[Spliffasaurus]

I'm planning out my system and wanted to know what you guys think would sound better (assuming the subs are good quality) 1 12" sub or 2 10"s? I am not looking to win any decibel contests, just want a system that is clear and powerful. And I really don't care too much what it sounds like outside, just for me and the passenger. Thanks for your input.

 

[Brian]

2 10's even if I had to choose between one 10 or one 12 I personally would go with one 10

 

[Scott_GTO]

I have one eclipse 15" Alum sub with 750w going to it.

Way to loud...i can't turn it up.

I wish i would have gotten two 10" subs

 

[92StealthTT]

10" will be tighter, punchier bass, 12" will be slightly sloppier, with more bottom end, probably take less space too.

 

[SUTHNR]

You also have to take into consideration what kind of box you want. A sealed box will be tighter and more accurate but not achieve the volume of a ported or bandpass box. But it will also typically be the smallest box. Work very well if you listen to a lot of rock music with fast drum beats. Ported boxes tend to yield more volume when delivered the same power than a sealed box. They are very versatile for many types of music. Bandpass boxes are typically the least accurate and sometimes "muddy" if overpowered or overvolumed. Bandpass boxes are also typically about twice the size of others as they require 2 chambers per speaker (or per pair of speakers).

Another factor is to match the speaker with the type of box. Some speakers are designed for sealed boxes or ported boxes, etc.

As for a recommendation, if you're just looking to fill out the bottom end with some good solid bass, I think you'll be more than happy with a single 10" sub with maybe 200-250 watts on it. This will easily fit in the back end of your car and leave plenty of space for other stuff in there.

I went with 2 10's in a ported box with 640 watts on them, but I competed with the system for a couple years and wanted some really good strong bass. It's a whole lotta shakin and that's with the amp turned up only about 1/3 of the way.

Good luck in adding your sub(s)!!

EricB

 

[Mr. Z]

I personally like the MTX thunder series. I have 2 12 inch thunder 3000 (300watt) speakers with a rockford punch 360a bridged. I also crossed it over with a mtx crossover. The advantage i have over 10' s is I can db drag race. someone mentioned it is sloppier, actually if it is tuned wrong any speaker will sound sloppy. My 12's sound crisp, all I need to do now is use a sound deadner for when I demo my car. The secret to heavy bass is having a good high end. I have cadence 6 1/2" in the doors that deliever the knock out blow.

 

[sqhopeful]

http://www.3si.org/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=50464

that same question was addressed in this thread....my opinion 1 12", i explain my reasoning in the afore mentioned thread

KC

 

[mobilebeatz]

"10" will be tighter, punchier bass, 12" will be slightly sloppier, with more bottom end"

I'm not sure why this is so commonly assumed...perhaps because people are wed to specs...

10s can be effective for low end purposes, and 12s aren't necessarily sloppier by any stretch...

It's all in application! I'd say use a single 12, slightly more output than a single 10, and certainly requires less space than a pair of 10s, at least in traditional applications.

 

[Bios24]

What about just an 8"? How about a Kicker Solobaric? The new square woofers; 1 or 2 in a perfect box would be more than enough to fill the entire car. And they are made to fit a small box, so it would save you trunk space. My $.02~

 

[frogman330]

I've personally tried two 10" Rockford Audiophile Woofers in a sealed box and I'm now using a ported 12" Rockford Power Series. The reason I switched was not because of a lack of SPL from the 10" but more their inability to go as low as I wanted them to.

The 10" were very punchy, but on really deep bass where you tend to feel as much as here the bass, they tended to fade out. With a properly designed box of whatever design (I still favour the ported box 'cos it's easier to tune), a single 12" does the job.

Just my 2c.

Dafrogman

 

[hostile]

I like the way a 12 sounds that is typically the standard for bass with a 10 being more punch less loud on the low end...and a 15 being all around louder but not has punchy in the high end. Most anyone will like the sound of a 12 when riding in your car. And often people will be fooled into thinking you have a pair of subs in the back because the shape and size of our car makes subs very loud.

 

[omnip_1]

A 15 can be just as "punchy" and as transient as a 10 if done right. If you question this, go listen to the JMLAB Grand Utopia them come talk to me.

Nevertheless, I had (2) Eclipse 88120 DVC 12s in my system (before it was converted mostly race) and they were fine. Not exactly audiophile, but still better then most other sub installs I've heard. Without very precise equalization (and I mean subtraction for the most part) you will never get a very clean bass response in a car (+/- 3db 30-220hz)