[themeek]

Hey all,

I have a sealed sub enclosure I'd like to roll into my home theater as a front sub for a 5.2 system, rear .1 sub's already in place. I had an old Jensen 12 inch in this box, which came out of my old car, and am looking for an upgrade.

I've not yet bought the associated amp, wanted to purchase the speaker first then match the ohm and wattage needs up, I've looked at Dayton and Polk options so far, would appreciate speaker recommendations from folks who've recently put together a sub such as this as I built my rear sub 10+ years ago and am now behind the times.

Thx,

J.

[AJinFLA]

Welcome.
Two things that might help:
1) Size of the enclosure.
2) Your budget.

cheers,

AJ

[themeek]

The enclosure was sized based on the specs. of it's previous woofer - sealed box, 1.4cu ft.

I've seen decent 12" subs for as little as $50 online but am not averse to going $100, $150 if the increase in performance and sound quality justifies the price differential.

Thx for the reply,

J.

[themeek]

Think I mentioned above that I built this enclosure more than a decade ago, apparently my math skills were less evolved when I was a kid, I've just remeasured the interior box volume and it's actually 2.11132884 cu ft., which changes things a bit.

The sub cut out wall of the box is 17" x 17" so there's sufficient corner space for a port if I'm better off converting from a sealed to a bass reflex design. I could also just barely fit a 15" woofer in the enclosure by expanding the cutout if that makes more sense given the increased box volume.

Let me know what you guru's think.

Thx,

J.

[Vapor Audio]

If you do in fact have 2.1 cu/ft, you probably can find a solid 12" sub that will work ported and in budget.  I'd have to do some looking, but most 12" subs want more like 3-4 cu/ft for an optimal vented box, so your choices will be a bit limited if you're wanted vented.  And you won't find a 15" sub that will work in 2 cu/ft vented, sealed even will be a bit small for most 15's. 

I seem to remember in talking with Danny at GR that his 12" servo subs need about 1 cu/ft each sealed.  The reason why they work in small volume is his plate amp adds a lot of EQ to bring things back to flat.  But you might be able to put a pair of his 12's in that box ... budget might be an issue at that point however.  Worth checking out though. 

The new Dayton Ultimax subs have an F3 around 35hz in 2 cu/ft sealed.  Add a plate amp with boost at 20-22hz and you could have a great result. 

[AJinFLA]

I've seen decent 12" subs for as little as $50 online but am not averse to going $100, $150 if the increase in performance and sound quality justifies the price differential.

Think I mentioned above that I built this enclosure more than a decade ago, apparently my math skills were less evolved when I was a kid, I've just remeasured the interior box volume and it's actually 2.11132884 cu ft., which changes things a bit.

The sub cut out wall of the box is 17" x 17" so there's sufficient corner space for a port if I'm better off converting from a sealed to a bass reflex design. I could also just barely fit a 15" woofer in the enclosure by expanding the cutout if that makes more sense given the increased box volume.

Let me know what you guru's think.

Thx,

J.

For the lower end of your range, the max "bang for buck" 12" driver with excellent performance I know of, are these http://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Reference-1260w-1200-watt-High-Performance/dp/B0028AVGEO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360197105&sr=8-1&keywords=infinity+ref1260w.
Will work either sealed or ported https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:M47gUQU6nOsJ:us.infinitysystems.com/tl_files/catalog//Infinity/Infinity-Car/Specsheets/Reference/Reference/1260w/REF1260W_PI_EN.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESib88JaHoSUbSoqp9G3SNwjCRztHXXhxf7vhwEyrPaw83PYGiWM8SS3QQ16rBp_5ITPQlfOEmsS87cs8GJBK1ZSGQPh8o33p8wOFuPdIHMvyVfYukZDrYmN6NlS4YnjWoJN6ifL&sig=AHIEtbSU9YM2byRKVNhQw3JmUEwooeskxA in your box, though I prefer sealed with eq for SQ. Which for $125 this will do http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=300-803.
For the upper end of your range, the Ultimax Ryan mentioned earlier would work nicely (sealed).

cheers,

AJ