Fi Car Audio Q 15"

[AI James]

Product: Q 15"

Manufactured by: Fi Car Audio

Purchased/recieved from: Ray of Audio Innovations (sealed from Fi Car Audio)

MSRP = $279.00

Q15

DUAL 1 | DUAL 2

Fs: 24.9 Hz

Re: 1.4 Ohms/coil

Qms: 5.72

Qes: .54

Qts: .49

Mms: 279g

Cms: 0.15mm/N

Sd: 810cm^2

Vas: 135 l

Spl: 87.7dB 1W/1m

Bl: 15.1 N/A

Xmax: 27mm

Rms: 1000W

Sealed box: 2-2.6 cuft

Ported box: 2.8-4 cuft @ 28-33Hz

Sub OD: 15.625”

Cut ID: 14.125”

Mounting depth: 8.500”

Displacement: 0.19cuft

so i installed the sub today. was pretty surprised overall fomr the diff of it and the TC 3000. and am almost sadened to say that it sounds better all around then the double the priced TC3000.

Box used was a 3.5 cube 32hz fully 45ed and fiberglassed inside, box was made by Wkbdkid, i have no place to make boxes anymore.

anyhow on Hawaiian Music the sub was alot better where the TC lacked in the upper sub freqs of 50-60hz. At low volume the sub was a lot more aggressive sounding then the TC and made the Ziggy Marley cd i was playing sound alot better all around.

On Southern low bass line music, i liked the sound, it seemed a little to aggressive at low volume but as the volume was raised the sub seemed to balance out (something i can fix with my front stage. I played Lil Boosie S&C zoom, sub stayed with the music pretty much tone for tone, but the loudness of those tones was alot less pronounced then the higher sub frequencies.

Next i tryed to stress the sub out a little, i turned the volume higher then my normal listening volume and left it there for a good 10 minutes. After about 5 minutes there was noticeably a difference in the sound of the sub, as the Coil got warm it became a little muddy sounding. I kept it there for the remaining 5 minutes because it wasn't stinking up. I let it rest for about 25 minutes and went back on it for another 10 minutes at high colume and this time it seemed to be ok the duration of stressing it.

Pro:

In all honesty the sub seems great for the 280 that Fi charges for it and i would be pretty hard pressed to find another sub at its price that sounds the way it does.

Keeps up with fast beats

Con:

I wouldn't recommend running much over RMS on it, I honestly feel i was able to bring the sub to its full capability on RMS, in todays market where people feel the need to overpower everything, i don't think this sub would be the sub for you.

Doesn't Hit lows like other products that i have had experience with

Has difficulties reproducing low tones

Comparisons with other 1000rms subs i would put it form first to last preference

Loudness

RE SX, Mag, Fi Q, TC 3000,

When i say the mag is louder, i mean almost indistinguishably louder, its not like its night and day its .2 on the TL i was using in the same box off the same amp

SQ:

Mag, Fi Q, TC 3000, Re SX

Cost to Performance Ratio - 9 out of 10

Its real hard to beat Fi's price of this sub with the output and accuracy that is exhibited in this product

Performance - 7 out of 10

Great sub, Not for my test toneish Southern rap taste but it held up very well to metal and other fast paced music.

Customer Service - 7 out of 10

I tried to see about some recones for the unit because i wanted to put it though some high power testing and honestly didn't care if it blew in the process, well 3 weeks later my email was replied back to. At one time i was able to get information within a week, but not on this occasion.

Repeat buy - 8 out of 10

As stated before, for the price its real hard to turn a deaf ear on this product, as it is relatively cheap in comparison to other drivers in its class while still performing up there or surpassing them.

Overall Score 7 out of 10

[meade916]

damn another great review! You should write for a magazine or something

[AI James]

lol i wish, i have to bad of an attitude problem though, if i dont like something i'll totally bash it

[meade916]

id rather hear someone bash something they ran and hated then something they heard someone ran and hated

so if you ran it and didnt like it, wtf can someone say to you

[cracker]

agreed. nice review. i been doin some thinkin about the Fi subs but was lookin at maybe a more entry level type(for lack of words) like the ssd or maybe Q. runnin a 12 mtx 7500 and its new but gettin old fast lol. nice review though man.

[AI James]

depending on if you looking for SQ or loud

The SSD gets louder then the Q but the Q sounds better.

[j_black10]

How I miss this! Good review J! You're right about not going over rms on this sub! Does just fine on rms or below rms. I wonder though if you had put it in a box tuned 28hz what the results would have been. I had the 18s and ran them in a 33, 30, and 28hz box and got the best overall sound and loudness out of the 28hz box.

Again good review!! Now, did you do any test on the havocs when you had them?

[AI James]

yup just havent done any reviews in a long while. ive got alot of subs ive reviewed that i need to sooner or later review

[E a r t h]

@28hz mine had a fat low end and nothing else really. @34 now its snappier and has a punchier sound, but the Q is a flat smooth sounding sub to me, so a tune in this area imo would be upper limit for Q. i dont think its peaky enough to hold over most people. the lower tune sounded better to me, but at the cost of loosing output in most music. has more of a soft presence vs an agressive one.

[redbaron80]

how does the Q stack up to the re sx.

I love my sx's and they have a great overall, decently FLAT response, unlike my 2005 re xxx's that very soft above 50 hertz and monsters @ 25-40 hertz.