best inexpensive 12" sub (1 Viewer)

[Brian Womble]

I am currently looking into purchasing a pair of 12" subs for my car. I will have about 1.5-2cu ft per driver. (3-4cu ft total) the problem will be selecting a proper woofer. I am looking at several woofers right now but I dont know which ones to buy.
Adire Shiva
Dayton DVC or Titanic
Infinity Kappa Perfect
Stryke SAE1204
blueprint 1201 or 1203
all of these drivers are very similar except for:
the blueprint 1203 looks good but is too expensive, but how much do the b_stock drivers go for though?
the kappa perfect has a much higher sensitvity than the other drivers, like 96db.
i will have about 300 watts RMS @ 2ohms avalable.
The box will be sealed.
But which woofer will be the best?
Tnaks alot.

 

[Jon Hancock]

Brian,
These drivers are a bit different, and of course, it depends on your goals.
The Blueprint has the greatest Xmax, and may have the lowest distorition; with it's low Qts and low VAS, it will work well in a small box- probably better than the others, with adequate power and some EQ. The last of the B-Stock are gone; I got them.
The Shiva has lower measured distortion than the DVC or Titanic. For a bang for the buck 12", it's my choice.
The laws of physic limit how much efficiency versus low end extension you can get from a given size box. Without looking at it's specs, the 96 dB efficiency rating you quote for the kappa perfect means it's not really a subwoofer if the number is correct- even with a *very* large magnet, if you have enough voice coil overhang to get good excursion at low frequencies, you wont' have that kind of efficiency because too much of the coil is out of the gap. I have some Audax Pro woofers in my X1 Klones which are 96 dB efficient, but they're designed for ported systems, have very low Qts (0.15), and low Xmax- they're good for 28 Hz and up with the right box and EQ, but not too loud- Xmax is about 6 mm.
My advise is to go with the Shiva, analyze your box constraints using Unibox, deciding what you want. I'd probably use a box that size with 1 Shiva; it would go lower, and not need as much EQ or power. But it's your ears and your car, so the decision is up to you.
Good luck with your project.
Regards,
Jon

 

[Ryan Hawke]

The Kappa Perfect sensitivity is listed as "in car" as I remember. This means that the number is NOT to be compared to the anechoic sensitivities of hte home drivers. If you want to know the real sensitivity, you can download the demo for LspCAD (its called LspLite or something) and plug in the specs for the Perfect. The program will show you in a box in the top what it is. I THINK (not sure, but I remember it was one of the Perfects I did this for) I did this for one of the Perfects (10 or 12) and the efficiency I got was near 84-86. I was pretty angry that Infinity boosted it so much. Look, it almost sold a driver to you! They need to stop lying and put the REAL sensitivity not the "in car" but thats what marketing is all about. If anyone can find all the T/S parameters on this, I would like to see if it is 84-86.
--Ryan

 

[Rich Kraus]

how about one tempest in your 4 cf and run it mono?
probably the best bang for the buck (especially since you only need one.)
wheres balck00? didnt he put a tempest in a ~4cf box in a extended cab pickup? if i remember right, he won a competition with only 500 watts to it.
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'Till next time,
Rich (the kite guy)
My DIY audio page!
Use your ashtray please, dont throw um on the street. thanks

 

[Jeffrey Noel]

I agree with Rich. Go with one Tempest or even a BPD 1503 in its own large box. That should shake your balls enough!!
Don't worry about two with small boxes when you can have one with a large box. I used to have a JL 15" that had a big box and made my brain rattle. And the JL doesn't have near the excursion the Tempest or the BPD 1503 does.
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God bless!
jeffrey noel
My DVD Collection