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help with subwoofer decisions

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Old Sep 25, 2013 | 09:58 PM
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Default help with subwoofer decisions

Hey guys. This isn't for my Trans Am but I'm not on any car audio forums and I know some of you guys really know your stuff . I have a 97 Expedition that needs some bass. I originally was planning on buying 2 Obsidian Audio 18's and putting them in a 4.35 ft each enclosure. I haven't ordered them yet and am running low on play $ so I was thinking about just getting one and going ported. I've always preferred the sound of sealed vs ported but is there a way to get the flat frequency response in a ported box similar to a sealed box? I was also wondering how different they would be in output. The amp I plan on using would be pushing 1 sub @ 1000 rms, 2 subs @ 750 rms. Thanks for any insight.
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Old Sep 25, 2013 | 11:06 PM
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you can do plenty with 2 twelves, no real reason to go 18, what I did once when I had a Tahoe years ago was I had a single 12 in a ported box then 2 8's in sealed boxes tucked under the rear seats (chicks love that, lol). here's a pic of the single 12 (Eclipse Aluminum) I had back then, this was also back in the days when I was using amps that only had 8 gauge power inputs.

I've also got a Eclipse Titanium 15 and box that would rock in that truck i've been trying to sell.

If you wanna spend a day driving up here and back I'll sell it (the 15 and box) to you.
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Last edited by Daniel Richards; Sep 25, 2013 at 11:23 PM.
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Old Sep 27, 2013 | 11:50 AM
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With the 18 a big box 4-5 cubes tuned to low 30Hz usually has a pretty flat response with good sound quality.
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Old Sep 27, 2013 | 12:28 PM
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If it was me... I'd just go with a single 15" or 18" SQL type sub (IE: RE XXX); one with large excursion and high SQ in a properly designed ported enclosure; should get excellent response, deep (low) frequency response, and TONS of output. Probably cost more, but you should be able to get away with 1 sub, and still have the performance you want.
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Old Sep 27, 2013 | 01:37 PM
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Thanks for the responses guys. Daniel thanks for the offer but I'd really like to try an 18. I've had 10's, 12's, and 15's in the past but never an 18. Never had the room for it. On Obsidian's website they call for 4.5-6 ft^3 tuned @ 28-32 hz. I'm still trying to understand the modeling software but am not doing to well figuring it out on my own lol.
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Old Sep 27, 2013 | 07:23 PM
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When designing the box your cubic footage is interior volume minus port and speaker displacement, i would go for the high side of what they say my 15 did best around 4 cu. ft., the reason i don't care for 18s is as you go bigger the subs are great for the reverb type bass but lose the ability to accurately do the punchy type of bass 12s are a good middle ground there.
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Old Sep 27, 2013 | 07:31 PM
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ya a box for 2 18 inch subs will take up a lot of room.if you want loud bass it should be worth it
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Old Oct 1, 2013 | 12:41 PM
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Well I pre-ordered 1 Obsidian 18 yesterday. I've got enough wiring and amps laying around that I shouldn't have to buy anything else. Maybe I'll bust out the old Fosgate 800a2 . There' s a vid on youtube of a guy hitting 139.9 with one on 240 watts in a ported box tuned @ 30 hz. I might just try a sealed box first and see if I'm happy with it. I can always build another one.
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