AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

I want something bigger than my 10's, just to change things up a bit. Heard the Polk Momo 15 today, doesn't sound that bad. The Brahma is a choice as well. Any recommendations on a 15" driver that's 'best bang for the buck' ? Thanks in advance.

slickrick

iTrader: (12)

tempest no ? 150 shipped from visionaryaudio.com or acoustic-visions.com

ShRapNeR

iTrader: (1)

from experience

i would recomend the RE 15" XXX

nostrixoxide

I'm not biggest fan of any woofer over 12 inches but if you must. Just get one of these & call it a day. http://jlaudio.com/subwoofers/15.html

Maxima Dan

How much power...ported or sealed. Might look into DD, RE, Adire, and see which sub fits your needs the best. For the buck, the Brahma is really tough to beat and the new 15MKIIs are shipping with chrome top and bottom plates making the motors much cooler looking.

Check out this thread with pics of it: http://www.caraudioforum.com/vbb3/sh...d.php?t=197930

MannyNJ2k2max

iTrader: (3)

yes , the Diamond Audio redesigned M6 MKII's are pretty sweet as well, from what I've heard from the 12's ,I'm impressed

NEW2DAGAME

iTrader: (1)

Orion H2 is a beast of a sub.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

Any particular reason?

sounds tempting, heard nothing but good stuff about Tempest

SKYRockerr

15" Solo baric.

switchitter

How about blueprint drivers.
I heard they are good for the money. I was going to try a pair of 15's, but I changed my plans.

nismos14

iTrader: (56)

15's can be a bit more sloppy than 12's or 10's personally after having 8's, 10's, 12's, and 15's i would go with 10's. obviously you're not asking for what size to get so thats a moot point. As far as 15's go, all the suggestions that have been given are great so far but you've got to decide what you want, how much space you can use and so on.

nostrixoxide

Fosgate Fan,

Basically nismo14 beat me too it. His answer is exactly why I'm not to keen on anything over a 12". I've had alot of systems with different configurations of subwoofers,
four 8" subs
two 10" subs
three 10" subs
four 10" subs
six 10" subs
eight 10" subs
one 12" sub (current set up)
two 12" subs
three 12" subs
two 15" subs
four 18" subs

And in my opinion the 15's & 18's where cool to have because all my friends could hear me coming like 10 blocks away, but they just plain sounded like ****. Only thing that sounded good on them was old school (DJ Magic Mike) crap.

In my opinion the best sounded set up I ever had was (6) 10's. The bass was rediculous & the woofer response was super crisp. I just don't see any other size woofers logically compeating with 10" woofers as long as you are running more then 1 of them. Over all they sound excellent with all forms of music (rock, R&B, Rap, Jazz, etc). 12" woofers have there plus side to them also. But it's a trade off deeper bass for less woofer response.
Since I've grown out of my high school days, I prefer to just keep things simple & clean. No more mulitple amplifiers & complex installs. I just want good clean sound & trouble free equiptment. So thats why now I prefer 5 channel amp's & single sub set up's. I would possibly consider going with a 15" over a 12" if I owned a SUV with more interior air space, but having a 15" in a maxima is really a waste. Heck even my single 12" is cutting it close. You know what I mean if you have ever put your head closer to the front windshield & heard the bass get deeper. Larger woofers tend to carry alot further then smaller woofers do. Smaller woofers tend to make closer sound waves. Something like this.
8 & 10" <<<<<<<<
12" <{<{<{<{
15 & 18" ((((((((
So in my opinion in small cabin spaces like sports cars or sedans smaller waves are better because they usually sound best by the time your ears receive the sound. It's alot more technical then my explaination provides. But I think you can get the point.

Maxima Dan

Hey nostrixoxide I'm just wondering what 15" drivers you have listened to and what crossover point you are using. I agree that a 10 will have better upper bass/midbass than a larger driver...but for low extension the larger drivers will perform much better.

slickrick

iTrader: (12)

+1. but id base alot of the decision on box size and type. my old 10's hit lower but not as high as my shivas do now. but its all on box size.

nostrixoxide

Your right larger woofers produce better low frequencies. But thats the only thing they produce better. Musically there limited since they tend to only produce better low end frequencies. Try listening to some Fleetwood Mac or AC/DC on them. The music just doesn't sound good on them.
I usually keep my crossover set to around 75hrz. I'm more into the low stuff. However I have heard some music that sounds better when the crossover is set around 150hrz. I just prefer the softer, lower stuff. You have to remember it's all about moving air. larger woofers move more air, so the sound wave will take longer to expand. This isn't really good in areas where the air space is limited. knowing that, let me ask you what will move more air (2) 10's or (1) 15"? The (2) 10's will because there is 5" more of surface area. 20 inches total compaired to only 15 inches. So by using the 10's you can move more air & get cleaner sound in about the same size box. Not to mention that the 10's will probably require alot less power to get the job done. Box size & power rating is determined by the manufacturer. Another thing to consider is when you use mulitple woofers your DB increases so in my opinion the 2 10's will produce lower frequencies just fine. There just a all around better choice, SQ, effientcy, $$$ & space. Nobody wants to lose there entire trunk to a enclosure. And a box for a 15 is going to be pretty big.

You asked what brands of 15's I have owned or listened to. So hear they are!
15" Kickers (were 8ohm & needed more WATTS).
15" JL Audio (very nice, most musical 15" I've ever heard in my life compared to some 1970's 15" JBL studio monitors I once heard).
15" Cerwin Vegas (pure raw bass, best 15" ever)
15" Atomic's (Average)
15" Ol'school Fosgates (the 1st subs I ever owned)
15" Redlines (really Ol'school)
15" Phoenix Gold (had 3 little led's in it) Sucked!!!

18" Cerwin Vegas (Nothing even comes close to these for just pure raw bass if you supply enough power to them)

18" DDs (Heard this in a 92 Honda CRX with 2 15" horm tweeters mounted up under the dask facing towards the front seats. Absolutely insane!!! This car sounded like a friggin live concert was taking place. You could hear this car perfectly clear a football field away. Just like if you were sitting in it). This woofer was some kind of experimental kevlar & carbon fiber speaker with some crazy NASA developed rubber surround. The entire back of the CRX was a sealed box. He had over 5000 watts RMS going to this 1 subwoofer. Insane, absolutely Insane....

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

thanks for the detailed posts nostrixoxide, made me put more thought into it. right now i'm running two RF HE 10's, each getting about 120 watts. they're in a cheapo best buy sealed box, .80 cu ft per chamber. it's very punchy and tight and goes very good to the music i listen to (mostly electronic and some rock). but recently, i wanted something a bit louder and many people i know say go 15" route. i know the enclosure plays a large role in how well your sub performs, but i'm a noob in regards to that box designing area. i can go port for an increase in spl, but lack the know-how to build a proper box.

slickrick

iTrader: (12)

id work on a new amp. for the spl you need more power than 240 watts.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

well the amp is currently pushing out that much because it's at 4 ohms a channel. my subs are 4 ohm svc.

slickrick

iTrader: (12)

then your amp is at 2 ohms.. 2 svc 4 ohm subs = 2 ohm load the amp sees.

Maxima Dan

A 15 inch driver will cover approx. 177 in^2 compared to two 10s which will cover around 157 in^2.

I agree with what you are saying, though. 10s will hit cleaner than larger drivers and sound better over most rock, jazz, classical and so on. But if you want to listen to electronic music at insane levels there is no replacement for displacement.

You might consider the Brahma 12, it sounds awesome in a 2^3 box ported at 28Hz. I thought that with the SQ port it held it's own over most music and still hit hard enough to scare the neighbors.

nostrixoxide

Maxima Dan,

I feel what your getting at as far as with electronic music. I can DJ, my cousin is a DJ & pretty much 90% of my friends are DJ's. So i've got my far share of records. And your right most electronic music produces insane low end frequencies. But one thing you have to consider also is most of this kind of music is played at around 120bpm or higher. Which means that each tone is being produced at a pretty fast rate. Larger diameter woofers just can't keep up with the speed at which the sound is changing. Larger diameter woofers have always been notorious for lag, which indeed is the reason why they produce awesome low low bass. I do have to say bigger woofers are the best when it comes down to reproducing low signals. I just think that a woofer that has the ability to "start & stop" as quickly as possible will produce a more accurate sound & overall will sound great with all forms of music. I mean this discussion could go on forever, kinda like (people who prefer digital & people who prefer analog). It's really just what is your taste?

nostrixoxide

Fosgate Fan,

Sorry I almost forgot to answer your question.
First of all you have to remember that a sealed enclosure is not as efficient as a ported enclosure is. Meaning it takes more power with a sealed box to produce louder sound. Sealed boxes are by far the best for SQ in my opinion mainly because they can cleanly produce a vider varity of frequencies. But the downside like I mentioned before is it takes alot of power to make them sound louder.

Like Slick Rick said you can look into purchasing another amplifier that will make more power & this will indeed increase your "(BOOM)" factor, or you can have somebody build you a ported box. A ported box is alot more efficient & doesn't take alot of power to get louder volume. The only down side to this is a you lose out on some of that super super low end stuff. But it's more then made up for in extra volume. So you have something to think about, should I buy a better amp? Or should I just get a new box? It seems to me that since you know already that your box is somewhat cheesy (bestbuy pre-fab) then you might want to start there first. Simply because if your not satisfied with the amount of bass your new box is making you can always replace you amp later on. Either way your eventually going to want a custom built box for your sub's so it really wouldn't be considered a loss to invest in a new box. Here is a website you can learn alot from. Especially about enclosures. Just remember the most important part of build a build a enclosure is knowing how much air space the manufacturer requires for ea. sub. The second most important thing is use good material to build with (3/4 or 1" MDF), liquid nails, pre drill & use good wood screws. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the reading material, it really can be useful.
http://www.bcae1.com/

MannyNJ2k2max

iTrader: (3)

there are ways around it-there are a good handful of super efficient SQ subs out there

thats why I decided on my soon to come ARC12's -
they are very quick responding, very accurate, low xmax and super efficient- they are somewhat comparable to the IDQ's- I wanted the efficiency
and SQ of a 10" without giving up the lower freq.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

why would you want a low xmax?

HitManSE

iTrader: (1)

The size of the sub has nothing to do with how low it will play, it has nothing to do with how clean it will play, how nothing to do with how fast it will hit, ect... and all that The only thing a larger cone will do is allow the sub to move more air. It will just be louder.
The only time this does not hold true is if your comparing crappy brands, but when your talking about subs such ad DD, XXX, Brahma & the higher end stuff, the above holds true & will always hold true.
There are 8" subs that truley extend to sub-sonic & there are 15's that are used at mid-ranges (what the last concert you've been to?) reason being is the larger cone allow for higher output.

Install has pretty much everything to do with how a setup will sound, dont mistake the size of the sub as being responsible for everything, because it just doesnt.

Edit: Throws on flame suit

BlackBIRDVQ

iTrader: (15)

I been following this pretty closely, and I listen to alot of electronic music- aka trance. I like my bass low but I can't stand sloppy bass. I ran 3 12" JL W0s at one point with a Punch Power 360 and they sounded pretty ****ty, I then got 3 10" W0s in a PowerWedge box and used the same amp and the bass was cleaner over all. I'm currently looking at upgrading from a 10" DVC Kicker CompVR to the new 10" Alpine Type X - I wanna run 2 of them, what do you guys think ? I am gonna run them in a sealed box. I'm not much of a stereo guy, but I like to have some tunes to go with my horsepower

HitManSE

iTrader: (1)

Sloppy comes from the install belive it or not (once again, dependant on brand).
If you want tight music, go sealed. Run a bead of caulking around all the edges (fiberglass resin works well too) of the box interior. As long as the box it 100% sealed, your good to go. Most sealed boxes leak air because they arnt built properly.
Once again, dont think the smaller subs will hit "tighter" because thats simply not true. Whats your price range?

BlackBIRDVQ

iTrader: (15)

my subs where always up against the seats as close as possible with them fireing towards the back of the car. The last 2 JL Audio setups where in genuine JL PowerWedge boxes.. I dunno if they leaked or not. My price range is around 400 bux. I thought about just one JL W7 also, I have 2 amps, a Infinity Beta 100 or a MRV1507 Alpine to power the subs. The Alpine needs to be fixed, its one big mean ****.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

I understand that the size of the sub has nothing to do with how low it will play... I just want something louder . I like how my tens sound right now, but want something a tad bit louder.

HitManSE

iTrader: (1)

How can I put it...its never enough, not until it starts to hurt you...then its about enough You already know what I got, you know my opinion on that is somewhat biased (doesnt mean im wrong though )
I can recommend something from mild to crazy, however the B15 sealed will serve you well.
Im talking about sealed SQ setups right now, because you said you wanted a "bit" louder. The XXX is still an option, and if you really got money burning a hole in your pocket, get a DD 9515, then again a 75mm xmax isnt something id seal. Sooo back on topic, I dont know what you want man.

I dont know if you want to go ported or not, so Ill stop right here. How far do you want to take this?

darrick

so what would happen if you ran 1 15 or 12 and 1 10? could you cover all bases wit less expensive woffers?

HitManSE

iTrader: (1)

:thinking: Ehh... Id rather just stick to really high quality subs rather then getting two crappy ones.

MannyNJ2k2max

iTrader: (3)

the xmax remark was in comparison to the ID/IDQ's- besides since when is Xmax indicative wether a sub sounds good or not, specially an SQ sub- if anything a lox Xmax can yield better efficiency

darrick

So would I ,but not all of the ppl on this forum have tons of money and with the market being what it is even the ppl with money are having a hard time I was just brainstorming trying to find a way to make all happy you know?

Robert_J

No need for the flame suit. Adire Audio backs up your statements with real-world tests. Hard to argue with physics.

-Robert

HitManSE

iTrader: (1)

THANK YOU!!!

Its just that Many people think the larger you the the sloppier it gets, thats just simply not true

ShRapNeR

iTrader: (1)

having a 15 does not mean the bass is going to be more sloppy nor does it mean the thing will react slower.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

Put it this way, I want to feel the impact of a kickdrum even more than my current tens can pump out, but nothing that vicious like your Brahma (finally heard a 12 in person few weeks ago, gets kinda hard to breathe when cranked up ). If I can save a few bucks by just getting a good 12" instead of a 15" then I'll go that route. I want to keep it sealed for the genre of music I listen to. How far I want to take this? Probably around 300 or so for a new sub.

nostrixoxide

Heres my suggestion!!!!
http://jlaudio.com/subwoofers/12w6v2.html

This is the same woofer I have with only 200w RMS powering it and it sounds excellent. Ofcourse the design of my new box has alot to do with how well the woofer performs also.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/likwid...&.dnm=91b9.jpg

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

yeah, i've read a lot of good reviews for that sub. how much was it?