Stealthbox vs. 10 inch sealed quality SQ sub

[GNBRETT]

Sorry im not all that familiar with this stuff so forgive my ignorance please. Currently I have the JL Stealth box for my 2013 Mustang GT with a 13 inch JL. To me it sounds OK but looking for something better but dont want to add a lot of weight. I drag race the car also. Looking for better SQ.

Would a quality 10 inch sub in a sealed box sound considerably better than what I have or is it gonna sound about the same?

Does the DSP improve the quality of the subwoofer sound as well or just the speakers? Thanx

One more thing, can I upgrade my 13 inch sub and replace it with something better inside the stealthbox? Im a little confused cause the 13w3 that comes with the stealthbox states that it requires 1.5 feet of air space. That stealthbox doesn't look anywhere near 1.5 cubic feet of air. More like 0.5. Anyone help?

[MegaG]

I will let someone else chime in on the more technical items but if you're concerned about weight, you can set-up your system to make it easier to remove the sub on race day.

A down firing design may be worth looking into, if its custom built, you can even have some handles or hand holds built into the box.

I am not expecting it to be high quality but I am going to experiment with the new Kicker TRTP 12" down firing sub (also in 8 & 10) in my Mustang, sort of my own car stereo lab comparing it to my Audiofrog 12 IN. If I don't like it, I will give it to my daughter or her boyfriend who will appreciate what it offers over their non-sub system.

Hopefully your trunk is a little easier to get things in and out of then the S550...

[ChrisB]

I had a stealthbox in my 2006 Mustang GT and it came loaded with the 13w6v2. I had a pair of sealed 10w3v2s prior to that and the single 13w6v2 outperformed the pair of 10s sealed. IMHO, many single sealed 10s would be a step down in your case. Now a ported 10 that you make removable for drag racing.... That could be the ticket!

[geolemon]

It really depends on what it is that you find yourself lacking, in what you are currently experiencing. Even saying "SQ" doesn't really capture what you are looking for. Can you clarify?

JL makes good stuff, and most of their stealthboxes are simply "sealed" - they might be a little space-compromised, but again JL does stuff right so I'd bet it still at least meets their minimum for recommended space. Even JL's cheap subs sound quite decent in my experience. Hell, I just pulled a 12W0 V1 (!) out of storage and stuck it in a simple sealed box for my home theater, and it's quite good.

Usually for SQ, sealed IS the recommendation.

Even for a cheap sub, if you aren't pushing it too hard, intermodulation distortion wouldn't be an issue (read: having a parabolic BL curve from the motor or CMS curve from the suspension, and pushing the sub past Xmax). If you ARE pushing the sub too hard, then a smaller sub will only cause you to push that sub even harder. So I'm suspecting intermodulation distortion isn't the issue.

JL's construction quality (sub and enclosure) are both decent, so that's likely not the issue... no extraneous noise from tinsel slap or air leaks, etc.

So you'll have to tell us what it is that you want more of, or want to be "better" - what do you feel you are lacking?

If you find yourself saying "it doesn't have the impact that I thought", it actually might not be a sub issue at all. Most people who add a sub to their system as a starting point suddenly find out they are lacking in midbass...

Two things you could do for that:
1) turn down your sub amp, so that it isn't 10dB higher than the rest of your system.
2) prep your door panels to work like speaker baffles (what year Mustang?)- without that, you could have subwoofers mounted in the doors and they still won't make bass... or to clarify, they'll make bass, but the sound off the rear of the cone will escape right out and cancel the sound coming from the front of the cone.

You might not even need to upgrade your interior speakers (though you might want to for SQ reasons) or power them (though you might want to...).

But I'm just guessing if "impact" is what you mean.
You'll have to tell us what aspect you feel you are lacking.

[ckirocz28]

Sorry im not all that familiar with this stuff so forgive my ignorance please. Currently I have the JL Stealth box for my 2013 Mustang GT with a 13 inch JL. To me it sounds OK but looking for something better but dont want to add a lot of weight. I drag race the car also. Looking for better SQ.

Would a quality 10 inch sub in a sealed box sound considerably better than what I have or is it gonna sound about the same?

Does the DSP improve the quality of the subwoofer sound as well or just the speakers? Thanx

One more thing, can I upgrade my 13 inch sub and replace it with something better inside the stealthbox? Im a little confused cause the 13w3 that comes with the stealthbox states that it requires 1.5 feet of air space. That stealthbox doesn't look anywhere near 1.5 cubic feet of air. More like 0.5. Anyone help?

Aftermarket car audio equipment adds weight, period. You can offset said weight by adding horsepower or making the equipment removable on race day.

[Jdunk54nl]

Simple answer, Yes a DSP will improve the sound quality of everything involved. But that does depend on the person using it. A dsp can also ruin the sq if you don't know what you are doing. It takes some effort to learn or it takes some money to pay someone that knows how (be weary of shops that say they know how but don't).

Have you ever measured your system with an RTA? What is it missing that you don't like?

[geolemon]

Simple answer, Yes a DSP will improve the sound quality of everything involved.

Careful with this.
All a DSP can change are things that happen in the car interior - and even then it can't fix or compensate for everything.

It can be used to equalize sound that isn't related to cancellations. But if you have a dip caused by cancellation or improper baffling - you could try to boost that by 20dB and not fix it.

It can be used to compensate for frequency quirks of the speaker.
It can't do anything about impulse response or intermodulation distortion characteristics of a speaker.

Every audio system is only as strong as its weakest link.


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[Jdunk54nl]

Careful with this.
All a DSP can change are things that happen in the car interior - and even then it can't fix or compensate for everything.

It can be used to equalize sound that isn't related to cancellations. But if you have a dip caused by cancellation or improper baffling - you could try to boost that by 20dB and not fix it.

It can be used to compensate for frequency quirks of the speaker.
It can't do anything about impulse response or intermodulation distortion characteristics of a speaker.

Every audio system is only as strong as its weakest link.


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You didn't quote my whole post, you picked a certain part. Something you were just complaining about in another thread of someone else doing to your posts. If you quote all of it, you see right after that I said a DSP can also ruin it if you don't know what you are doing. The things you listed above are some of those things that could ruin the dsp work if you don't know what you are doing.


Again, the SIMPLE answer is yes, a DSP will DEFINITELY help if you KNOW what you are doing.

[geolemon]

You didn't quote my whole post, you picked a certain part. Something you were just complaining about in another thread of someone else doing to your posts. If you quote all of it, you see right after that I said a DSP can also ruin it if you don't know what you are doing. The things you listed above are some of those things that could ruin the dsp work if you don't know what you are doing.


Again, the SIMPLE answer is yes, a DSP will DEFINITELY help if you KNOW what you are doing.

Very different. I quoted that part because that's what I was responding to. I'm not twisting your words, I'm cautioning about the limits of DSP.

The most experienced, award winning IASCA competition champion tuning champion can NOT improve sound quantity of a speaker suffering intermodulation distortion.

No matter your experience, a DSP can NOT be used to prevent the backwave of a speaker from canceling the sound coming from the front of a speaker (again - the common door install problem).

If you are experiencing cone breakup modes - a DSP can't help with that. Doesn't matter who the tuner is.

If your amps have audible switching noise or channel cross-talk (ie. my concerns of going class D), a DSP can't fix that.

There's lots of things that a DSP can't help with - fundamental accuracy and sound quality in terms of basic cleanliness - a DSP can't fix any of that, no matter the person doing the tuning.

I'm not ignoring or changing your words - I'm pointing out that DSP isn't magic. Your system is only as strong as the weakest link. No level of experience changes physics. Hoffman's Law still is a law. Engineering of speakers - addresses engineering around numerous laws of physics and electrical engineering fundamentals. That's why I'm saying, be careful when you say "DSP can improve sound quality".
And that's all I said.

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[Jdunk54nl]

Very different. I quoted that part because that's what I was responding to. I'm not twisting your words, I'm cautioning about the limits of DSP.

That is exactly what happened with the other thread between you and the other poster. They picked certain parts to respond to and it could be/was taken out of context with the rest of your post. Here you took a very small part of my post and gave a warning of be careful.

Careful with this.

However, if you go back and read the rest of the post then you will realize there was no need for that as the rest of the post says what you said. A dsp can't do everything, but it can make a difference, even with other poor choices. That is twisting words and twisting the post to be different than its original intent as stated in the original post.

The most experienced, award winning IASCA competition champion tuning champion can NOT improve sound quantity of a speaker suffering intermodulation distortion.

No matter your experience, a DSP can NOT be used to prevent the backwave of a speaker from canceling the sound coming from the front of a speaker (again - the common door install problem).

If you are experiencing cone breakup modes - a DSP can't help with that. Doesn't matter who the tuner is.

If your amps have audible switching noise or channel cross-talk (ie. my concerns of going class D), a DSP can't fix that.

There's lots of things that a DSP can't help with - fundamental accuracy and sound quality in terms of basic cleanliness - a DSP can't fix any of that, no matter the person doing the tuning.

I'm not ignoring or changing your words - I'm pointing out that DSP isn't magic. Your system is only as strong as the weakest link. No level of experience changes physics. Hoffman's Law still is a law. Engineering of speakers - addresses engineering around numerous laws of physics and electrical engineering fundamentals. That's why I'm saying, be careful when you say "DSP can improve sound quality".
And that's all I said.

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Yes, I agree there are limits to a DSP of what they can address and what they can't. That is why I said in the wrong hands, a DSP can make things worse.

However you give me a DSP and crap speakers, and I will get the best sound possible within their limits and it will 100% sound better than no DSP. Time alignment alone is enough to make a huge difference, not to mention level adjustment/matching. Those nearly anyone can do with very little knowledge. Those two will be huge in SQ improvement and we haven't even got to EQ yet.

I would even choose a DSP and some crappier speakers over no dsp and the best speakers if install locations were not going to be optimized. I've heard enough vehicles now with DSPs and fairly crappy speakers that sound phenomenal with a DSP. They might not win a competition, but they sound way better than pre-dsp.