I have to buy a new sub. I have done a search and narrowed it down to two but I can't decide. I want to know what you all think.
The first specs are for a D310D4.2 - Diamond Audio 400W 10" DVC 4 Ohms Subwoofer and the second set of specs are for an Alpine SWR-1042D 10" DVC 4 Ohms Sub. Which one should I go with? I am running a low key system with a Pioneer 4 channel 30w RMS per channel, and a JL Audio E1200 2 channel amp for my sub which runs 115w RMS @ 4Ohms and 200w RMS at 2 Ohms. I plan on running the sub at 2 Ohms. Thanks for your responses
•Textured Copolymer Cone with Aluminum Dust Cap
•Nitrile Butadine Rubber (NBR) Surround
•Heavy Gauge Stamped Steel Basket
•Integrated Tinsel Leads
•Venturi Vented Basket
•Vented Pole Piece
•Double Stacked Ferrite Magnet
•Optimized Spider with Balanced Linear Suspension
•2.5 Voice Coils
•Power Handling NOM/MAX: 400/800 Watts
•Sensitivity (2.83V/1m): 84.9 dB SPL
•Freq. Response: 28-250 Hz
•Mounting Depth: 5.6 in.
•Diameter: 9.2 in.
» 10" subwoofer with dual 4-ohm voice coils
» Kevlar reinforced pulp cone with Santoprene™ rubber surround
» cast aluminum frame with perimeter venting
» frequency response: 26-600 Hz
» power handling: 200-500 watts RMS (250 watts per coil)
» peak power: 1,500 watts
» sensitivity: 83 dB
» top-mount depth: 6-7/8"
» sealed box volume: 0.5-0.8
» ported box volume: 0.6-1.3
not bashing alpine at all because I love and use slot of their stuff but I personally would go with the diamond audio. I've never used it but have heard it before and was mighty impressed. Only thing I noticed about both of the subs is that they both use some form of a ”rubber” surround. Although rubber surrounds have. Ome along way over the years, I've noticed that any sub I've owned with rubber surrounds still stiffen up in intermediate cold weather. Again this is just from my personal experience. I also look mainly at as couple things when comparing subs. 1. Voice coil size 2.sensitivity 3. Street rep. Hope this helps
144db@38hz! It hurts so good !
What surround material do you suggest? Because I live in Ohio and it can get really effin cold around here. I also forgot to mention that the Alpine sub costs around $120 and the Diamond Audio costs $85 (both prices are from ebay).
10" Dual 4 ohm Premier® Champion Series PRO Subwoofer
Power Handling:
Peak: 2500 watts
RMS: 800 watts
Impedance: Dual 4 ohms
Air Suspension System for consistently clear, powerful, wide ranging bass response.
110oz Double-Stack Magnet with Double-Stack Top Plate
Wide-Roll 3-Layer Fiber Radial Surround consists of two layers of urethane with a layer of interwoven fiber between them. It's strong, stable, and it reduces distortion. In addition, the wider-than-normal design provides a long, linear excursion for excellent control and heavy-duty durability.
IMPP Cone with Carbon Fiber/Glass Fiber Reinforcement: Pioneer invented the process of injection-molding polypropylene to form a speaker cone. Now, the IMPP is reinforced with carbon and glass fiber, providing speaker cones with extraordinary strength and rigidity — and light weight. This is ideal for powerful, accurate music. And it gives the cones the durability needed for withstanding heat, humidity, and dust.
Cast Aluminum Basket: one-piece aluminum basket assembly holds the motor assembly, cone, and magnet structure securely in place. The benefits of this design: reduced internal stress, superior damping, and increased magnetic efficiency.
Integrated Single-Sided Silver Compression Wire Terminals
Frequency Response: 18-1000 Hz
Sensitivity: 87 dB
What about this one? I've been kinda partial to Pioneer actually. It's only $109 on ebay right now.
You have 200 watts at 2 ohms available. A sub that is built to take 800 watts rms is not going to have anywhere near the efficient output you want. In your situation, I would honestly look into a JL 12W0 (or W1 or whatever they currently have). It is a good sounding sub for lower power situations. You would be very surprised for their cost, their place on JL's totem pole, and their power handling, just what they can do.
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
In my family we teach that boys have a God-stick and girls have a Shame Cave. -John Stewart
Running a 4 ohm sub at 2 ohms is a bad idea, right? Well that's the impression that I got anyways. The subs that I have listed have the capability to run at 2 ohms if I choose to do it that way. I think I fried my current 4 ohm sub by running it at 2 ohms. Either that or it could have just been a cheap sub. It's a kenwood KFC something or other that I got on ebay for $45.
Ok well I missed that part about the amp. I personally suggest the foam surrounds, if the sub has decent build quality, tou won't really have to worry about premature dry rotting and the such. But I agree with jl. If you only have 200 watts to go with, make sure you stay in that range of subs.
144db@38hz! It hurts so good !
from my understandiung, and i know someone wil correct me if im wrong, but the resistence the sub is run at has nothing to do with frying it... itll fry ur amp if its not stable at the resistance... but it has nothing to do with frying the sub directly
Basically this is how it works. (and I'm typing a short reply at 4am)
resistance is resistance. It is decided at the load(in this case the sub is the load). The amp can put out different amounts of power based on the load presented to it. The load is a constant though. If you have a dual 4 ohm coil sub, it can be wired to a 2 ohm load(parallel), or an 8 ohm load(series). That's that. Period. Without doing fancy cap and resistor work, those are your options. If you fried your sub, you were probably pushing it too hard with too much power or asking more out of your amp and sending a clipped signal to it. The AMP is where the issues would be with too low of an ohm load. If an amp is only stable down to say 2 ohms and you run it at anything lower than that, you are asking it to work beyond it's capacity and will fry the amp, not the sub.
SO, with that said, if you get this sub:
http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_subs.php?series_id=33 (which for the price.performance, I recommend), you would be running a 4 ohm load because it only has 1 coil and is rated at 4 ohms. And with this sub, you would be drawing about 120 watts RMS from the amp. A bit low for that sub, but it will perform quite well off that power definitely. If you can find a mint condition W0(the original W0), I bet you would love the damn thing. I have a 12W0-4 back at home, but that's 1800 miles away. I would sell it to you if I had it here lol.
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
In my family we teach that boys have a God-stick and girls have a Shame Cave. -John Stewart
Thanks for all your suggestions,guys. It's helping out a great deal. I think there is something wrong with my curent Kenwood sub though. Because it would turn off randomly but the amp's green light is on showing that it is running fine. Oh and out of frustration i pounded on my sub box and the sub would come back on, lol.
Simply a loose connection somewhere inside it seems.
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
In my family we teach that boys have a God-stick and girls have a Shame Cave. -John Stewart
agreed. Take the sub outta the box and either look for a lose connection or simply completely rewire it. What I usually do to check is I pull on the wire SLIGHTLY, just enough to create a bit of tension. If the wire moves or pulls out, it wasn't connected good. If it stays then its all good
144db@38hz! It hurts so good !
I did that already. All the connections were tight. I still ended up cutting the connectors off the wire coming off the speaker to the terminal leading out of the box. I soldered them to make damn sure they wouldn't come loose. I checked the wires leading in to the amp yesterday and they were ok as well.
And still having the problem? Check the tinsel leads that come off the + and - terminals and connect directly to the spider. If you don't know what I mean just simply look at the wire hookups on the sub and you should see two wires directly behind them.
144db@38hz! It hurts so good !
I understand what you're talking about with the tinsel wires and I'll check it out. But I did some research on the JL W0 Series subs and a lot of the reviews say that they are great for rap music, but I listen to mostly rock. I also decided to see if Diamond Audio had something similar and I came up with this:
ONE DIAMOND AUDIO D110D4.2 10" 400 WATT 4 Ohm Dual Voic Coil Subwoofer
Power Handling Max: 400 Watts
RMS Power Handling: 200 Watts
Sensitivity: 85.9 dB SPL
Freq. Response: 32-250 Hz
Mounting Depth: 4.6 in
4 Ohm Dual Voic Coil Subwoofer
Dual 2" Voice Coils
Titanium finish IMPP cone
Rubber surround
Heavy gauge stamped steel basket
Long Throw suspension
Vented extended pole piece
Ferrite Magnet
I have heard from someone that Diamond's subs are pretty good for rock music. Would this be a good choice or should I invest in a JL? I know the JL has 300w rms compared to the Diamond's 200w. I have heard good things about both brands, and I have a friend that had some JL's and he hated them. It may just come down to preference but I'm interested in your feedback.
Well I actually had 2 10" W0's given to me but I can't really comment on the. Because they were the VERY first subs I owned and didn't really know anything except for jl is a gopd brand. I would say its down to your personal preference. Any run-ins I've had with either brand over the years, the only bad thing I have to say is I feel jl audio is slighy overpriced, but you def get a good product. diamond audio seems to be a bit rarer than jl. Don't know if that means anything to you.
144db@38hz! It hurts so good !
Your friend who hated them might have had the wrong expectations and did no research on the subs, also could have had a TON to do with install and tuning as well as the box they were in.
Anyway, that Diamond reads to be a decent candidate for you. If you listen to a lot of rock and want to keep the sub slightly more responsive and a little less "boomy" simply have a sealed box built to size for the W0. I personally think for an "entry level" sub with a lower power handling, they really shine. But I can't push it down your throat as the ONLY option. Just in my opinion, with your criteria, I feel it's the best option.
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
In my family we teach that boys have a God-stick and girls have a Shame Cave. -John Stewart
You aren't forcing anything on me. I know JL is a good brand. That's actually why I started this post is to see if anyone else had some suggestions I could look into. On ebay the cheapest I can find both of these subs are JL: $79/shipped and Diamond: $64/shipped. Like you said Brent the JL is little bit more pricey, but what you said JLAudioCav is I'll get what I pay for with the W0. I feel that I cheaped out on my first sub (the Kenwood) and ran into problems. I'm looking not to repeat my misfortune. The thing that sticks out to me about the W0 is that based on the info from the JL website it's optimum power range is 125w rms which is what my JL amp kicks out at 4 Ohm. The thing that sticks out to me about the Diamond Audio sub is that they are known for clarity and that I can wire it up for 200w rms at 2 ohms. Both have the same size voice coil. Damn I hate making decisions!!! lol
Haha I highly doubt you will be disappointed with either choice.
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
In my family we teach that boys have a God-stick and girls have a Shame Cave. -John Stewart
Agreed. You've narrowed it down to 2 excellent choices so I really don't think you can go wrong
144db@38hz! It hurts so good !
Well thanks for all the help. I really appreciate it.
Anytime
144db@38hz! It hurts so good !
NP. I really enjoy spreading knowledge and really appreciate level headed people asking questions to get answers. Rather than the tons of noobs who try to act like they know everything. It's a very good thing to know that you don't know something and have the ability to ask questions.
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
In my family we teach that boys have a God-stick and girls have a Shame Cave. -John Stewart
Hey jl just a random question but have you ever actually heard in person, a focal eutppia be component set? Only reason I'm askin is because it costs 5g and I couldn't imagine what it sounds like.
144db@38hz! It hurts so good !
No I haven't. Unfortunately the only component set that costs up in the $5K range that I have a lot of listening time on is a DynAudio set from a couple years back.
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
In my family we teach that boys have a God-stick and girls have a Shame Cave. -John Stewart
