Need Some Advice?!?!?

[Cod1628]

My goal is to have one 12'' sub in a bandpass box that will thump! Now i don't want a sub and amp thats gonna take an extra battery or alternator or something to power it, i want it to run off the stock battery/alternator with out having the lights dim every time the sub hits lol. $Prices$ sub,amp,and box i want to spend about $400 altogether. I have an 08 cobalt and the trunk space is very limited. I don't think i can go any bigger than one 12'' anyways...i don't know jack squat about this stuff so can you guys help me...maybe give me a good set-up or something. I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to subs and amps....thx

[nanl2053]

Might want to try the car audio forum

[Cod1628]

Y?

[AndrewT]

do the research and take informed decisions.

[judtoff]

goto realm of excursion and ask there

First off if its a prefab bandpass box, its likely crap. Secondly you can get light dimming from small amps too if you drive them hard. Anyways by the sounds of it you need to do alot of researching before you buy anything.

[nunayafb]

Originally posted by nanl2053
Might want to try the car audio forum

Y?

Because people who know about the acoustical behaviors of cars based on actual experience read the car audio forums and not the home audio forums.

To answer your question, well I can't, I don't care for small woofers, small cars or bandpass boxes.
Don't be insulted by that, what I'm trying to convey to you is that if you want the above three parameters you need to find someone like you who is running a similar combo. I strongly recommend hitting the next applicable car show and just start networking, (or just find a car audio forum).
There are so many 12" woofers and bandpass box designs out there that unless you find a proven combo you are going to need a lot of knowledge to design/purchase your own set. As for the car, anything with similar internal dimensions (cab) will be comparable, since the most important aspect of cab gain is the length.

Good luck

- J

[Cal Weldon]

Moved to car audio.

[spooney]

Is there a particular reason you want a bandpass?They tend to be larger than either a ported or sealed box and unless done just right I don't really see a performance gain over ported or sealed .Most prefab bandpass boxes are junk IMO. I feel a bandpass really needs to be built for the exact sub your using and not a wide range of subs.You can get great output from a single 12 in the proper ported box without using a huge amplifier.I have a cavalier with a single memphis twelve in a smaller ported box and with only 300 watts its very impressive.In a smaller car like the Cobalt a single sealed box 12 might just give you the bass your looking for especially if your new to car audio.If you want to build your own box,ported or sealed boxes are going to be much easier to design and build than a bandpass as well.Also I think it would be much easier to find a decent prefab ported or sealed box than a bandpass.

[jol50]

I agree with Spooney. Bandpasses tend to have a limited range also, so they need a high side that can get down to them. Often the high sides have a hard enough time getting down to any sub. You can go ported and get a lot of output or go sealed that will be smaller and more precise. I like SSA, they are pretty nice over there and can give you a whole setup if you post what you want, budget, musical tastes, etc. They like X brands that might not matter, but will get you setup good.

[Cod1628]

Okay so i did a little research and found that the ported boxes are going to be some were around 40% louder, and alot better/easier...i just had a friend that had a bandpass and thought it sounded pretty good but i guess not lol