Repack Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 I am looking to add a little thump to my stereo and was wondering what you guys thought of bass tubes. I am not looking to go crazy with my stereo. I have an Alpine head unit and the stock Clarion speakers that came in my '95 SE. I also have an amp that I can hook a sub up to but for space reasons think that a 'tube might work better. The amp I have seems too large to hids behind the panels and whatever I get would need to be easily removed when I load up with gear for the weekends. What size would you say is best? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 I'd go with a single good quality 10" sub and build your own box to hug up next to a wall or something. I've never been impressed with bass tubes, but maybe that's just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaritimeMan Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 I'm with Mr. P on this one. Most tubes are poot quality at best, and it's not a matter of if it's gonna blow, it a matter of when. There are plenty of good priced 10" subs out there. Like he said, just use a bit of particle board to build a nice cozy enclosure that you couls even mount an amp to. Thats what I did, and I can have it out in 2 min, amp and all. Then again, I have 2 amps, with the second being mounted on the back of the rear pass seat. I'll see if I can drum up a camera and take a few pics for ya. Just be warned, by box is not small, but easily removed for trip reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KILLVOX Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 I have a 12 in. Infinity sub in a band pass box and it kicks. But a 10 in. is plenty. Im with those guys, stay away from the tubes. The quality is not as good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 I've got 1 12" sub powered by a 350 watt kenwood amp. Pounds hard enough for me, and because it's only a 350, it's small enough to mount to the box, so I can remove it in about 2 minutes as well, for loading purposes. I had a bass tube previously in another vehicle, and it was GARBAGE! Better off with one 10, or 12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Repack Posted September 22, 2005 Author Share Posted September 22, 2005 Thanks for the info. I knew that Bass Tubes weren't the best but didn't know that they were crap. I'm mad at myself for not thinking of mounting the amp to the box. Looks like I'll be getting a 10" most likely. I don't want it to take up too much room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derogate Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 I have a 12 in. Infinity sub in a band pass box and it kicks. But a 10 in. is plenty. Im with those guys, stay away from the tubes. The quality is not as good. nice pyrmid amp ... mine only lasted me a year before it died ohwell, for 120 bucks and 600 watts, you can't complain really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 My bass tube works rather well, if you ask me. 138.7 db's on the dash...same sub AND amp as I originally bought three or four years ago. 6 MB Quicktime movie. http://temp.damagedreality.com/temp2/bass.mov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj big shoe Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 Depends on what you want. Tubes kinda blast out lots of bass, but aren't really tight. Bandpass boxes are good for the rap/trance/techno stuff (lots of long low frequency signals) and sealed boxes are good for rock/metal (mostly bass drum sort of hits). I had two 12" in a bandpass and it totally swamped the vehicle with low frequency vibrations. Way cool, but it took up a lot of room. Right now I have one Pioneer 12" in a sealed box with about 1.35 cu. in. volume powered by a 600w amp and it does the job on most everything I play. It doesn't quite wiggle your nosehairs like the bandpass did, but now I have room to put stuff in the back. Tubes are sloppy and a pain to mount, so if you have basic carpentry skills and a free afternoon, make a box. Here's mine. I'll give you dimensions and construction info if you like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 If you already have an amp, you could buy a decent 10" or 12" specified for smaller enclosures (if that's what you're after) for say $100 (or less... or more, depends on what you want). Couple bucks in mdf, screws, maybe some carpet or however you choose to finish it, and you'll have the satisfaction of calling it yours. By the way, if you do go that route and have the grey interior (kind of a mid-grey in my 94 for comparison) Lowes stocks a close-enough marine grade carpet that blends decent with the stock stuff. If you're really set on a tube, I bet 88 could guide you cause you know he doesn't just settle for off-the-shelf crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaritimeMan Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 Or you could do what I did, and get the best of both of best worlds. I know this is goin a bit futher than you intended, but bear with please. I just built a box, one half is sealed, the other half is bandpass style, with a 10" eclipse sub in each side (Subs) This give me the best of both worlds, as I do listen to alot of techno, but will rock out with the best of them to the hardest metal riff you can imagine. Try it you'd be amazed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 (edited) I know this is far from your original goal, but is only intended as an idea. I started with a single dual voice coil Rockford Fosgate 12" (HX2) in a box just over half this size. It was a bit spendy (about $160 on sale a few years ago), but was made for tight spaces. Its now moved to our Acura's trunk, and in the swap I brought over 2 10" Sony Xplod's. I've got these powered by a 1000 watt Alpine V12 amp, but would totally recommend a single one with a mild amp for some good punch since the 2 blow the 12 away by a mile. By the way, there is also a 1 Farad Phoenix Gold cap next to the Alpine amp, and a RF Punch 160.2 amp on the other side of the box. Yeah, its pretty quiet... Anyways, sounds like overkill for your goals. But the point being, even with all that, I've still got access to 2/3 of the floor area, and almost all the space if I stack to the roof. But with mine, I've screwed it to the floor to discourage it growing feet and walking away. The box measures roughly 24"L X 14"D X 20" H, but the old box with a single 12 was just over half that (mostly shorter in height and length). Not too bad really. Could be much less with a good 10". Just food for thought. Edited September 23, 2005 by Mr. Pickles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 Totally off track now, but I'd 2nd MM on the superiority of Eclipse products. I've got an Eclipse cd player that I put in right after I bought the truck, so say its almost 4 years old. I don't ever recall a single time that thing has skipped due to bumps, jumps, trail riding, anything. Its even far superior and regular scratched and messed up cd's, where only the nastiest mess skips. And when you pull that cd and put in in another player, you're lucky if it will play at all. Just plain reliable, easy to use, and 2 BIG thumbs up. Ok, I return the thread to its regularly scheduled posts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted September 24, 2005 Share Posted September 24, 2005 Eclipse stuff is very very nice and well-thought-out. Personally, I like classic Alpine HU's and processors, and Audiobahn for subs and amps. I get enough definition out of my tube to please me. It's got a 4" Aeroport on the back end and the whole thing's easily removeable if I need the room. When I get a chance, I want to build a combo box for a DVC Phoenix Gold 12" sub a buddy gave me as well as the Audiobahn 15. That'll be a good combo, a long-throw 12 and a mid-throw 15 both operating in sync. A nice compact rectangle-ported MDF(or whatever the dense stuff is) box with a 12 and a 15. And separate Class D digital monoblock amps with separate 1uf caps and a Yellow-Top Optima and a 12-disc CD changer and, um.... Yeah, right after I win the lottery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted September 24, 2005 Share Posted September 24, 2005 (edited) Eclipse stuff is very very nice and well-thought-out. Personally, I like classic Alpine HU's ... I really liked the function of Alpine HU's, but I went through 2 different decks in a row where the lighting in the face plate died. The deck still worked, but you had to memorize what you were doing, especially at night. I was not amused, as you can imagine. Granted, this was several years ago (about 1997-98 or so) so this may no longer be an issue. Edited September 24, 2005 by Mr. Pickles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBikeMike Posted September 26, 2005 Share Posted September 26, 2005 (edited) My bass tube works rather well, if you ask me. 138.7 db's on the dash...same sub AND amp as I originally bought three or four years ago. 6 MB Quicktime movie. http://temp.damagedreality.com/temp2/bass.mov Thanks, that was great for my brand new Powerbook's speakers! I have a simple 12" setup in a moveable box in the cargo area. I hid the sub in the seemingly pointless compartment under the carpet in the back of my 2000. Works rather well, all that is exposed is speaker cable :cool2: Edited September 26, 2005 by BigBikeMike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OR99.5Speed Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 I was in the same dilemma as you are, but my friend just so happened to be selling his Audiobahn enclosure and super-nice Alpine V12 amp, plus all of the necessary wiring all for $200. Then I went to Circuit City, and it just so happened that the had a sale of Buy One Get One Free on the 10" Kicker Comps. Its more toward the bottom line at $80 retail, but it gets the job done for me and I have a spare one new in the box. (If you want it you can PM me.) I am more than happy, plus its installed to my stock Bose until I find the money to upgrade that. Go with a 10" and an okay sub, but with a nice amp and decent box. You won't be disappointed, and the ladies will be impressed too. Tomorrow I will borrow a digital camera and take some pictures of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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