspace is required and whether it's sealed or ported, just replicate what they did and enjoy your "non-punchy" bass.

There's really no point in guessing whether a type-r, dayton or other sub might be best for you, because you'll only know for certain by listening to it in the same or a very similar car.

 

ok guys I wound up buying a JL 13w7. Now I need to buy an amp. What are some different amps I can run? I know the JL 1000/1 is a no brainer but are there any other brands out there I can run with this sub that would be a little cheaper? If possible I would love to get one under $250.