Need suggestions on a good 8" midbass driver

[cody6766]

I'm looking for a good 8" midbass driver for my car. They'll be in sealed kickpannels most likely so think small enclosure. They'll be paired with a couple of Morel MDT10 tweets

I like to feel my music as much as hear it. I really crave that good lung punch you get from a hard kick drum and the snap you can feel from a hard rimshot on a snare.

My Morel tweets are good down to 2khz so that leaves me a little flexability. I want something that can play from 50hz (or lower) up to my tweets and sound damn good doing it. I dont' want to spend an arm and a leg though. I'd say I'm looking in the $150 range for the pair with a little leway up top if it's REALLY worth it. I'd like to stay lower if possible though.

I had a pair of Focal 6k1's in my kicks a while back and they did okay, but I want more than that.

I have a JL 300/2 (150w x 2 and a Hifonics nx440 (70wx4, 140x2) to work with and enough active crossovers between the deck, the 2 amps and my 2xs do so most anything with a 2 or 3 way set up. I'd like to keep it a 2 way because my doors are *****es to work around. They won't hold a driver that's 3" or deeper and they won't hold anything bigger than a 7" and that's even a squeeze.

I'm a rock fan if you couldn't tell. I listen to everything from classic rock to punk and emo. I also like to toss in a little blues or classical to relax sometimes. I need a good, versatile driver.
anyone have any suggestions?

thanks a ton!

 

[Grahamt]

Finding an 8 that will go up to 2k can be hard. Consider drivers like the Adire Audio Extremis 6.8 or Resonant Engineering XXX6.5" http://reaudio.com/html/. They will displace as much air or more than most 8" drivers. They can also fit in the doors and save you from making kicks. I'm sure there are other good car audio drivers but this isn't my forte.

 

[cody6766]

well, kicks are a must for my car. I couldn't ever get any kind of imaging or sound stage w/o a crazy ammount of time alignment if I used the doors. Besides, I can knock out a pair in about 20hrs if they're painted...12 if not.

I forgot about those drivers, I'll have to check em out.

oh, they don't have to be car audio drivers either. I'm totally open to using home oriented drivers in the car. Hell, most everything in there is anyway!

 

[454Casull]

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&PartNumber=297-646&DID=7

 

[RJ]

An 8" Silver Flute at Madisound.com can fit into a box 0.1 cu. ft. (3 Litres) Qtc of 0.9 - 93.7 db sensitivity @ 4 ohms. Rated at 100 watts and it won't exceed Xmax til 130 watts. Around $30.00 each.
Nice response graph, almost flat from 50 to 5K.
That's factoring in cabin gain.
http://www.diysubwoofers.org/caraudio.htm

 

[cody6766]

Cool, I'll look at both of those.

Do you think they'd be better candidates than the Dayton Ref. 8"?
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=295-366

 

[Cheap Shot]

Have you seen the SEAS P21RF/P (H511) looks to have good off
axis response to 2000. Iv'e modeled it before and felt it didn't go
low enough, but will do good at 50 hz.

 

[Luke (Uof Iowa)]

I would highly suggest making a 3-way. I think that's the best way you'll achieve what you're looking for. 2k really is too high for a true midbass. A strong 6.5" in the doors will probably satisfy more than an 8" playing 2k down in kicks. And you said you have the power and crossover for a 3-way, right so why not?

 

[RJ]

The Dayton RS 8's need a bigger box. 0.3 cu. ft. (9 litres)
at Qtc of 0.9. They just make it to 2K. They'll need a steep crossover probably 3rd or 4th order.
A distortion testing site with these speakers are here;
http://206.13.113.199/ncdiyaudio/mark/8 inch woofer test group/8 inch woofer test.htm

 

[RJ]

Oh, Yeah!!!
Aluminum cones will give you more slam (physically)!!!

 

[cody6766]

Okay, so a 3way...

I'm currently sitting on

tweets - Morel mdt10
mids - 4.5" vifa/infinit mids
midbass - Vifa PL7" in rt door, with JBL 10 in the floor, Focal 6k1 in lt door (extra efficiency pulls the stage back to center)

tweets play down to 3k
mids play from 200hz to their natural roll off
......done via Focal 6k1 passive xover, powered by JL 300/2 (150x2)

Midbasses in doors see 120-200hz and 70w each
SUb in the front floor plays up to 120hz and sees 70w.

A JL Audio 10w7 resides in the trunk seeing ~750w and it plays up to 50hz

I know the mixed midbasses throws up red flags, but that's what gave the best sound staging results. The sub in the rt floor pulled the stage right and the more efficient Focal midbass compensated for it



here are some pics to give you an idea of what everything looks like
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/cody6766/FrontSub.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/cody6766/SubInsalled1.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/280000-280999/280865_379.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/280000-280999/280865_270_full.jpg


I can go with a 3 way very easily as long as the midbass is less than 3" deep. My doors are shaped where I can't cut spacers to get some extra clearance. I MAY be able to squeeze an 8" driver in the doors, I know a 7" will fit as long as the depth works out.

If I do go 3 way I'd like to stick with 4.5" mids so I don't have to rebuld my kicks. These image very well, so I'd hate to have to toss them. I do want something a little more lively than these mids though.

here's the link to them on PE's website
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=299-492

 

[454Casull]

Oh, Yeah!!!
Aluminum cones will give you more slam (physically)!!!

I'd like to see you prove that.

Also, that page says non-linear distortion above 1kHz is relatively high. The Peerless drives aren't that much more expensive.

 

[KBK]

Perless CSC217 (the one without the shorting ring) is one I know works well as a 8" midbass, in decently small sealed boxes, with a qt of 1.0 to 0.7 (15-20 liters, or so)

 

[Puggie]

If you fancy 3 way how about the Vifa 3" dome mid, very thin, nice sound, go easily in the kicks and does 500-5kHz. Then a suitable midbass for the doors, the Morel WR8s are nice if not cheap (you could get away with a 2 way setup using them).

 

[bombardon73]

One of the best 8" midbasses, the sph-200ke from Monacor. Kevlar membran and usable up to 2 khz with a 6db xo (2,2mh is a good starting point)

 

[cody6766]

can you guys toss up some links and prices for some of these drivers? I havent heard of a few of them
thanks a lot!