# Subduction SDX10



## bretti_kivi (Dec 3, 2007)

very, very briefly.

This is a beefy mofo. Nicely packaged, it weighed a ton.

So far, I've used it for 10-20 hours in the garage, where I was disappointed with the low-end extension; It was in a 26l double-walled MDF box and the garage was too big. Then I put it in the car... MUCH better. Hits the lows with authority and slam. Sitting still sounded marvellous, driving was OK but not enough gain set - I didn't really tune that system and it's already out again. Authority all the way down with "four minutes". 
I can't complain. It's a nicely built 10", that seems to do what I wanted. I had some concerns that it wasn't fast enough, but I was using it on an old amp and therefore I don't want to add too much credence to that. 

Summary: very happy for a $150 woofer (incl. delivery half way round the planet). Sounds good, seems like it wants POWER. OK, that's what it will get just as soon as I find a PG QX 900.1d....

pics: 














































Bret


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## tcguy85 (Oct 29, 2007)

beefy!


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## kappa546 (Apr 11, 2005)

it's a sexy driver. give it some power. If my bnib one doesn't sell i'll going to throw it in the car and be done with it.


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## dr_d12 (Nov 29, 2008)

I have one of these in a sealed 0.9 cu. ft. 3/4" MDF enclosure, with about 12 oz. polyfill and I'm really impressed with the sound. When I get some time, I'd like to try it in a ported enclosure, but for the car the ported box might need more space than I can give up. 

I'd be interested to know if anyone tried a smaller than recommended ported enclosure and how it worked out.

Cheers
Dave


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## monkeybutt (Oct 1, 2005)

dr_d12 said:


> I have one of these in a sealed 0.9 cu. ft. 3/4" MDF enclosure, with about 12 oz. polyfill and I'm really impressed with the sound. When I get some time, I'd like to try it in a ported enclosure, but for the car the ported box might need more space than I can give up.
> 
> I'd be interested to know if anyone tried a smaller than recommended ported enclosure and how it worked out.
> 
> ...


Great sub. I've run it sealed at about .9 cuft. and the bass is tight and blends/disappears as well as my SI Magv4. The only thing lacking occassionally was output. Now have it running ported in the recommended 1.5 cuft - sorry never tried smaller - and it retains all its SQ aspects but goes louder and deeper. I used to have amp gains set to 4/5ths w/ the sealed and now a bit less than half. I've been a staunch sealed sub supporter for years until trying the SDX10 ported. At times I find myself enjoying it even more than the aforementioned Mag which is in itself a superb sub. One of the best things about both these subs are their ability to play up high making the midbasses sound huge if LP about 100 to 120hz or so.


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## 1sashenka (Nov 26, 2008)

I have three 10's in 2.4 cubes total sealed on 1000 watts. At first I liked them, and after a while I no longer do. Very boomy sub. Ok for HT, but bad for music. In this enclosure, it does not like more power than it is rated at. Bought it when it came out, based on rave reviews on the SDX15. Rolls off badly if crossed higher than 60hz, and start to sound distorted. The bottom end of 35hz and lower is impressive, but that is the only good thing with this sub. I cannot make it blend properly with front stage, not even close. Too much sub presence can be heard even with the gains really low - BOOMY!!!

I cant believe it is getting compared to a Mag v4, and I wanted to try out two of them. If this is how Mag sounds, no thanks, but I really doubt it. Other users who have used both, say they are night and day, and the Mag is in another league by far.


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

1sashenka said:


> I have three 10's in 2.4 cubes total sealed on 1000 watts. At first I liked them, and after a while I no longer do. Very boomy sub. Ok for HT, but bad for music. In this enclosure, it does not like more power than it is rated at. Bought it when it came out, based on rave reviews on the SDX15. Rolls off badly if crossed higher than 60hz. The bottom end of 35hz and lower is impressive, but that is the only good thing with this sub. I cannot make it blend properly with front stage, not even close. Too much sub presence can be heard even with the gains really low - BOOMY!!!
> 
> I cant believe it is getting compared to a Mag v4, and I wanted to try out two of them. If this is how Mag sounds, no thanks, but I really doubt it. Other users who have used both, say they are night and day, and the Mag is in another league by far.


Seeing as how you're using them in a box almost 1 cube larger than what most people are using I'm not all that surprised. Try filling in some of the space with something to bring the enclosure volume down a bit and see if that helps.


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## 1sashenka (Nov 26, 2008)

Perhaps. The CSS site recommends 0.7 cubes sealed filled with polyfill for each 10", so I figured 0.8 cubes unfilled was going to be alright. It looks to me that you may be right, as these recommendations may be off, and the sub needs stiffer air suspension. But I gave up on it, and I have many other subs to use and I have the SDX's for local sale. At the moment, I am using two 12's D4's by Arc Audio, and they really do sound very similar to IDQ's, but need a little bigger enclosure than IDQ or recommended, as that did not work as well. What I did is use the same enclosure and just filled it with polyfill and it sounds way better this way. SDX's only wish they sounded this good. IDQ's and these Arcs are way less boomy, but still no match in that department for subs like Nobeliums, Milles, or Ultimos. I have two Nobelium 10's, and they are great, but I would surely like two 12's better.


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## TREETOP (Feb 11, 2009)

ItalynStylion said:


> Seeing as how you're using them in a box almost 1 cube larger than what most people are using I'm not all that surprised. Try filling in some of the space with something to bring the enclosure volume down a bit and see if that helps.


My calculations show that the recommended enclosure for 3 subs would be 2.54 cubic feet, based on their 24 liter per sub suggestion.


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## Neil (Dec 9, 2005)

1sashenka said:


> I have three 10's in 2.4 cubes total sealed on 1000 watts. At first I liked them, and after a while I no longer do. Very boomy sub. Ok for HT, but bad for music. In this enclosure, it does not like more power than it is rated at. Bought it when it came out, based on rave reviews on the SDX15. Rolls off badly if crossed higher than 60hz, and start to sound distorted. The bottom end of 35hz and lower is impressive, but that is the only good thing with this sub. I cannot make it blend properly with front stage, not even close. Too much sub presence can be heard even with the gains really low - BOOMY!!!
> 
> I cant believe it is getting compared to a Mag v4, and I wanted to try out two of them. If this is how Mag sounds, no thanks, but I really doubt it. Other users who have used both, say they are night and day, and the Mag is in another league by far.


Have you measured response in your vehicle? Have you tried cutting response a bit below 40 Hz?


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

TREETOP said:


> My calculations show that the recommended enclosure for 3 subs would be 2.54 cubic feet, based on their 24 liter per sub suggestion.


It's a home audio sub. Things would model differently with the vehicle transfer function I'd think. A smaller box would likely be a bit better in the car.


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## TREETOP (Feb 11, 2009)

ItalynStylion said:


> It's a home audio sub. Things would model differently with the vehicle transfer function I'd think. A smaller box would likely be a bit better in the car.


You're probably right, I was just going off their recommendation from their .pdf:
http://creativesound.ca/pdf/CSS-SDX10-data-140408.pdf
I haven't tried to model it for in-car behavior.


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## 1sashenka (Nov 26, 2008)

Neil said:


> Have you measured response in your vehicle? Have you tried cutting response a bit below 40 Hz?


My sub is crossed at 40hz/12db, and subsonic is at 25hz/24db. Not much freq to work with in terms of eq'ing. I pretty much just use subout feature to control the bass output at this point. I just do not like the sub's sonic sig. All the bass coming out of it is overemphasized to an extent that it sounds as if it adds an echo to bass. I played around a bit with eq between 20hz and 80hz when I had my sub crossed at 80hz/24db last year, and still could not get good results. As for measuring, I mostly listen to bassy music with good amount of sub bass dialed in, so my response is far from flat in that area and that is how I like it. Many people will say subs all sound the same and AB or D amps sound all the same on subs. I am not one of those people, and do not want to go there. I see huge differences when using different tweets, and it sounds to me every tweeter will make the system sound unique, and I feel the same about subs, as they play a big part in my system. I feel I am ready to move the SDX's, and move on to other projects. I am not even planning to ever having them back in my car. I do want to get two Mags, and I feel they will be a keeper. So that is my next direction in sub category. I also had a hard-on for the Xcon for a while, but now I cooled off. I am beginning to think I found my preferred subwoofer sound of Nobeliums, Iridiums, Milles, Ultimos, Dyns provide and I think the Mag v4 should be very similar. If I had two 12's instead of 10's Nobeliums I think I may have been set. I have tons of amps too, and speaker sets, so I gotta draw the line somewhere, and now Zed is releasing the Leviathan and that is getting me very excited, not like I need more amps. I have not yet found a better bang for buck amp to date. I like the fact that it is small, light, very powerfull as far as other 6-channels amps are concerned, has good features like bandpass crossovers, all channels are the same, has regulated power supply with same power from 12v-14.4v, and it has BurrBrowns in it as well, and it is retailing at $599 new for 1800 watts. I looked at the early version of the manual, it states that typical power is 175 watts a channel at 4 ohms, and that it unheard of for this type of amp. The manual is also very detailed and full of info 10/10 on that.


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## monkeybutt (Oct 1, 2005)

1sashenka said:


> My sub is crossed at 40hz/12db, and subsonic is at 25hz/24db. Not much freq to work with in terms of eq'ing. I pretty much just use subout feature to control the bass output at this point. I just do not like the sub's sonic sig. All the bass coming out of it is overemphasized to an extent that it sounds as if it adds an echo to bass. I played around a bit with eq between 20hz and 80hz when I had my sub crossed at 80hz/24db last year, and still could not get good results. As for measuring, I mostly listen to bassy music with good amount of sub bass dialed in, so my response is far from flat in that area and that is how I like it. Many people will say subs all sound the same and AB or D amps sound all the same on subs. I am not one of those people, and do not want to go there. I see huge differences when using different tweets, and it sounds to me every tweeter will make the system sound unique, and I feel the same about subs, as they play a big part in my system. I feel I am ready to move the SDX's, and move on to other projects. I am not even planning to ever having them back in my car. I do want to get two Mags, and I feel they will be a keeper. So that is my next direction in sub category. I also had a hard-on for the Xcon for a while, but now I cooled off. I am beginning to think I found my preferred subwoofer sound of Nobeliums, Iridiums, Milles, Ultimos, Dyns provide and I think the Mag v4 should be very similar. If I had two 12's instead of 10's Nobeliums I think I may have been set. I have tons of amps too, and speaker sets, so I gotta draw the line somewhere, and now Zed is releasing the Leviathan and that is getting me very excited, not like I need more amps. I have not yet found a better bang for buck amp to date. I like the fact that it is small, light, very powerfull as far as other 6-channels amps are concerned, has good features like bandpass crossovers, all channels are the same, has regulated power supply with same power from 12v-14.4v, and it has BurrBrowns in it as well, and it is retailing at $599 new for 1800 watts. I looked at the early version of the manual, it states that typical power is 175 watts a channel at 4 ohms, and that it unheard of for this type of amp. The manual is also very detailed and full of info 10/10 on that.


Wow, now I'm excited too, Leviathan mmm...and Magv4. Glad you found the 'best'. Get back to us when you actually hear them okay? Tweeters, amps and subs sound different - check! Now about those SDX10s, maybe tuning?


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## subwoofery (Nov 9, 2008)

1sashenka said:


> My sub is crossed at 40hz/12db, and subsonic is at 25hz/24db. Not much freq to work with in terms of eq'ing. I pretty much just use subout feature to control the bass output at this point. I just do not like the sub's sonic sig. All the bass coming out of it is overemphasized to an extent that it sounds as if it adds an echo to bass. I played around a bit with eq between 20hz and 80hz when I had my sub crossed at 80hz/24db last year, and still could not get good results. As for measuring, I mostly listen to bassy music with good amount of sub bass dialed in, so my response is far from flat in that area and that is how I like it. Many people will say subs all sound the same and AB or D amps sound all the same on subs. I am not one of those people, and do not want to go there. I see huge differences when using different tweets, and it sounds to me every tweeter will make the system sound unique, and I feel the same about subs, as they play a big part in my system. I feel I am ready to move the SDX's, and move on to other projects. I am not even planning to ever having them back in my car. I do want to get two Mags, and I feel they will be a keeper. So that is my next direction in sub category. I also had a hard-on for the Xcon for a while, but now I cooled off. I am beginning to think I found my preferred subwoofer sound of Nobeliums, Iridiums, Milles, Ultimos, Dyns provide and I think the Mag v4 should be very similar. If I had two 12's instead of 10's Nobeliums I think I may have been set. I have tons of amps too, and speaker sets, so I gotta draw the line somewhere, and now Zed is releasing the Leviathan and that is getting me very excited, not like I need more amps. I have not yet found a better bang for buck amp to date. I like the fact that it is small, light, very powerfull as far as other 6-channels amps are concerned, has good features like bandpass crossovers, all channels are the same, has regulated power supply with same power from 12v-14.4v, and it has BurrBrowns in it as well, and it is retailing at $599 new for 1800 watts. I looked at the early version of the manual, it states that typical power is 175 watts a channel at 4 ohms, and that it unheard of for this type of amp. The manual is also very detailed and full of info 10/10 on that.


Where did you get that manual? Please send link... 

Kelvin


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## Brian Steele (Jun 1, 2007)

1sashenka said:


> I have three 10's in 2.4 cubes total sealed on 1000 watts. At first I liked them, and after a while I no longer do. Very boomy sub. Ok for HT, but bad for music. In this enclosure, it does not like more power than it is rated at. Bought it when it came out, based on rave reviews on the SDX15. Rolls off badly if crossed higher than 60hz, and start to sound distorted. The bottom end of 35hz and lower is impressive, but that is the only good thing with this sub. I cannot make it blend properly with front stage, not even close. Too much sub presence can be heard even with the gains really low - BOOMY!!!


Provide some more details about that box you have those subs in. What material is it made out of? How thick are the walls? Did you use any bracing, and if so, how much and where?


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## 1sashenka (Nov 26, 2008)

subwoofery said:


> Where did you get that manual? Please send link...
> 
> Kelvin


I contacted Mr.Mantz via email as I wanted to make sure that his new line of amps utilizes regulated power supplies, as that is all I use in my car, and he confirmed it, and he also attached a PDF file of the manual. That was very helpfull and I am planning on buying a Leviathan in the near future, as I am planning to buy a new car and possibly do a one amp system on it. The plan is to use channels 1+2 on the fronts, and then bridge channels 3+4 on one subs, and bridge channels 5+6 on another sub. That would give me 175 regulated power watts a side on the fronts, and a total of around 1200 watts on two subs.


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## 1sashenka (Nov 26, 2008)

Brian Steele said:


> Provide some more details about that box you have those subs in. What material is it made out of? How thick are the walls? Did you use any bracing, and if so, how much and where?


Ranger board wood, 1.5" thick front panel, 3/4" thick other sides, wedge type at the back, acoustic wool dampaning material on inside walls, separate chambers for each sub, subs are wired on the inside with a single port out for easy connection to an amp, it is carpeted in black, and I face it to the rear. I have rear fill as well. I am using the subs as the starting point for time delay, and every speaker in the car is time delayed to the driver seat. Rears are faded to the point you dont even know they are there, but provide great ambiance. Freaking heavy box and that is another reason I am getting rid of it. Killing suspension on my lowered car and gas consumption difference is quite drastic, and cosmetically it makes my car look like it has got a saggy rear. There are more problems with this set-up than it's worth. It was just another project, and I wanted to satisfy my curiousity, and at presale pricing of $99CAD/sub + shipping + tax shipped from I belive Vancouver or something to Toronto, I was quite content. 

As far as for asking for more details, I'd rather not give up anymore of my time on it, as I do everything properly, and that is no issue. I dont particularly enjoy defending myself to some of the people on here who think they know everything and just want to use sarcasm to make themselves feel more important. I am not pointing any fingers as this is not my intention. I will not be answering anymore questions on eq'ing etc, and all that has been done, as I always do. I plainly offered my opinion on these speakers. I do not like these subs, and there are many other subs that are waaay better, not saying for the price, and I do like my more expensive subs, as I feel I do get what I am paying for on many levels. To each their own. And I am not willing to go through five different boxes to find one that works best with these subs, I would rather do it with subs that I think I worth doing it for.


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