its pretty simple, if you get a good enough quality sub, there is not need for a second.
Some people don’t want to spend $1000 dollars on a single woofer that needs 2kw to do it’s job, a couple of 12’s does a better job for less money and power. This is really an opinion preference matter, so I don’t even want you to change your mind or preference, it’s kind of rediculous to try to convince this to others though. If that’s what you think and prefer, great.
yea, there are so many people running free air out there because it sounds so good, yes it is possible for free air to sound good, but its a lot harder, and usually doesn't sound anywhere nearly as good, the enclosure make the biggest difference to how a speaker will sound, just hoping that your trunk size is just right is a crap shoot. (also of all the years that i have gone to car shows, i have never seen anyone with a IB setup ever win a SQ comp, nor have i ever seen anyone with a 15" win a SQ comp)
Yeah, you’re right, people are running IB because it sounds better. IB done properly sounds lots better than a boxed speaker, go a step further to aperiodic membrane, transmission line, or combination enclosures and you have the best. IB isn’t worse quality at all, it’s better, and in most cases eliminates certain problems caused by traditional enclosures. It’s a small amount more difficult to build an IB baffle and seal your trunk, but not by much. You want to play lower than 30hz and can’t get a 15 to blend near 80 too well. Here's where your ideology needs to do homework. IB is far easier to blend at higher frequencies (smoother FR), and one of the best ways to get lots of low bass under 30hz without huge boxes. IB systems are usually capable of playing 6-10dbs louder at 20hz than other types of systems (that would be much louder to twice as loud). Many people LOVE an IB 15’’ setup and rave about it over on DIYMA, the most common AE15 in IB is pretty damn good. If there’s no one winning competitions with 15's, or even both 15 AND free-air…. What about Scott Buwalda (3 15s), Dave brooks (one 8, but worth mention), or Larry Woolacott (2 15’s)? I can name more, but all three of them won in at least national levels, Scott won the world championship, all were IB, 2 had 15s… Scott, you can talk to him on DIYMA if you’d like to know more.
they can, they just suck at it, take any 15" sub out there and play some music with the bass centered around lets say 70hz, i bet the the 10" version of the sub handles it much better and sounds a lot cleaner and tighter.
What’s better? Mediocre midbass blending above frequencies proper midbasses should easily handle, or poor response 40hz and down? I’ll say I’d rather have a sub that does its job (subbass) and still can play 80hz if properly tuned. A reasonable 12 will play into the mid-20s and can be blended up to 125hz if need be…
a lot of southern rap has super deep notes.
Why do I even bother…
again, yes a good 12" can, but the 15" version of the same sub will do it better and cleaner, if one size speaker could play every freq perfectly, there would be only one size speaker ever made, but that not the case, the reason you bought three way components, is because differences sized drivers have different effective ranges.
We’re making the same point here. I bought 3-ways because they are a great speaker set for a super low price, I’d be fine with 2 way or even some of those kickass pointsource full-range sets. You said you shouldn’t need more than one sub. Right? You said if it were good enough you should only need one. You also said a good 12 can play well below 30hz. Did we make a connection?
not at all, what im saying is that you can get pretty damn loud with one single 2kw sub, and if that is not loud enough for you, then your going to need a lot more room than the small trunk space the LS has to offer, for instance one 12" solo X can have a box that needs between 5' and 6' cubed, and with enough work, you could get that into the trunk easy, however if you want a louder system then that, your going to need much more room (and a 12' cubed box for two is not going to fit)
I don’t think the argument here is that you can’t get enough out of a single sub, besides that solo x subs are crap for SQ….. The point is, people want a certain amount of output for a certain price, if I can buy one sub that needs 2kw and can play 140dB, or two that cost about the same price as the one, but can play at least 3-5 dB louder on that same 2kw because they move more air, which am I normally going to do? You might come back at me and say that it’s not as common to run a single sub, but can be just as good. Maybe you shouldn’t tell me that IB is bad because it isn’t common?
Compromise is always the name of the game, you can build a 10 second car for the strip, but it aint going to be too practical to use it as a daily driver. if you want all the amenities of a luxury car, then it is going to weight a lot more than a sports car. audio is no different, lets say you have a extended cab pick up truck, you can either get shallow small subs to fit under the rear seats and not lose any seating area, or you can remove the rear seats and throw in a couple of 13.3" W7's, but you cant have both. if there was one sub out there that was better than every other sub ever built (including price) then no body would ever buy anything else, just that one sub. but in fact there is no perfect choice, every device ever made has its strong points and weak points.
Just because in every scenario you can compromise, and achieve MOST of what you want to do, that doesn’t mean you have to. There are also plenty of scenarios where no compromises were made and you still don’t give up much of anything. There are 10 second diesel trucks that get great gas mileage, weigh 3 tons, have 4x4, haul families and trailers, and have huge systems. What were you saying?
We both have good knowledge of car audio and seperate opinions, I don't want to seem like an as*hole on here by going back and forth. I'm happy to talk audio though. Please realize I'm not mad, sarcastic, or malicious in my replies when talking about all this and commenting. It's fine for you to like what you prefer, same here. There are points in this very back-and-forth were we nearly come to the same conclusion. Let's not make enemies over something that is a common interest.