"Stealth" build - 2x10"s or 2x 12"s with limited airspace?

[BboyTaktix]

Hey all,

 

Currently planning a stealth build in my golf R. After doing a ton of research on shallow mount subs, pricing and availability here in Canada, I have settled on going with two Pioneer shallow mount subs;

 

Option 1: 2x Pioneer TS-A3000LS4 (12" shallow mount, 400wRMS each) - suggested sealed enclosure 0.5-1.0cu.ft each

Option 2: 2x Pioneer TS-A2500LS4 (10" shallow mount, 300wRMS each) - suggested enclosure 0.3-0.7cu.ft each

 

Found them on sale online here in Canada for a pretty great price. 

 

these will be ran by a Clarion DPX11551 so not worried about supplying them with power.

 

My main concern is about the availability of space I have for the box. This being a stealth build, I will be building an under-floor box so all equipment is hidden and clean. The max space I have for my box is 39-1/4" wide x 4-1/4in tall x 17"deep. This gives me a total of 0.82 cu.ft of internal box volume if using 3/4 MDF. I could probably get a bit more volume by going down one layer into the spare tire cut-out (3/4 inch depth by 17" diameter, so I would gain about 0.1 foot cubed for a max of around 0.9 ft cubed. These numbers do not take into account the displacement of subs themselves. 

 

Wondering if it would be worth going with the two 12 inch subs, given the limited size of the box, or if I should absolutely just go with the 10's? I figure the 12's would be "safer" in a smaller box and slightly more power since more suspension, and/or add some polyfill to help a bit, but if the gains will be negligible, it may be more beneficial to go with the 10's and get the most out of them. Pricing is only $10 difference right now between 10" and 12" version of the subs. 

 

I appreciate all your input!

[Dafaseles]

57 minutes ago, BboyTaktix said:

Hey all,

 

Currently planning a stealth build in my golf R. After doing a ton of research on shallow mount subs, pricing and availability here in Canada, I have settled on going with two Pioneer shallow mount subs;

 

Option 1: 2x Pioneer TS-A3000LS4 (12" shallow mount, 400wRMS each) - suggested sealed enclosure 0.5-1.0cu.ft each

Option 2: 2x Pioneer TS-A2500LS4 (10" shallow mount, 300wRMS each) - suggested enclosure 0.3-0.7cu.ft each

 

Found them on sale online here in Canada for a pretty great price. 

 

these will be ran by a Clarion DPX11551 so not worried about supplying them with power.

 

My main concern is about the availability of space I have for the box. This being a stealth build, I will be building an under-floor box so all equipment is hidden and clean. The max space I have for my box is 39-1/4" wide x 4-1/4in tall x 17"deep. This gives me a total of 0.82 cu.ft of internal box volume if using 3/4 MDF. I could probably get a bit more volume by going down one layer into the spare tire cut-out (3/4 inch depth by 17" diameter, so I would gain about 0.1 foot cubed for a max of around 0.9 ft cubed. These numbers do not take into account the displacement of subs themselves. 

 

Wondering if it would be worth going with the two 12 inch subs, given the limited size of the box, or if I should absolutely just go with the 10's? I figure the 12's would be "safer" in a smaller box and slightly more power since more suspension, and/or add some polyfill to help a bit, but if the gains will be negligible, it may be more beneficial to go with the 10's and get the most out of them. Pricing is only $10 difference right now between 10" and 12" version of the subs. 

 

I appreciate all your input!

My opinion, go with the 10's.

If the enclosure was a little too small for the 12's, I'd say go for it, but after sub displacement, I feel like it'll be way too small. You can have the best subs and amps known to man, but if your enclosure isn't right, it'll sound like crap. 

Granted, I don't know everything about box design. That's just my opinion

[BboyTaktix]

2 minutes ago, Dafaseles said:

My opinion, go with the 10's.

If the enclosure was a little too small for the 12's, I'd say go for it, but after sub displacement, I feel like it'll be way too small. You can have the best subs and amps known to man, but if your enclosure isn't right, it'll sound like crap. 

Granted, I don't know everything about box design. That's just my opinion

cool - I was leaning towards the 10's but figured if I could make the 12's work, it's 200W RMS more power - but if the drawback of the smaller box means that 200wRMS of performance can't really be used due to over-constrained subs, I'm not really winning. I would love to say that I could upgrade later by increasing the box size, but I know that this version of the build will be the final version (besides upgrading to a more expensive sub of the same size with more RMS once budget provides) so 10 or 12 will be a deciding factor for this box build and future upgrades. 

 

BTW, I went with your suggestion, returned the 4-gauge CCA amp kit (which evidently is way too small for this new scope of build) and went with a 0-gauge OFC kit - 3x the price but will be worth it to not constrain the system and will give me piece of mind at the end of the day.

 

I doubt I am in "extra battery in the trunk" territory with this build? I do not know my alternator size. I doubt I will run full tilt too often. 

[Dafaseles]

3 hours ago, BboyTaktix said:

cool - I was leaning towards the 10's but figured if I could make the 12's work, it's 200W RMS more power - but if the drawback of the smaller box means that 200wRMS of performance can't really be used due to over-constrained subs, I'm not really winning. I would love to say that I could upgrade later by increasing the box size, but I know that this version of the build will be the final version (besides upgrading to a more expensive sub of the same size with more RMS once budget provides) so 10 or 12 will be a deciding factor for this box build and future upgrades. 

 

BTW, I went with your suggestion, returned the 4-gauge CCA amp kit (which evidently is way too small for this new scope of build) and went with a 0-gauge OFC kit - 3x the price but will be worth it to not constrain the system and will give me piece of mind at the end of the day.

 

I doubt I am in "extra battery in the trunk" territory with this build? I do not know my alternator size. I doubt I will run full tilt too often. 

The OFC kit is a big deal! Good on you for junking that CCA crap. 

You're getting close to second battery territory. Maybe not quite yet. What I would do is get a dash mounted volt meter. ( in my opinion, the SMD VM-1 is the best in the market, but Stinger makes a fairly inexpensive one.) But you'll be able to see what your voltage is while playing in real time. Just for piece of mind. 

[BboyTaktix]

1 minute ago, Dafaseles said:

The OFC kit is a big deal! Good on you for junking that CCA crap. 

You're getting close to second battery territory. Maybe not quite yet. What I would do is get a dash mounted volt meter. ( in my opinion, the SMD VM-1 is the best in the market, but Stinger makes a fairly inexpensive one.) But you'll be able to see what your voltage is while playing in real time. Just for piece of mind. 

 

so I did more research and apparently Volkswagen OEM alternator is 150 amps - pretty decent. Also found on the VW forums people running 1200w to 1500w RMS systems on factory battery and alternator with no issues - I figure I will be OK running around around 1000w RMS daily output (100w rms to each front speaker, 50-60wRMS to each rear filler speaker, and max 300wRMS to each subwoofer) 

[Dafaseles]

Just now, BboyTaktix said:

 

so I did more research and apparently Volkswagen OEM alternator is 150 amps - pretty decent. Also found on the VW forums people running 1200w to 1500w RMS systems on factory battery and alternator with no issues - I figure I will be OK running around around 1000w RMS daily output (100w rms to each front speaker, 50-60wRMS to each rear filler speaker, and max 300wRMS to each subwoofer) 

Hell yeah, you should be good 👍. 

[BboyTaktix]

oh and also, I ordered the subs - 2x pioneer 10-inch 300wRMS each low profile on sale on one Canadian audio site for $378 total delivered - really not bad!

 

Now, literally all I am missing are a set of rear filler speakers, 2 sets or quality RCA cables to go from the LC2i to the two amps, as well as a sheet of 3/4-inch MDF. 

 

Will begin my build thread soon!

[Dafaseles]

https://www.amazon.com/JBL-Premium-6-5-Inch-Co-Axial-Speaker/dp/B07S9L5S55/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=JBL+GTO629&qid=1629226034&sr=8-2

[BboyTaktix]

8 hours ago, Dafaseles said:

https://www.amazon.com/JBL-Premium-6-5-Inch-Co-Axial-Speaker/dp/B07S9L5S55/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=JBL+GTO629&qid=1629226034&sr=8-2

Those look great and right on budget! Should work perfectly for my needs! 
 

 

Positive side note: the place I ordered the two pioneer low profile subs from called me after ordering - they were out of stock and didn’t know when they would get more, so offered me a good deal on their pioneer Z series. Looked them up and decided it was a worthy upgrade for the difference in price - 400w RMS each and looks like better overall build materials. Same mounting depth and box requirements;

 

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/Speakers/Z-Series/TS-Z10LS4

 

[Dafaseles]

9 minutes ago, BboyTaktix said:

Those look great and right on budget! Should work perfectly for my needs! 
 

 

Positive side note: the place I ordered the two pioneer low profile subs from called me after ordering - they were out of stock and didn’t know when they would get more, so offered me a good deal on their pioneer Z series. Looked them up and decided it was a worthy upgrade for the difference in price - 400w RMS each and looks like better overall build materials. Same mounting depth and box requirements;

 

https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/Speakers/Z-Series/TS-Z10LS4

 

Sweet! Still going to do 2 10's?