Subwoofer upgrade results?

[User_63152]

I am starting to find out why guys are not liking these budget Sundown SFB amps. They are a PITA to get the right signal voltage. And when you think you do, it's way to low. That results in sub par power/sound quality (dirty, if you will). That's why I am getting the SALT Series. They have the higher quality Korean boards/guts (NOT this Chinese copied Brazilian full bridge garbage). Of course it's way more expensive, but, oh well.

I will be running it at 220 watts x 4 @ 2 ohms / 1300 watts x 1 @ 1 ohm. I will have the front dash tweets running as channels 1-2 and the front door midrange drivers running as channels 3-4. The rear doors are powered off the radio, just for filler. And of course, the subs are channel 5. I also got that EXPERT 6 channel 28 band EQ coming too.

 

[User_63152]

Christmas Time!!! Got my Sundown SALT-1700.5 today. Hopefully, I can get it in my truck this weekend, along with the Expert PX-2 6 channel EQ.

 

[Hackmunch]

I went with something a bit bigger than my first upgrade. Still have the Infinity Reference components in the doors and dash. I went with some Sundown E-10's (they were on sale) and the Sundown SFB-1800.5D amp. These Fox Boxes are very well built and look great. I plan on going for one more (hopefully last) upgrade in a few months. Going to go with the Sundown SALT-1700.5 and some DS18 carbon fiber components. Plus, an EXPERT 6 channel 28 band EQ Bluetooth processor unit to fine tune the entire system. And, a lot more sound deadening material.

View attachment 150092

View attachment 150093

how did this turn out sounding

 

[User_63152]

how did this turn out sounding

Haven't installed it yet.

 

[Rebel Rouzer]

I have the 2020 ram 1500 with the Harman kardon system. The sound of the factory sub never really got the robust lows I was looking for. I ended up buying the skar audio custom 10-in sub enclosure built for this pickup. While I was waiting for the subwoofer to arrive I decided to try swapping my factory sub into this box and hooking it up to the factory amp and wow that has got to be the best $127 I've ever spent. What a huge difference that makes just by swapping the factory sub into an aftermarket box and it fits nice and tidy under the seat.

I have the same problem on a 2023 1500 Rebel. Can barely hear the subwoofer. Don’t know if it’s defective or incorrectly installed by factory. Compared to other trucks with 19 HK it is WEAK. You mentioned hooking it up to the factory amp… what did that involve? This is my 1st truck and I’m old enough to be your mother

 

[s10blazer89.jw]

2 sundown SA-12’s in a fox acoustics ported box. Still have access to both storage bins in the floor.

That is sweet! I was just looking at the Fox Box's and SA 12's. How do you like this set up? Could you go into more detail on how you're powering everything? Did you need to add an extra battery? I've played around with car audio in the past but really don't know how to set up a properly powered system with extra batteries/cap.

 

[Rdiersing]

I have the 6 speaker base system, which I replaced all speaker with Infinity Reference series (originally bought Kappa’s but they do not fit in the doors). I may upgrade to Focal later, though so far the infinities sound decent enough.

The Hemi meant I have the ANC under the driver seat. I bought the bypass from Crutchfield and modified it for hi level inputs. Removing the ANC allowed just enough room for two RF amplifiers and an AudioControl LC2i Pro. (Originally I used this only for the sub input, but now everything but the front 3.5’s run through the LC2i to clean up the signal. The power supply was a short run of 7.5 feet, both amps ground at the 10mm ANC frame mounts, and the only wire headed to the rear is a 10awg subwoofer speaker wire.

My first box was a little overkill on the “shiny side”, it was also undersized for the 10” Kicker L7T by about .15sqft. I did not realize the Kicker brand L7 grill cover was 2” thick until the box was built, so no one could actually sit in the space were the folding armrest used to be.

I ended up making another box, milled out internal pockets to hit .58sqft, added polyfill to soften the bass response, and faced the box with neodymium magnets so I could build different covers. For now I have a simple flat matching open cover. I plan to make a permanent cover from the Katzkin folding leather that came with the seat pack; I will build a directional hidden port around the surrounding sides so the sub is not noticeable and the seat is more usable.

Granted, this is only a 10” sub, so it is not a bass machine. But as it is running at 1ohm and matched with an RF amp sending 750 watts, it is surprisingly stout. The point for me, I have lost ZERO internal cab space! (Though I did have to move the entire rear seat forward 1.4”).

Original Box
View attachment 84160

New box
View attachment 84161
View attachment 84162

for clarification, you bought infinity kappa 6x9s for front and rear doors and they did not fit? you tried to install them and they did not fit, or you just were told they won't fit? was it the depth that didn't fit? did you attempt to modify to make fit or just send them back and get reference? thank you

 

[noelgosal]

There is no comparison to a decent aftermarket sub in a well constructed box. I went with JL Audio 10W1V3’s in a sealed box.

Hi. Is there anyway you can share the dimensions of this box? Thx.

 

[sppb32]

I am starting to find out why guys are not liking these budget Sundown SFB amps. They are a PITA to get the right signal voltage. And when you think you do, it's way to low. That results in sub par power/sound quality (dirty, if you will). That's why I am getting the SALT Series. They have the higher quality Korean boards/guts (NOT this Chinese copied Brazilian full bridge garbage). Of course it's way more expensive, but, oh well.

I will be running it at 220 watts x 4 @ 2 ohms / 1300 watts x 1 @ 1 ohm. I will have the front dash tweets running as channels 1-2 and the front door midrange drivers running as channels 3-4. The rear doors are powered off the radio, just for filler. And of course, the subs are channel 5. I also got that EXPERT 6 channel 28 band EQ coming too.

Look at the SFB specks, they are very clean amplifiers, check out "Raw Cat" YouTube videos, you will see that Salt amplifiers are not as clean as you think, just because they cost more doesn't mean they are better, some Recoil amplifiers are testing better than Sundown Salt.

 

[805myth1]

Current subwoofer setup, SoundQubed HDS3.212 D4 in 1.7 cu ft tuned to 32 hz.

 

[1791]

i got to jump in. i've been around sundown for a long time i live 30 minutes from their home office/warehouse. they are not much better than skarr.
IDK you may love sundown and there's is nothing wrong with that.
i had the fox acoustics box for the quad cab i went with E series d4 then d2 sold then both sets and went with rockford p3's and they have much better sound quality....now i have a crew cab with the prober Fox box for the 10's in that truck. if you really want it to sound good not just loud i hate to say it but JL w3's are the way to go i tried W1V3's and was not happy with them i had a sa12v2 and 2 sa10's v2 they always got loud i just didn't think they sounded great doing it in other cars, i have been into car audio for over 30 years and have had MANY "systems".
everybody has a preference i went with AUDIOCONTROL amps+ ROCKFORD subs. you can be loud and not really sound good or you can sound good and be loud. there is a reason why JL, ALPINE, ROCKFORD, and other legacy brands costs more and it's one of those times for the most part with car audio you get what you pay for.

 

[LITTLEREBEL]

i got to jump in. i've been around sundown for a long time i live 30 minutes from their home office/warehouse. they are not much better than skarr.
IDK you may love sundown and there's is nothing wrong with that.
i had the fox acoustics box for the quad cab i went with E series d4 then d2 sold then both sets and went with rockford p3's and they have much better sound quality....now i have a crew cab with the prober Fox box for the 10's in that truck. if you really want it to sound good not just loud i hate to say it but JL w3's are the way to go i tried W1V3's and was not happy with them i had a sa12v2 and 2 sa10's v2 they always got loud i just didn't think they sounded great doing it in other cars, i have been into car audio for over 30 years and have had MANY "systems".
everybody has a preference i went with AUDIOCONTROL amps+ ROCKFORD subs. you can be loud and not really sound good or you can sound good and be loud. there is a reason why JL, ALPINE, ROCKFORD, and other legacy brands costs more and it's one of those times for the most part with car audio you get what you pay for.

I can relate with you. I'm trying out down4sound and its impressive.

 

[1791]

I can relate with you. I'm trying out down4sound and its impressive.

the JP95-T is a good amp especially for the money. almost as good and even less money is the recol RED1800.5. it's stupid inexpensive at 185.00

 

[1791]

Current subwoofer setup, SoundQubed HDS3.212 D4 in 1.7 cu ft tuned to 32 hz.

View attachment 201759

please tell me you didn't put a sheetrock screw through the floor of your truck dude

 

[Quint]

please tell me you didn't put a sheetrock screw through the floor of your truck dude

Hoping it's just through the floor mat. My sub just sits under that rear left seat without being tethered to anything. I've locked up the brakes for flying turkeys, idiot drivers, too many deer, and other hazards. Not once has my sub slid out from under the seat. I don't believe that there is a need to secure a sub to the truck floor.