Confused, need some help!

[PinkFreud65]

Ok, been here on the forum, searching and talking...called a local shop whom I trust (he has taught me things instead of selling me things)

He was telling me that basically, front firing and sealing off my trunk; Mazda 3i sedan, is mostly for numbers on the dash, and that for "loudness to the ear", obviously with a correctly built box, it would be best to rear fire. He was taking about rear firing would be helpful for cancelation and load...blah blah blah...just trying to find out what's up with all this stuff.

I want a single 12 MAYBE a 15 if it's worth the extra space being taken up. On 1kw, in a ported box. Thinking FI SSD. I am looking to get loud and low. Simple as that. Loud to me is anything over 2 basic 12" Kenwoods in a pre-fab box in maybe 300w in a minivan

Also, lots of words later, he told me that "the difference between 500w and 1000w is like 1 volume click. Or maybe 3dB." So, do I even need to get a 1kw amp? Will it really make that much of an audible difference?

Just trying to figure things out. I really want to trust this guy, he has been in the car audio business for 30 years, and he always ops to inform me BEFORE I buy something from him or someone else.

Thoughts?

PF

[Triticum Agricolam]

Well the guy is right about cancellation. Both firing forward with sealing off and firing back will help eliminate cancelations, which can really negatively effect output. The added benefit of firing forward and sealing off is it eliminates trunk rattle and makes the space you are pressurizing with sound smaller, thus higher numbers. Its the most work, by far, though so you have to consider that. Firing back can eat up almost all your trunk space because for it to really be effective you need to have that box right at the back of your trunk, a couple inches from the trunk latch. Firing forward with a small box at least has the possibility of leaving you with some readily accessible trunk space. I really don't see how firing back is going to sound any better than sealing off and firing forward, but I can't prove it won't be either. To me it really comes down to how much effort you want to put into it. For firing forward to work well you have to have a 100% seal, and that takes a lot of effort.

As far as the difference between 500 watts and 1000 watts only being like 1 click on the volume knob, I totally agree. Doubling power only gets you another 3 db, which is a lot on the meter, but to the ear its a pretty small difference, mostly people describe it as being like 15% louder.

If you want to get the most performance for the least money, run the largest sub you can fit well in space you are willing to give up, and run as much power as your stock electrical system can properly handle.

[PinkFreud65]

Thank you so much for clearing that up for me!

I'm thinking; because my wife wants some usable trunk space, I should use a single 12. I want to put 1-1.5kw to it, in a ported enclosure. I'm thinking I will run an FI SSD.

Question is...will it work with my application needs?

[Joe X]

He was telling me that basically, front firing and sealing off my trunk; Mazda 3i sedan, is mostly for numbers on the dash, and that for "loudness to the ear", obviously with a correctly built box, it would be best to rear fire. He was taking about rear firing would be helpful for cancelation and load...blah blah blah...just trying to find out what's up with all this stuff.

It's going to be totally vehicle dependent what you are going to get, for the most part you are better off doing tests than asking questions. One thing is for sure, don't do subs up in a trunk car.

[x infektid x]

if looking for loudness, i would go for a sub that has a long throw on it.. the more air you move the louder the sound then comes wattage . 4 12 on 500 watts vs 2 12 on 100 watts . 4 12 will be way louder easily.

[Allen Lancos]

if looking for loudness, i would go for a sub that has a long throw on it.. the more air you move the louder the sound then comes wattage . 4 12 on 500 watts vs 2 12 on 100 watts . 4 12 will be way louder easily.

I actually have to disagree with you, there are several more factors that would have to be considered. Most important being available air space. 2 good 12's in a proper sized and tuned box can be way louder than 4 12's in an undersized box. I know this because i just went from 4 12's down to 2 and the results where fenominal, thanks to the community here for all the guidance.

[Daniel644]

I can tell you this, I took my Eclipse Titanium 15 in a ported box I built in my old 94 honda accord and placed it in literally every possible orientation (agreed I didn't seal off the trunk when firing forward) but to me forward firing (port and sub facing front) was the worst sounding in terms of how hard it hit to my ears, even worse then side firing (which actually wasn't all that bad and I ran it like that for a while), I always in trunk applications point the sub toward the back of the car, just has more oomph to it, but hey I'm just a guy who has hit a 147.6db (I believe in the first accord, not sure, I just found the print out last night), and 145.5db in a 95 civic with a rear firing single Eclipse Aluminum 12 on like 500 watts on one of the meters IASCA/SLAPShow used to use before everyone switched to TermLabs.