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More power or new box?


Chance_P

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Hey guys I just entered my first comp with my first build. I hit a 143.7 on music at 46hz. My box is 7.35 cubic feet tuned to 36hz. Amp is a hifonics zrx2000.1d. Woofers are 2 soundqubed sdc2.5 15's. Im not really sure if I should put a better amp in or try and build a different box, tuned higher? I really don't want to lose lows below 35hz. Vehicle a 99 jeep cherokee. 160 amp alt and deka intimidator 34 under the hood. 1/0wiring and big 3. I was hoping for a 145. Like I said this is my first build and first time on a TL, pretty new to the hobby. My box was originally 8 cube at 34hz but it sounded a little sloppy so I added some 2x6's inside to decrease the volume and it made it sound better but I have no idea what it did to my spl output.

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I would honestly do both. Many factors can play into why it didn't score higher. Is the box taking up all the cargo space and is only a few inches from the hatch? Is there enough port area? Where is the port? What was the voltage drop. Did you do a sweep to find your peak? Or was that the first and only song you played? At least you know where you are and what to do to get that score. First, build a new box. Read up on some stuff before of course spending time building a new box. The box you have sounds like a decent size box. But don't know the port area and I would imagine it taking up a lot of space. I had an hdc3 15 on an aq 2200 @1 ohm at my first comp. Hit a 144.7 @44 hz in a blazer. 4.5 cu.ft. box I believe; around 100 sq inches of port. Like 4.5"x16.5" slot port. had easily 6-7" from the back hatch. Kept working at it, right now official score is 149.7 on a single 15, little bit more power.

I will say, if you're serious about competing, don't change anything until you have a meter. I lost over a db once I put sound deadener in, it sounded better but the meter didn't agree. Got most of it back.

'11, '12, '13, and '14 Meca Street 2 AL State Champ

AL Meca Street 2 Record Holder(151.6)

2012 Meca Street 2 World Finals - 3rd Place(148.7)

2013 Meca Street 2 World Finals - 2nd Place(151.1)

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Right now ive got 16sq in of port per cubic foot.. I think its about 17x5. Plenty of room between the port and anything else. I know my amp sucks. But im also not sure that these sdc2.5s can handle much more than im giving them. Im thinking of doing a subs up port back box. I had my box subs up port up/forward/back and back was the loudest. From what I understand I could potentially gain from this. Im thinking about 7.5 cube 39Hz with 3 6 inch aeros facing the rear. Or possibly a giant 0 common wall port.

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I hacked my box up, cut the top baffle off and made it a tad bit shorter (19 inch now). It's still my max depth and width and I'd like to keep it 19 inches high, or lower, to stay below the window line.. Turning it into a 2 common wall box with subs and port facing the rear. Right now I've got everything cut to tune it to 40hz but my Jeep peaks at 46hz. You think I should raise my tuning to 46? I would like to be able to play down to 38hz with decent output. I figured 40 would be a good compromise.

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I would honestly do both. Many factors can play into why it didn't score higher. Is the box taking up all the cargo space and is only a few inches from the hatch? Is there enough port area? Where is the port? What was the voltage drop. Did you do a sweep to find your peak? Or was that the first and only song you played? At least you know where you are and what to do to get that score. First, build a new box. Read up on some stuff before of course spending time building a new box. The box you have sounds like a decent size box. But don't know the port area and I would imagine it taking up a lot of space. I had an hdc3 15 on an aq 2200 @1 ohm at my first comp. Hit a 144.7 @44 hz in a blazer. 4.5 cu.ft. box I believe; around 100 sq inches of port. Like 4.5"x16.5" slot port. had easily 6-7" from the back hatch. Kept working at it, right now official score is 149.7 on a single 15, little bit more power.

I will say, if you're serious about competing, don't change anything until you have a meter. I lost over a db once I put sound deadener in, it sounded better but the meter didn't agree. Got most of it back.

its max width. I have 30.5 inches from seat to hatch, so 5.5 inches between my port and rear hatch. I may modify my upper seat bracket to make the seat sit more upright to gain a few inches of space on my box im building now. Old box the port was 28x4.5 but the port was so high on the box that it had like 9 inches between it and the rear window. Box im building now the port is 7.5x17.5. voltage was a steady 13.8. I didn't do a sweep but i was able to play 4 songs on my 2 runs. decaf'd songs and i hit 44-48hz and when i hit 45/46 is when my number went to 143.7. I'm not real serious about competing. I just want a decent number on music. I feel like a 143.7 is a joke with 2x 15's. It sounds like you had quite a bit of port area compared to what my new box is gonna have. your 100 for 1 sub vs 132 for my 2. granted that hdc3 moves more air. it's not too late for me to make my port larger but with my max dims it will be hard for me to keep my tuning around 40hz like i would like to be. If I tune to my vehicles peak of 46 do you think I would be able to play music down to 38hz? If I raise my tuning ill have more box volume and can make my port area about 140 inches.

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Start by buying a more efficient amp! If your chasing numbers it is a PITA if you don't own meter because sometimes when it sounds louder,its actually just cleaner. Totally agree with the above comment

I think ill pick up an aq1200. Probably puts out just as much power as this pos hifonics zrx.
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