Phoenix Gold Phorum

Okay...I have a small dilema and I was wondering if anyone here might know the answer to my question.

I currently have to Xenon 10D2 subs in a sealed enclosure (.75 cu. ft. for each sub) and they are running off of a Xenon 600.1 amp. I have loved the sound quality that this set up has provided me, but there has been a desire for a bit more output.

Recently, a buddy of mine was selling his subs (2 Cerwin Vega V-Max subs in a ported box), and I was curious as to how it would sound in my trunk so I hooked it up to my amp...WHOA!!! The out put was CRAZY!!! It sounded like it wanted to rip my car in half. I didn't take the time to tweak the system for optimum sound, but I was thinking that I could attain similar SQ, but have more output if I went with a ported enclosure for my Xenon subs.

Has anyone made the switch either way and if so, could you please post your experience? I'd like to know how the Xenon subs perform in a ported enclosure vs. a sealed one. I know some subs perform better in sealed and some better in ported and some...it doesn't matter, they just perform. Where do the Xenon subs stand in all this???

Your feedback, thoughts and suggestions are anticipated and will be valued. Thank you in advance.

First of all, that enclosure is really small for Xenons. The 10's you can run up to 1.65 cubic feet EACH. Just using a bigger enclosure should free up quite a bit of bottom end from your subs.

The Xenon subs were designed to hit maximum bottom end, at a sacrifice of higher bass notes. Even with 10" subs, you won't have much above 60Hz, but it is hard to find anything that plays louder with the deepest bass notes. Most music doesn't have bass that deep however, so it's no wonder the Cerwins sounded much louder in your car.

If you want to go for maximum volume, Xenons aren't the sub for you IMO. They are one of the best SQ subs for systems with extra midbass drivers up front, but they can't play "street loud" bass, which is usually in the 40-70Hz range.

Porting is an option usually to add low end to subs that have poor performance in that area. Since the Xenons already accel at low end, porting them will only bloat your deepest bass more... though it would be hilariously loud to play a really deep bass tone... it would probably make you crap your pants (literally)

If you're looking for max. output; choose Bassreflex, if you're looking for tight, accurate bass reproduction; choose sealed.
Sealed is much less critical than reflex, and if you feed a signal lower in freq. than the tuning freq. of the reflexport, your woofer will be unsupported by the volume of air in the port, and go back and forward to max excursion without control...be carefull with reflex cabinets!
For a sub-freak like me, a sealed box is THE THING.
Good luck.
Nico

stipud wrote:First of all, that enclosure is really small for Xenons. The 10's you can run up to 1.65 cubic feet EACH. Just using a bigger enclosure should free up quite a bit of bottom end from your subs.

The Xenon subs were designed to hit maximum bottom end, at a sacrifice of higher bass notes. Even with 10" subs, you won't have much above 60Hz, but it is hard to find anything that plays louder with the deepest bass notes. Most music doesn't have bass that deep however, so it's no wonder the Cerwins sounded much louder in your car.

If you want to go for maximum volume, Xenons aren't the sub for you IMO. They are one of the best SQ subs for systems with extra midbass drivers up front, but they can't play "street loud" bass, which is usually in the 40-70Hz range.

Porting is an option usually to add low end to subs that have poor performance in that area. Since the Xenons already accel at low end, porting them will only bloat your deepest bass more... though it would be hilariously loud to play a really deep bass tone... it would probably make you crap your pants (literally)

As far as the current volume of my enclosure...I contacted PG Tech Support and they said that optimum performance in a sealed box would be .9 cu. ft. He said that them being in .75 wouldn't make an audible difference. So...what about 1.25 cu. ft. per sub, think that might make a difference for me???

I will agree that the Xenon subs are incredibly great sounding subs. As far as street bass reproduction...not sure what you mean. When I play anything with a heavy bass line, the car shakes like crazy and I can feel the pressure messing with my ears.

So...in your opinion...I should just keep them in a sealed box and maybe increase the overall enclosure volume for the subs, right?