Entry Level 12" Subs

[martinarcher]

Would you say that 2 w6 subs would be much better than 2 rockford 12's?

[nyryan2001]

Babaloo- hell yes. Those Fosgate punch subs are mediocre at best. It's Fosgate's budget sub.

The jl w6 is a premium 12" 1000rms sub.

Apples and oranges in output and sound quality.

[Malibudude]

You don't need to spend a fortune on a sub. If tuned correctly you'll be surprised what the less expensive subs can sound like, plus your in a boat not a controlled environment. The RF Punch sub sounds great for the money, again its the turning that is more important than the brand name and of course power. ymmv.

[skyskier]

Would you say that 2 w6 subs would be much better than 2 rockford 12's?

My first Bu came with a Rockford 10" Punch series in a Best Buy ready made box. It was all flubby boom, boom, boom, thump, thump, thump. This was powered by a Sony Xplode amp that flickered like a candle in the wind. The sound was truly awful. The JL was a night and day upgrade, but I did change the amp at the same time. In short, I would choose JL over Rockford. I am avoiding comment on other subs mentioned here because I have not heard them.

[Debt Setter]

This is what I would do.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_27312_RE-Audio-SEX12D4.html

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_27849_Planet-Audio-AP3000D-R-B.html

This would by far be the best bang for the buck.

[skyskier]

If I was building a mid level system, I would be massively tempted to give this one a try. An audio friend of mine is a huge fan of TC Sounds.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=293-656

[shawndoggy]

If I was building a mid level system, I would be massively tempted to give this one a try. An audio friend of mine is a huge fan of TC Sounds.

http://www.parts-exp...tnumber=293-656

dual 2 ohm coils does sorta limit the amp choice though. Pretty sure MartinArcher is running a TC Sounds sub?

[Debt Setter]

dual 2 ohm coils does sorta limit the amp choice though. Pretty sure MartinArcher is running a TC Sounds sub?

?

No reason not to wire it in parallel at 1 ohm getting max performance out of the woofer. The amp is more important than the woofer anyways and should run a class D rated at 1 ohm stable.

[shawndoggy]

?

No reason not to wire it in parallel at 1 ohm getting max performance out of the woofer. The amp is more important than the woofer anyways and should run a class D rated at 1 ohm stable.

yes, but if you are limiting yourself to 1 ohm stable amps and are on a budget, you are stuck with junky amps (max apocolypse series notwithstanding LOL) for the most part (or you are spending big bucks on very high quality). Whereas if you are going with a 2 ohm stable amp, there are lots of 500-600w options out there from reputable manufacturers for reasonable prices (for instance: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_26845_JL-Audio-XD600-1.html or http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_12018_Alpine-MRP-M500.html).

Edited January 26, 2012 by shawndoggy

[Brent Wall]

Looking for some reviews on entry level subs, like the exile xpe12d or xi12 or westound xs-12 or jl audio 12w3

I plan on putting a single sub in a sealed or ported plywood (high quality ply) in place of the drivers kick panel on my 08 vride. With an adequate power supply would this be pretty darn sufficient? I dont' want to spend 500-700 on just the sub, so looking for feedback on these $300 price range subs.

I currently have 4 kicker incabins with 4 channel amp and 4 exile sxt65 with harpoon on tower. I want the boat to have a nice clean bump that sounds good on country, rap, pop and rock. We usually dont' play the music loud at all except when wakeboarding (small kids on board 90% of the time).

I just wrapped up the installation of a Wet Sounds XS-12 in my 2008 VLX. The enclosure is a 1.2 cu. ft. sealed box made from 3/4" birch plywood. It is powered by a Wet Sounds SYN2, 700 watt amp. In my opinion, it sounds great. The bass is tight and powerful and produces the "nice clean bump" that you mentioned.

I removed the factory kick panel and the box went right there, at basically the same angle as the factory kick. I had an infinity kappa perfect 12 in it, but I think it'd do fine with any sub that would do well with a little over 1 ft2 sealed.

I constructed the box and remade the kick panel to maintain the 33 degree angle of the factory kick panel. With this design, a 1.2 cu. ft. box is as large as you can go. It was quite a puzzle to get the box to fit in this odd shaped space. This restriction dictates a sealed box since all of the recommendations for vented boxes for 12" subs are at least 1.5 cu. ft..

I don't want to lose any foot space, which is why I am not going with the earmark pre built malibu sub box. Haven't build one before, but how hard can it be.

It took my son and I about 14 hours to build the box, coat it with truck bed liner, carpet the front panel and install the sub. I have comprehensive design diagrams and LOTS of tips I can share if you decide to build one yourself. It went pretty quickly at first but remaking the kick panel took a while because matching the angle of the hull on the right side of the panel took several test fittings. The entire box is screwed and glued together from the inside (not a single screw showing on the outside of the box). Here is picture of the box before the front panel was installed.

Edited January 26, 2012 by Brent Wall

[85 Barefoot]

kicker comp vr

[thtrog]

kicker comp vr

Lots of choices in subs and amps with Kicker

[thtrog]

I just wrapped up the installation of a Wet Sounds XS-12 in my 2008 VLX. The enclosure is a 1.2 cu. ft. sealed box made from 3/4" birch plywood. It is powered by a Wet Sounds SYN2, 700 watt amp. In my opinion, it sounds great. The bass is tight and powerful and produces the "nice clean bump" that you mentioned.

I constructed the box and remade the kick panel to maintain the 33 degree angle of the factory kick panel. With this design, a 1.2 cu. ft. box is as large as you can go. It was quite a puzzle to get the box to fit in this odd shaped space. This restriction dictates a sealed box since all of the recommendations for vented boxes for 12" subs are at least 1.5 cu. ft..

It took my son and I about 14 hours to build the box, coat it with truck bed liner, carpet the front panel and install the sub. I have comprehensive design diagrams and LOTS of tips I can share if you decide to build one yourself. It went pretty quickly at first but remaking the kick panel took a while because matching the angle of the hull on the right side of the panel took several test fittings. The entire box is screwed and glued together from the inside (not a single screw showing on the outside of the box). Here is picture of the box before the front panel was installed.

I got to see your boat earlier this week, great job on your install. Someone is going to get a super nice boat!

[augie09]

It took my son and I about 14 hours to build the box, coat it with truck bed liner, carpet the front panel and install the sub. I have comprehensive design diagrams and LOTS of tips I can share if you decide to build one yourself. It went pretty quickly at first but remaking the kick panel took a while because matching the angle of the hull on the right side of the panel took several test fittings. The entire box is screwed and glued together from the inside (not a single screw showing on the outside of the box). Here is picture of the box before the front panel was installed.

Looks awesome. That is exactly my goal as well. Did you put the screws on the inside to reduce the chance of moisture issues?

I think the 08 vlx has more space by the drivers feet than the 08 vride, so hopefully I can get that same volume box you did without surpassing the current kick panel.

Lots of great subs suggested. Can't find bad reviews on hardly any. Think I have settled for a JL Audio 12w3v3 (2 ohm), requires a 1.125 cu. ft. sealed box, with a Exile 600.1. Thanks!

[Murphy8166]

Looks awesome. That is exactly my goal as well. Did you put the screws on the inside to reduce the chance of moisture issues?

I think the 08 vlx has more space by the drivers feet than the 08 vride, so hopefully I can get that same volume box you did without surpassing the current kick panel.

Lots of great subs suggested. Can't find bad reviews on hardly any. Think I have settled for a JL Audio 12w3v3 (2 ohm), requires a 1.125 cu. ft. sealed box, with a Exile 600.1. Thanks!

Awesome choice - you will love it!!

[shawndoggy]

Looks awesome. That is exactly my goal as well. Did you put the screws on the inside to reduce the chance of moisture issues?

I think the 08 vlx has more space by the drivers feet than the 08 vride, so hopefully I can get that same volume box you did without surpassing the current kick panel.

Lots of great subs suggested. Can't find bad reviews on hardly any. Think I have settled for a JL Audio 12w3v3 (2 ohm), requires a 1.125 cu. ft. sealed box, with a Exile 600.1. Thanks!

I will try to take a pic of mine for you this weekend. I cut a notch out where the stringer access hole is behind the kick panel so that the box could be pushed as far back against the back wall of the helm as possible. Mine is screwed from the outside, but I glassed over the whole exterior of the box (used fiberglass mat not just resin).

[martinarcher]

dual 2 ohm coils does sorta limit the amp choice though. Pretty sure MartinArcher is running a TC Sounds sub?

Yep. I have an older 12" T3HP TC Sounds sub in the boat with one of their new TC Sounds Passive Radiators. It is the most musical, but powerful sub I've ever heard. It is being pushed with a JL 1000/1 Slash.

I put an 8" Epic from TC Sounds in the trunk of my BMW. I'm running it off Murphy's old Arc Audio 300.2. It sounds awesome. One amazing thing about the Epic 8" is the smaller the box the better. It still blows me away how low that little thing goes and how tiny the box is.

If your interested here's the build thread and here is a video of it doing what it does best on the water.

[Malibuzer]

Hey Matt! Neither of your links are working on my computer.

[Malibudude]

Hey Matt! Neither of your links are working on my computer.

Just checked them and both work fine.

[Malibuzer]

Here is what I get when I click on them.

An Error Occurred

Sorry, an error occurred. If you are unsure on how to use a feature, or don't know why you got this error message, try looking through the help files for more information.

[#10342] We could not determine which forum this topic is in.

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[skyskier]

Yep. I have an older 12" T3HP TC Sounds sub in the boat with one of their new TC Sounds Passive Radiators. It is the most musical, but powerful sub I've ever heard. It is being pushed with a JL 1000/1 Slash.

I put an 8" Epic from TC Sounds in the trunk of my BMW. I'm running it off Murphy's old Arc Audio 300.2. It sounds awesome. One amazing thing about the Epic 8" is the smaller the box the better. It still blows me away how low that little thing goes and how tiny the box is.

If your interested here's the build thread and here is a video of it doing what it does best on the water.

Didn't I see a video of your boat hull tossing water like an erupting volcano?

[martinarcher]

[BaBaLoO]

Babaloo- hell yes. Those Fosgate punch subs are mediocre at best. It's Fosgate's budget sub.

The jl w6 is a premium 12" 1000rms sub.

Apples and oranges in output and sound quality.

So Im assuming I would have to change out the 1100w amp to power 2 jl w6's?

[jk13]

So Im assuming I would have to change out the 1100w amp to power 2 jl w6's?

No, 550 is a perfect number for that sub (click on specifications):

http://www.jlaudio.com/12w6v2-d4-car-audio-w6v2-subwoofer-drivers-92121

1000w rms is the W7 series.

Edited January 26, 2012 by jk13

[BaBaLoO]

Well looks like im selling 2 12inch rockford subs that are a year old pm me if interested!!!!!!!!

Edited January 26, 2012 by BaBaLoO