Any sealed sub recommendations?

[Chance787]

Whats up guys!? I'm new here so bare with me. I've decided that I wanted to get back into car audio after a 13 year hiatus. I'm somewhat knowledgeable about this stuff but a lot has changed over the years. Seems that ported enclosures now account for 95% of installs these days and drivers are now designed with stiffer suspension to accommodate these boxes. My dilemma is I don't have the room for a ported enclosure and I just don't want to get involved in all that at this time. I'm not looking to enter any SPL comps and really don't want to tear up my truck but I do want to be loud with a bit of sound quality. Right now I have custom built single 15'' 2.6 cu.ft box and a mmats 1000.1... Looking for a subwoofer recommendation that will work well in a sealed box. My budget is around $200 or less. I've been eyeballing sa-15, fi x15 and the hds315. I don't want to hear that I should get a vented box. If anyone has real world experience with a sub that can handle 800-1000wrms and sound amazing in a sealed box please share with me. Sorry for the long post guys. Thanks in advance

[Carnines]

Don't think you can go wrong with a sealed sundown SA. I've seen an sq build or two using them.

[catch 22]

Sundown sd-3. They're made for small sealed enclosures and sound amazing.

[Chance787]

Sundown sd-3. They're made for small sealed enclosures and sound amazing.

Unfortunately they don't make 15s :/

[Triticum Agricolam]

I'd suggest spending just a little more and getting the FI SSD-15 with the high QTS option. Then you have a sub that is specifically designed for sealed box use. While the other subs you listed do have fairly high QTS, they don't have the low Fs that the SSD does, which will help you get more low end output. Those other subs, with the exception of the X15, have stiffer suspensions, which will decrease efficiency compared to the high QTS SSD-15

[Chance787]

I'd suggest spending just a little more and getting the FI SSD-15 with the high QTS option. Then you have a sub that is specifically designed for sealed box use. While the other subs you listed do have fairly high QTS, they don't have the low Fs that the SSD does, which will help you get more low end output. Those other subs, with the exception of the X15, have stiffer suspensions, which will decrease efficiency compared to the high QTS SSD-15

Great suggestion, seriously considering this driver. What does the qts jump up too with that option?

[lutkeveld]

@triticum Stiffer suspension increases efficiency if I'm not mistaking? Fs will go up, Vas goes down and efficiency up right?

@chance, for subs in sealed enclosure look for high QTS (0.45-0.55) and low FS (<30Hz). I personally really like Dayton Audio drivers, something like the UM12 fits the bill. I could simulate one for you to look if it would work good in your airspace and how much watts it could handle excursion wise.

[Triticum Agricolam]

@triticum Stiffer suspension increases efficiency if I'm not mistaking? Fs will go up, Vas goes down and efficiency up right?

@chance, for subs in sealed enclosure look for high QTS (0.45-0.55) and low FS (<30Hz). I personally really like Dayton Audio drivers, something like the UM12 fits the bill. I could simulate one for you to look if it would work good in your airspace and how much watts it could handle excursion wise.

The thing with stiffer suspensions is they generally go hand in hand with having higher moving mass. This higher moving mass is what decreases efficiency. I guess I misspoke when I said stiffer suspensions (lower Vas) lower efficiency, the low Vas isn't the cause, but generally speaking, subs with stiff suspensions are less efficient.

I agree that some Dayton audio subs would be good choices as well, as long as you could get the final impedance needed.