Anybody have experience with 8" subs?

[lukeman269]

I kinda want to try a build with four 8" woofers. I have plenty of space to work with so box size shouldn't be an issue. I can do up to 8 cubic ft if necessary. The subs are going in a 99, 4 door chevy blazer so I wanted to tune the woofers pretty low so they will dig deep enough, just not sure how low yet. Was thinking 28-30 hz or so. Now I just need to figure out what woofers to use. Any recommendations are welcome.

Thanks,
Luke

[Kirghiz]

They'd have to be some pretty special 8's to dig down that low. The Sundown SA-8's would be about the only ones I'd try, but Sundown doesn't sound that great in general. The only other 8's I'd think about would be Alpine Type R's. Very few companies make 8's anymore, much less good 8's.

With 8 cubes you actually have enough space for 3 or 4 10's, and then you could look at a bunch of different brands that make 10's but not 8's.

[Drock]

MA, DC, Digital Designs, and JL audio all make impressive 8" subwoofers.


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[dvnt88]

I ran 2 8w7's off a JL 500/1v2 and they sounded pretty damn good ...loud and clean as thery're rated @ 250wrms and at a 1.5ohm load wired for the pair (single 3ohm VC per sub).

[ttocs]

The last stereo I did in the mustang was 4 - quart 8's. It surprised people too know that they were 8's as they had a lot of impact with 4 of them but they didn't go as low as I liked. Throw some techno bass at them and you would think they were 6x9's. Would have been fun to cross them over a little higher to use as a woofer and then throw a real sub for the low end but in the end they generally left me wanting more...

[lukeman269]

So it definitely sounds like I'd have to spend quite a bit a cash to get the sound I want. It's understandable though, because any "good" 8 will have to be pretty beefy I'm assuming so it will hit low enough. Well I might start looking around at 3 10" woofers then. Will be easier to find and won't have to cough up as much cash probably.

[Bfowler]

to sum up my feelings and experience...they are a compromise.

you can get some that perform well...if you build a 1.5 ported box...(so if you have 1.5, why are you only using an 8? )
or give them a TON of power. or Buy a seriously expensive driver. or all of those things.

[Eric D]

I put three 8W7s in a Jetta for a friend. I really liked them, and would be all for owning some myself, if I had a vehicle worth putting them in.

[lukeman269]

Man nice install!!! Looks really cool. I do feel the same way though, my blazer is a 99 and it wouldn't be worth putting in high end woofers like that. I'm thinking about 300-400 bucks for a set of subs.

[Bipjip]

Back in the day i had 2 8" OZ Audio superman subs in a 91' Escort GT. and they sounded great with Rock music but they couldent handle the low tones of Hip Hop. just my .02.

[zeropoint0.5]

I put three 8W7s in a Jetta for a friend. I really liked them, and would be all for owning some myself, if I had a vehicle worth putting them in.

well, seeing this pic makes my saturday

nice nice nice nice nice

[itchnertamatoa]

I'm currently running Phantom Soundz proto neo8" sub .. it's an impressive sub, still need to build a proper sub box for it (Phantom Soundz owner recommended a box size 0.6 tuned at 32Hz .. anyone got some box building sofware I could use?

[ajaye]

I'm currently running Phantom Soundz proto neo8" sub .. it's an impressive sub, still need to build a proper sub box for it (Phantom Soundz owner recommended a box size 0.6 tuned at 32Hz .. anyone got some box building sofware I could use?

I haven't found any freeware for OSX yet, so I have used the online one here for quick modeling lately.
http://www.linearteam.dk/default.aspx?pageid=isdonline

They also offer WinISD modeling software for Windows machines, no personal experience with it.

Then I used the sealed box calculator a little ways down on this page to figure out my dims of the box and the pieces I needed to cut. There is one for ported above the sealed but I haven't used it. Everything else I've ever looked at on this website has been helpful and accurate so I'd assume the same for the ported calculator.

http://www.bcae1.com/spboxnew2.htm

[lukeman269]

I'm currently running Phantom Soundz proto neo8" sub .. it's an impressive sub, still need to build a proper sub box for it (Phantom Soundz owner recommended a box size 0.6 tuned at 32Hz .. anyone got some box building sofware I could use?

That sub looks beefy! Cool design.

[Francious70]

I'm currently running Phantom Soundz proto neo8" sub .. it's an impressive sub, still need to build a proper sub box for it (Phantom Soundz owner recommended a box size 0.6 tuned at 32Hz .. anyone got some box building sofware I could use?

They also offer WinISD modeling software for Windows machines, no personal experience with it.

I've used WinISD to design boxes for myself and a few friends in the past. Great program, and fairly simple to use as well if you've ok with geometry.

[audiophyle_247]

I love 8" subs!

TC Sounds 8" Epic is an insane sub, love mine. Getting hard to find though.
Alpine's type R 8" is also very clean & can hang low with the right box, I've been impressed by them.
Sundown SA-V2 is a very robust sub, and is on my list to play with some day.
JL 8w7 is a good sub, but it doesn't hit quite as hard as it's price tag.

Enclosures for 8's can be a lot of work to make. The box will end up under 2cuft of airspace for multiple drivers, with 4cuft of port snaking around inside.
A challenge to build but worth the effort when they shock & surprise people. WinISD is a great platform to tune an enclosure, and its free.

When it comes to small high excursion subs you want the ports to be as large as you can make them, which makes them very long when you want low tuning with a tiny air chamber. 28-30hz port freq works great with any 8" sub, you just need a lot of cone travel to get decent output levels.

[gfunk_nz]

I have used a few different 8's, and like previous comments they lacked the real bottom end output. Then I put in four SA8 v2's tuned very very low. They have the serious bottom end I've found in some of the other decent 12's I've used and tested.

I've got them them on a sundown 2500, the box is on the small end of the scale and the port is no where near big enough but I worked on it being tuned to about 30Hz. The output from 25Hz is mental! I haven't had a single person yet that hasn't been blown away by them. Most of the time I keep them turned down though and they blend really nicely with the fronts picking up all the fast beats without being muddy.

[Eric D]

I think the key to using 8's is quantity. I intend to use 12 or more 8's for my home theater. I like the accuracy of 8's, but do agree they do not have enough output in small numbers.

[ttocs]

defintly has to do with numbers as well as enclosure. I had a single 8" JL in my old truck but couldn't get it too sound as good as the bazooka 6.5s that were in it before the 8. with the 4 again it would surprise people to know they were 8's as on a good kick-drum/rock song they balanced nicely but still had a good impact with them. But again throw some deep/hard bass at them and suddenly you found their downfall. These were old quart 8s though and not made for spl by any means so I am willing to bet a better set with good power would only be more better...

[Kirghiz]

The biggest two hurdles with 8's is frequency response and power handling. Most 8's roll off around 35 or 36 hz, and most can't take over 300 watts. I am not a fan of Sundown in general, but I do believe the SA 8v2 overcomes those two obstacles better than any other 8" sub out there. That being said, with the ported enclosure requirements of those subs, you'd be looking at 4 cubic feet and 2000-2400 watts rms for four of them. If you've got that, unless you just have height limits for your baffle (under a truck seat perhaps), you might just as well run a pair of good 12's. Even though the 8's sound more accurate in general, they're still Sundown, so I believe Elite 12's, IDQ 12's, or something along those lines would be just as, if not more accurate than the SA 8's.

It's apples and oranges comparing 8's to 12's, but at the same time it's apples to apples when comparing enclosure size and power handling.

[ttocs]

would love to see/hear a nice band-pass with some 8s just to hear them....

[audiophyle_247]

It's apples and oranges comparing 8's to 12's, but at the same time it's apples to apples when comparing enclosure size and power handling.

No it's not, you just have to stay consistent when comparing them. Two 8" subs have very close to the same surface area of a single 12", and if they have the same travel the pair of 8's would have nearly identical output potential compared to a single 12".

What I love about 8's is a single 8" in a good ported box can dig nice & deep if the tuning is low enough & can rival many single 12" setups in sealed enclosure with similarly sized enclosures. The 12" setup will be easier to build & tune, but I enjoy the challenge. They are a lot of fun to experiment with, and what I like about the ported 8" vs sealed 12 is you can tune the resonant freq of the ported 8" to exactly where you want it.

[Drock]

I heard a pair of digital design 8" subs awhile back, and they were super impressive. I would never have guessed they were 8" if I had not seen them.
But now that I have the elite12's, there is no way I'd go with an 8".
The elites are pretty fast and accurate. A pair put my four ti10d to shame.


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[Kirghiz]

what I like about the ported 8" vs sealed 12 is you can tune the resonant freq of the ported 8" to exactly where you want it.

Fwiw I have a pair of Elite 12's ported in a smaller enclosure than would be needed for four SA8 v2's. It wasn't a ported vs sealed comparison.

[audiophyle_247]

what I like about the ported 8" vs sealed 12 is you can tune the resonant freq of the ported 8" to exactly where you want it.

It wasn't a ported vs sealed comparison.

My response to your quote wasnt ported vs sealed, it was 2 8's is very comparable to 1 12" sub in terms of cone surface area & displacement if excursion is also similar. This can be an apples to apples comparison.

THEN I compared a single ported 8 to a single sealed 12, which can also be similar in performance, and stated what I prefer between the two because they are also comparable.

Fwiw I have a pair of Elite 12's ported in a smaller enclosure than would be needed for four SA8 v2's.

I find that hard to believe considering the SA8-v2 likes very small enclosures (.5cuft ported enclosure), which puts 4 of them in a 2cuft airspace, not to mention makes port sizing much more manageable. lol (vs a .5cuft box)
What are the specs of your box? (you have my curiosity)