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da_bull I need your help

3K views 18 replies 2 participants last post by  da_bull 
#1 ·
After reading thru the audio forum i think it's safe to say ur the most knowledgable person here. I'm kinda stuck right now with my sub choice. I ordered an Adire Audio Brahma about 6 months ago, it's been back ordered and now the dealer i bought it thru is offering a refund or the choice of another sub. The two subs i have to choose from are the Stereo Integrity SI MAG and the Cadence. I'm not a fan of the Cadence line, so i've narrowed it to the MAG or finding another dealer wit the Brahma. Have u had any experience with either of these subs, and if not what would you choose for a sub? I've got around 400 sitting in the Brahma, so i have all of that and i'd prolly swing another 200 if i had to to upgrade to a better sub. So in the 600 and under range what would u choose for a sub?
 
#2 ·
Thanks for the kind words, I try.

I havent dealt with either of these subs, I did carry Cadence at my shop years ago (like 10 or so). I went to SI/Adire's website, looking at their subs. The AA sub looks pretty good. and the SI looks REAL beefy, almost too beefy for any good sound to come out of it. They brag on SPL numbers which is ok, if thats what your looking for, and have the power to drive them properly. If not you may be disappointed because most (not all but the majority) SPL subs sound like caca. They are built to be loud and thats what they do. Loud almost never = good.

I am assuming the Alpine you have isnt hanging with the Class-D amp you have in your sig. Have you looked into maikng a different enclosure for that sub? Its pretty versatile. Of the two you listed, the AA looks like a better "sounding" sub, but I'm not sure that you will gain anything over your Alpine, they look quite similar.

When you get to the 400 dollar price point, you start getting into the realm of SPL vs. quality pretty quickly. There are some god SPL subs for that price, and there are some really good SQ subs for the same price. Again, they arent the same sub, many different characteristics happening there.

Hope that helps, its 5:00 in the morning so I may be delusional. :D
 
#3 ·
What i'm looking for is something that fills in my bass void. I started with 2 12" Alpine R Types-it wasn't enough so i upgraded to 1 12" Alpine X Type-still not enough. The sound deadening in my car is what's hurting the sound so much-that same X type in a buddies car was insane. I'm not gonna rip the sound deadening outa my car tho, i enjoy the quiet ride. So i need to find something that gets bass thru to the passenger compartment. I dont need loudness, just bass. I've got a nice front stage and rear stage so i need some bass to complete it. What's your sub of choice for the price range i'm talking
 
#5 ·
I also looked at the Resonant Engineering XXX but the new models are a lil spendier than i'd like. I don't know much about smaller brand subs, i've been mainstream for so long. Just recently i started to look beyond the Alpine, JL, and Kicker realm and started looking at smaller companies that make much better subs. Unfortanutely i only know of a few brands, Adire and RE mostly. So if you could educate me on the finer subs in this world i'd be very greatful. I recently sold the Alpine X Type because i thought my Brahma was coming-so i'm goin thru bass withdrawal. I need a sub asap but i wanna make sure i make a well educated purchase that i won't regret. Like i said, i've got a Hifonics Brutus 1500D amp, 1500 watts are 1 ohm. I'd like to run it not at max, so somewhere in the 800-1000 watts range. That Brahma matched up perfectly with my amp, so i'm wondering if i should just keep looking and find someone else who can get it to me. Either way, i need some help figuring out what to do. I'd prefer to stay away from the mainstream brands just because I want a unique stereo and i don't think the quality is as high. I've looked at the MTX Sledgehammer and the W7, but for the price I don't think either will perform up to the Brahma, XXX, or MAG. Keep in mind i'm looking for the bass, i have all the SQ i need from my front and rear stages. I want clean bass tho, not sloppy. Haha i'm kinda anal about my stereo-I just wanna do this right so i don't have to keep redoing my stereo like i have in the past.
 
#6 ·
Is there a ski hole between the rear seats like in my car. Mine had a metal knockout that was covered by a leather flap. If not, could you sacrifice the sound deadening between the trunk and cab area. Its doing its job, lol. Its keeping low frequencies (road/tire noise and your bass) from reaching the cab area.

The Sledgehammer is poopy. Focal makes a good line (thats what I got), but they are made for sound quality and Ive never really heard a class-D amp have as good of sound quality as an A-B amp. It sounds like the Brahma will fit the bill.
 
#7 ·
Yes i have the ski hole and i've punched the metal covering that was once there out to make it act as a port, but i notice absolutely no difference in sound. My box is mounted in the center of my trunk, so it's kinda right over that ski hole. The box doesn't fit flush against it tho, because the trunk wall is slanted. Know anything about Digital Design? Over on the Audio forum some guy recommended that, but it did't seem like an educated opinion. They look pretty wicked, but i know nothing about them. He sent me a link to an ebay auction. Check em out.
The only problem with the Brahma is i looked for a buyer for 6 months. I found one and he has been backordered by Adire for 6 months. So i don't know what the possibility of me finding another person dealing Brahma's is. Not to mention it's gonna take me along ass time to get them because everyone who is ordering them is gonna be waiting for them to catch up on their backordered inventory. There are so many subs out there, there has to be one that would work for me... I wish i could find somone that could get there hands on a XXX for me... The amp is gonna stay, it's a nice amp and i don't have the funds to buy a new amp also. Maybe some day i can replace it, but for now i only have funds for the sub. I didn't like the Sledgehammer either, but all the kids in school just jiz themselves over it cause they think it looks so cool. The stats aren't terrible on it, but they are easily matched/outdone by the much cheaper Brahma, XXX, and MAG. So what do you think i should do about the option to upgrade to the MAG? From what i've read it's not really an upgrade at all, just a more expensive sub that performs worse?
 
#8 ·
Sorry about not posting the ebay address, i'm trying to get on the car audio forum to get it but "the server is too busy" so i can't get it right now. Ill post it as soon as i can get to it. Do you know of any dealers in your area or anywhere on the internet that carries any of these subs we been talking about? My first choice, Brahma was second, was the XXX but they were just switching to the new model. So the old model was no longer available (400) and the new model would be out in a couple months (700).
 
#10 ·
Wow, i found the manufacturer's website. I'm not gonna lie those are some impressive stats. http://www.ddaudio.com/dd/caraudio/woofers.asp?series=9500f
Go to the gallery after u read about it, it looks pretty mean. 44lb magnet...
I would love to get my hands on one of those, i doubt they are very cheap or easy to get however. That ebay auction prolly is not a bad deal at buy it now for 600 for 2. Too bad i only need one... Take a look at it and let me know what u think, i'm going to bed for the night. Ill check back first thing tomorrow morning
 
#11 ·
My old shop got a few of these in to demo, granted its been a few years, its still the same driver. VERY inefficient woofer. It was so stiff. Which is good for SPL but if you dont have 1500-3000 watts it really doesnt play at all. The first one we got, you couldnt hardly push it down with your hands. They have like 4-5 spiders in that series. I do find it interesting in that line about the many different ohm loads available. I see they are still using the "no quick disconnect" wires hanging off the spider wires. They say that the quick disconnects that most companies use have a resistance of .25-1 ohm. This is sucks up some of your power from the amp.

lol the ebay guy calls them 9510's as the model number and in the description he says they are 12's...

I built sort of a bandpass using that ski hole. Nothing gets into my trunk, its all forced into the cabin area. I have 2 Focal 11" woofers with a Phoenix Gold XS2300 sub amp. I kick myself for not buying the Focal mids before leaving that shop. Its more than enough bass for me, but being in the business for so many years I really got tired of loud bass, and looked for something really clean.
 
#12 ·
Alright so no DD... So then what do i want? Haha we still haven't figured out what to do with what sub to get. I dont' know if i can find another Brahma... So i need a second choice if i can't find that. I'm gonna call up RE and ask about the price on the XXX, maybe it's gone down in 6 months. Either way i gotta figure out what i'm gonna do quick, because i need that sub
 
#13 ·
The guy i'm going thru swears the Mag D2 is better than the Brahma. It looks like the wattage is right where i want it too, 900 watts. It depends on the price difference. I think i might just go with the D2 and be done, if it's not that much more in price. When you are talking about this high of quality subs, i don't think it's possible to be dissapointed. I'm going from mainstream Alpine to some of the best brands ever created. All these subs post amazing specs and i honestly don't think i'll ever use them to there capabilities. If u wanna look at the D2 the website is www.stereointegrity.com
I've got a 2.0 cu ft box too, which is the recommended size for the D2
 
#14 ·
Kinda funny. This is a woofer I helped design at my old shop. We call them Rhino. Ours has a rubber bumper over the dual magnet, that we always took off so it could dissapate heat better. This picture was taken years ago and we changed it a few times but anyways...



very similar to theirs:



Plus a link to the simple website I designed and wrote most of: http://www.competitiveaudio.com
lol, I'd forgot, go to the about us page and I'm in that picture, lol
 
#15 ·
Somone on the car audio forum recommended the RL-p? Ever heard of it-he says it's similar to the Mag but cheaper. I'm curious on what kinda difference i'm gonna have to pay to upgrade to the MAG. I've got 365 sitting in the Brahma already, so i wouldn't imagine the difference would be much. The MAG from the dealer website is only 550 or so, so i would hope he would get some discount for being a dealer. I called the RE store today just to check prices on the XXX, i did it before it was being sold and they said it would be around 600 or so, today the lady said 1299 for a 12" dual 2 ohm XXX. Haha i about shit myself. I keep reading about that MAG and it seems like they are pretty simply built. Foam surrounds-nothing high tech really. But the reviews are amazing for it, so maybe simple is better. I just want my damn sub, and the guy has the MAG's in stock-so i know ill be receiving it quick. Any objections to the MAG? Otherwise i think im gonna go with it if it's not ungodly expensive, just because it's gonna be the easiest, fastest way to get my hands on a high end sub...
 
#16 ·
#18 ·
I like the sub, i'm just trying to stay away from mainstream, trying to make some unique that no one else will have. I'm still waiting for the guy to reply back on the difference between the Brahma and Mag-if it's not too much im gonna order it. I'll post again when i know what's going on for sure, and ill definitely get pics. Thanks for the help
 
#19 ·
No problem, I enjoy topics like this, it keeps me on my toes, by making me look at new products. Good luck with your new purchase, and yeah I'd like to see some pix before and after going into the enclosure. One thing, I would call the manufacturer (they usually have a 1-800-techline number) and ask them on specs for an enclosure, to make sure your getting all you can out of the sub. Tell them your car, and what amp you have, etc.
 
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