Boston Competitor 1200 freq specs

[Chris Braun]

Hey guys,

Was wondering if there was anyone with the know how to get, from the specs on the website, what the freq response of this sub is.

It's rated at 1000w RMS and I have it in a 1.28 cubed sealed box filled with poly and it just doesn't hit the lows like I thought it would.

It really hits the high bass well and does get a bit low, but completely falls off in the higher 27's and lower. I know its an older sub designed to be in a smaller 1.0 sealed box, maybe for tight rock etc, but something seems off.

Here's the manual and specs are on 10/11

http://www.manualsdir.com/manuals/48068/boston-acoustics-1000-gs1200-85lf-gs1500-105lf-125lf-800-1500-gs1000-1200.html?page=10

Would appreciate any thoughts on this

[Triticum Agricolam]

Do you have the 2 ohm or 4 ohm version?

[Chris Braun]

It's a 2 ohm sub

[Triticum Agricolam]

OK, here is the frequency response of your 1.28 cf sealed box. The stuffing you have in there will help flatten the response a bit from what the graph shows. This graph is raw output without approximated cabin gain. Cabin gain will boost the low end quite a bit.

If you want more low end output, there is no reason that sub wouldn't be perfectly happy in a ported box. 2 cf at 30 hz should work nicely. Here is what that frequency response looks like compared to your current sealed box:

[Joe X]

Here's the same as above 1.28 net but added cabin gain for an average sized vehicle:

Here's the same as above but added a ported box: 1.5 net 32Hz (plot in yellow):

As mentioned ported would help quite a bit your problem, it will get louder too.

[Chris Braun]

Thanks for the input guys. I appreciate the graphs and it confirmed what I was thinking. I had a buddy back in the day with sealed subs throw them into a ported setup and they had problems. I think it was kicker who told him no warranty because they were a sealed designed sub only. I kinda thought that was BS back then but never cared until I came across this Boston.

It also calls for a 1 cubed ft sealed, wouldn't a 1.5 ported suit it more? It's a 2009 Accord and not sure how cabin gain would effect the size of the box. Also I get confused some times when specs say you need a 1.0 cubed sealed, when really you need a 1.5 when you actually take into account the subs displacement.

Is that why you mentioned a 2 cubed box Triticum?

If you want more low end output, there is no reason that sub wouldn't be perfectly happy in a ported box. 2 cf at 30 hz should work nicely. Here is what that frequency response looks like compared to your current sealed box:

[Triticum Agricolam]

When referring to box size, the numbers you see listed are net volume. So that's the empty space that's left in the box after you account for what the port and sub take up.

Either a 1.5 or a 2.0 cubic foot should work well with that sub. The 2.0 cf box will have a little more low end output, but at the cost of taking up more space.

[Chris Braun]

Low end is good, will the high end suffer overall? Will the 2 cubed box have more SPL or output overall?

I'd like to keep some space. Actually what I'd like is a 15 and 2 10's but it's all good haha.

[Triticum Agricolam]

As you make a ported box bigger, you get more output around the tuning frequency. So with a larger box, your higher frequency output will not change, however you can end up in a situation where the output around tuning is so much more than what you get higher up that your higher frequencies sound quiet by comparison (the box is peaky). This shouldn't be a big problem with your sub though, since its low end output rolls off quite a bit. If you have the space for a 2 cube box, that would be my suggestion, but if you don't have the space the 1.5 cube box will be fine too.

FYI, a system using two 10"s and one 15" won't do anything better than what you could do with just a good single 15" in a well-designed box.

[Chris Braun]

Ya the peaking is what i'm trying to stay away from. I like flat response subs but with a slight more favor to the low end. I picked up a Yamaha 10 (SW315), and as an example, it hits down to 20 hz! Plus it does the whole range pretty flat up to the high end and sounds great. I know its in the design but how do they pull that out of a 250 watt 10? Honestly is shakes my house and sounds like a 500+ watt 12 or 15. It over powers my 1000w 8 inch Velodyne by far.

Ya I know tight a boomy aren't related to sub size etc, but wouldn't the 10's or even 8's sealed and in a slightly smaller than optimal box for tight bass up top and the 15 ported for all the low end down to 20 be ideal? I guess in that wasn't the case, wouldn't everyone just get a good 15 in a good box and have it all?