# best of the small subwoofers like 6.5" or 7"



## my6x9s (Apr 15, 2009)

ok i have been looking around a lot and i have been shopping for the best of the smallest subs and pricing i have found AUDIOPIPE 6.5" TS-V6 SUBWOOFERS - eBay (item 130311064121 end time Jun-13-09 08:01:58 PDT)
they seem to look like what want to try but i am really looking for the largest xmax i can find within a reasonable budget. what do you all have in mind that may be better for the price ranges.. thank you all at DIY


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

that doesnt look appealing for a subwoofer at all, 60hz-3k IMO is more of a mid

TB or ED probably make the most capable small subwoofer

Elemental Designs

Parts-Express.com:Tang Band W6-1139SI 6-1/2" Subwoofer | subwoofer 6" subwoofer neodynium subwoofer tangband tb speakers tangband-22008


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## my6x9s (Apr 15, 2009)

thank you for the feedback so fast and the linky was vary nice also .. i did look at some ed and that was my fave but still looking at all the options


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## 89grand (Nov 23, 2006)

I run the Tang Band W6-1139 6.5" neo sub in my Jeep, It's a great sub for it's size. I wouldn't even consider the Audiopipe POS, and would take it over the ed sub as well.


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## el_chupo_ (May 27, 2007)

Steven has 4 of the TB 6.5 subs in his IS300, sealed. They did very well.


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## F1Audio (Jun 5, 2009)

I ran 2 of the ED subs in 1 cube sealed and they did real well. Very smooth response in my GTI. Decent transient response. And they are tiny.  They did not have a ton of presence below about 40Hz, but what can you expect?


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## Tonyguy (Nov 15, 2007)

JL Audio Products: Subwoofers / 6W3v3


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## my6x9s (Apr 15, 2009)

these are all vary nice with the exception of the jl i have never had a good one yet for the price they never perform it always makes me feel like i just bought a sony or a kenwood ... lotta hype but when it comes to doing the job they just say no thank you. and need a lotta power not to do it as well. thank you for the suggestion though does image dynamic make a 6.5? or maybe treo, fi love the suggestions .. i remember something with a yellow kevlar cone back about 12yrs ago that just rock but made overseas.. any ideas?? no it was not a lightning audio


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

el_chupo_ said:


> Steven has 4 of the TB 6.5 subs in his IS300, sealed. They did very well.


Hell yeah! Those things are bitchin! One more month and they will be brought back to life with the addition of a new amp! I'll be re-doing the box too so that might also help a bit. Can you say ported? :laugh:

Ignore that white thing....


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## F1Audio (Jun 5, 2009)

I think Focal had a ~5" woofer that was yellow kevlar-ish. Maybe 5WS?


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## my6x9s (Apr 15, 2009)

that a great pic .. thank you all for the suggestions ... i am kinda leaning towards the ones though parts express.. they look super lite for weight my friend is now wanting a lil something in his rice rocket racer thing but wants it lite weight ... in just vary limited on space wide/tall not deep though so it looks perfect ..think they would do good in a sealed or ported fiberglass pod type enclosure since im trying to squeak every lil bit of air space i can in there.. and i think your right i think they where focal.. ill look and see if they still make a lil micro sub


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## my6x9s (Apr 15, 2009)

you are right .. focal but they are short on the xmax for sure 
ebay Item number: 140324884937 but thank you guess they will not do what i remember them doing


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## fish (Jun 30, 2007)

DDAudio Digital Designs Speakers Made in the USA

They're listed as midbass but DD says they can be used as subs.


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## fish (Jun 30, 2007)

http://www.ultrasubs.com/proddetail.php?prod_uid=6


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## DS-21 (Apr 16, 2005)

With 8mm of xmax, the Peerless SLS 6.5 is worth a look, too.


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## Mosho (Apr 17, 2009)

What do you guys say about putting 2 of these behind the driver/passenger seats? Actually it would be in the back seats original speaker mounts, which would be in the doors like in the front, if there were any doors in the back (it's a 3-door hatchback). I want to get rid of the 12'' sub in the back.


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

kfish323 said:


> http://www.ultrasubs.com/proddetail.php?prod_uid=6


Holy inefficient batman!


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

That TB 6 isn't much better.


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## 89grand (Nov 23, 2006)

thehatedguy said:


> That TB 6 isn't much better.


Well, it's listed as 3db better. Theoretically the TB would require half the input power for the same output. I'll take that.


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

ItalynStylion said:


> Hell yeah! Those things are bitchin! One more month and they will be brought back to life with the addition of a new amp! I'll be re-doing the box too so that might also help a bit. Can you say ported? :laugh:
> 
> Ignore that white thing....


What kind of output you get with those?


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## 89grand (Nov 23, 2006)

^^^^I can't speak for him, but I have 1 in a .23ft3 sealed tube running off the rear bridged channels of a Sony XM-4S (120 watts) and it's ok. I mean it doesn't rattle windows, but it clearly added some much needed bottom end in my Jeep. My Jeep is an open, loud vehicle, so I can see 4 of them in a much quieter car, with a lot more power actually getting fairly loud.


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Yeah, the 4 of them on 600RMS was great. They bottomed out just a little at VERY loud volumes on very low notes. I'm currently building a ported box for them at the moment. I'll have a build log up probably tomorrow or something.

They get crunk as it is....but ported to control the cone movement should make them straight nasty! Check the response on this graph. I should have quite a bit more bottom end to play with.


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

I am looking to build a TL for 2 6.5's here this weekend, just dont know if I am gonna do the ED 7kv or some of these TB's, if I cant get the ED's used for cheap I am gonna get the TB's. ED wants $85 apiece for the new ones


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Having tried both I'd tell you to go with the Tang Bands.....no question


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

ItalynStylion said:


> Having tried both I'd tell you to go with the Tang Bands.....no question


My only concern is that the TL pans I have are built for the 7kv, and with the 7kv's lower FS the TB might not make it down to the tuning of the line


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

BeatsDownLow said:


> My only concern is that the TL pans I have are built for the 7kv, and with the 7kv's lower FS the TB might not make it down to the tuning of the line


Without modeling them I really couldn't tell you. The TB doesn't have trouble hitting the lows in my experience. I'm really just wanting to have the extra cone control down low so I don't run out of Xmax when things get down and dirty. In your particular case, since the plans are for the ED's, it might be best to try and find those ED's used. But if you can't swing that go with the Tang Band.


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

ItalynStylion said:


> Without modeling them I really couldn't tell you. The TB doesn't have trouble hitting the lows in my experience. I'm really just wanting to have the extra cone control down low so I don't run out of Xmax when things get down and dirty. In your particular case, since the plans are for the ED's, it might be best to try and find those ED's used. But if you can't swing that go with the Tang Band.


That is what my plan is, i am not paying $180 for the when I can get 6 of the TB's for that. If I can get the 7kv's for alittle less than what the TB's cost I will probably go that route, if not I will try the tb's. If I dont like it in the car I will turn it into my computer sub.


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## Patrick Bateman (Sep 11, 2006)

BeatsDownLow said:


> I am looking to build a TL for 2 6.5's here this weekend, just dont know if I am gonna do the ED 7kv or some of these TB's, if I cant get the ED's used for cheap I am gonna get the TB's. ED wants $85 apiece for the new ones


Why are you going with a transmission line? A tapped horn will be much more efficient, and it has less 2nd and 3rd harmonic distortion than a transmission line.

I've built a few TLs for midrange, where they really shine.


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## Patrick Bateman (Sep 11, 2006)

Mosho said:


> What do you guys say about putting 2 of these behind the driver/passenger seats? Actually it would be in the back seats original speaker mounts, which would be in the doors like in the front, if there were any doors in the back (it's a 3-door hatchback). I want to get rid of the 12'' sub in the back.


If you put them in the doors, be sure to build a sealed enclosure for them. That's not critical for a midrange, but for a midbass or a woofer it's the only way you'll get the maximum output and the minimum excursion.

Doors are just too leaky.


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## Patrick Bateman (Sep 11, 2006)

my6x9s said:


> ok i have been looking around a lot and i have been shopping for the best of the smallest subs and pricing i have found AUDIOPIPE 6.5" TS-V6 SUBWOOFERS - eBay (item 130311064121 end time Jun-13-09 08:01:58 PDT)
> they seem to look like what want to try but i am really looking for the largest xmax i can find within a reasonable budget. what do you all have in mind that may be better for the price ranges.. thank you all at DIY


Here are a couple woofers in that size with a ton of excursion. The first one is from a great guy in Port Angeles, on the other side of the mountains from you:

DIYCable.com : Intro » Home » Exodus Speakers » Exodus Subs » Subwoofer Drivers »










M165X Woofer - M165X


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## Mosho (Apr 17, 2009)

Patrick Bateman said:


> If you put them in the doors, be sure to build a sealed enclosure for them. That's not critical for a midrange, but for a midbass or a woofer it's the only way you'll get the maximum output and the minimum excursion.
> 
> Doors are just too leaky.


Like I said, they will not be installed in doors. If there were 4 doors, then yeah it would have been doors. But there are only 2... I am not sure what's in there (not much I think, no window mechanism or anything, no locking mechanism either).


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

That Exodus Audio EX65 looks a lot like the CSS SDX7. Looks like it's even got the same basket. Both are XBL^2 drivers. I have an SDX7 sitting on my bed right now. I'm building a box for it at the moment along with like a million other things.


Patrick, can you link me to some good info on the tapped horn designs? I've heard of them but I've never found a good read for me to learn how to make one.


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

Patrick Bateman said:


> Why are you going with a transmission line? A tapped horn will be much more efficient, and it has less 2nd and 3rd harmonic distortion than a transmission line.
> 
> I've built a few TLs for midrange, where they really shine.


This design I have has been done before with the 6.5" and was said to be outstanding, really low and clean with great output for a pair of 6.5". I got a extra sheet of wood and the drivers should only set me back a bill and it should rival a nice 12" ported

And aminly I cant design a tapped horn or a TL so I got to go with whats given already


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## Patrick Bateman (Sep 11, 2006)

BeatsDownLow said:


> This design I have has been done before with the 6.5" and was said to be outstanding, really low and clean with great output for a pair of 6.5". I got a extra sheet of wood and the drivers should only set me back a bill and it should rival a nice 12" ported
> 
> And aminly I cant design a tapped horn or a TL so I got to go with whats given already


I'm really digging my tapped horn, and they just have freaky amounts of low bass. If anything, this will probably be TOO MUCH bass, might need an EQ to trim down the last octave.

If you want to try something new, check this out:










You're using a TB right? That's what this dude is using.

Tapped Horns


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

Patrick Bateman said:


> I'm really digging my tapped horn, and they just have freaky amounts of low bass. If anything, this will probably be TOO MUCH bass, might need an EQ to trim down the last octave.
> 
> If you want to try something new, check this out:
> 
> ...



That looks neat, but his pdf download for the double folded horn is actually that taller one

nevermind I found it, look like it would be a hair under 38" wide


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Think we could mod that design for a DIYMA sub?


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

That plot seems rediculously peaky to me. Am I missing something? Or are you just intending a steep slope crossed at around 60hz?


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## Patrick Bateman (Sep 11, 2006)

ItalynStylion said:


> Think we could mod that design for a DIYMA sub?


I tried! Lord, how I tried!

diyAudio Forums - Tapped Horn meets Bandpass Sub - Page 1

Just too much bass. I have a couple of Diymas in the garage, I've toyed with the idea of doing a 10hz tapped horn with them.

Tapped horns like woofers with a really high FS. The TH in my car has an FS of 50hz!

If you use a woofer like the Diyma you wind up with bass down to 10hz, which is great if you're trying to play whale mating calls


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## Patrick Bateman (Sep 11, 2006)

94VG30DE said:


> That plot seems rediculously peaky to me. Am I missing something? Or are you just intending a steep slope crossed at around 60hz?


Well we're out on the bleeding edge here. This woofer alignment has only existed for a few years. You basically get maximum SPL and power handling, but the price you pay is that it's difficult to get smooth response.

The use of multiple woofers will smooth out the response in a hurry. I have some Aurasound four inch woofers that I may use for a TH. (No joke - a real subwoofer with 4" drivers.) The inventor of the tapped horn is now selling one that has EIGHT twelves in one cabinet, to smooth the response.

I posted some measurements of my TH over on diyaudio.com, in the "real world" it's a lot flatter than the sims.

I'm just using an 80hz 2nd order lowpass, nothing fancy.


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## my6x9s (Apr 15, 2009)

wow i am so thankful i asked this question i love the TLs also and i would like to learn about the tapped horn as well.. you are on top of this topic this is so cool to meet others with skill and the passion to just make something innovative


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## DS-21 (Apr 16, 2005)

Patrick Bateman said:


> I'm really digging my tapped horn, and they just have freaky amounts of low bass. If anything, this will probably be TOO MUCH bass, might need an EQ to trim down the last octave.
> 
> If you want to try something new, check this out:


That thing's *huge*, though. It looks like a sealed box for a decent 15" woofer, maybe even a Maelstrom-X, could fit into that space.

I can see some virtue to wrapping a TH around such that it's unobtrusive, but using small woofers and taking up big volume seems no more useful to me than just using big woofers.

I would think the big advantage of smaller woofers in a car would be that one can distribute them around to smooth out response in the modal range. Like the Geddes home sub placement concept but an octave higher. 

The concept of a TH with a bunch of Aura NS3's or NS4's sounds really cool, though. If it can be packaged efficiently.


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## Patrick Bateman (Sep 11, 2006)

my6x9s said:


> wow i am so thankful i asked this question i love the TLs also and i would like to learn about the tapped horn as well.. you are on top of this topic this is so cool to meet others with skill and the passion to just make something innovative


There's some other cool benefits to tapped horns too. Because they work well with prosound drivers, you can use some of the cool neo woofers instead of big heavy-ass carsound woofers. The woofer in my tapped horn weighs seven pounds.

I also use 1/2" plywood instead of MDF. The box weighs all of 25lbs.

Maybe I'm just lazy, but I'd rather have a big loud speaker box that I can take out of the car with ease, than a 200lb MDF monster that's sucking up my trunk 24x7. It's nice to have something that's removable when I need to haul stuff.


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## my6x9s (Apr 15, 2009)

lol i got the 200lb monster in my daily driver pick up and i gotta say i love it just because of the way it drives and takes the road now...rides like a Cadillac now.... but i love the big big sound out of the box designs with lil power required to do such a thing... i like the box picture wow im going to have a lotta fun with these lil boxes


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Tapped horn I built last year...had an IDQ-12 in it. Pretty dumb amount of bass from it. Where it would be fun would be in a house where you could put them between rafters or floor joists, with 3 or 4 spread over the room.

4 sealed 10s would be easier to build and much smaller...not to mention you could spread them out over the room.

I'm not so sure of the Geddes method applied to a car though. We don't have any wave propagation at those frequencies in a car.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

That;s the benefits of a well designed IB system...lighter weight and less intrusive.



Patrick Bateman said:


> There's some other cool benefits to tapped horns too. Because they work well with prosound drivers, you can use some of the cool neo woofers instead of big heavy-ass carsound woofers. The woofer in my tapped horn weighs seven pounds.
> 
> I also use 1/2" plywood instead of MDF. The box weighs all of 25lbs.
> 
> Maybe I'm just lazy, but I'd rather have a big loud speaker box that I can take out of the car with ease, than a 200lb MDF monster that's sucking up my trunk 24x7. It's nice to have something that's removable when I need to haul stuff.


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

DS-21 said:


> The concept of a TH with a bunch of Aura NS3's or NS4's sounds really cool, though. If it can be packaged efficiently.


I actually have one 8 ohm Aura NS4 sitting in my garage that I have been trying to find a use for. Madisound sent me the wrong one, and then determined it would be cheaper to let me keep it. Maybe this would be what I should do with it.


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## Patrick Bateman (Sep 11, 2006)

thehatedguy said:


> That;s the benefits of a well designed IB system...lighter weight and less intrusive.


Big time. I actually had an IB setup in the same car, that I removed to put the TH in. I mostly did it to see how it would sound. The whole project cost $40 bcuz I already had the woofer laying around.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Don't get me wrong...I am doing an IB setup in my new car just to save space for baby stuff. But along the way I'm sure there will be some TH fun being built and trying to incorporate it into the trunk .


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

thehatedguy said:


> Tapped horn I built last year...had an IDQ-12 in it. Pretty dumb amount of bass from it. Where it would be fun would be in a house where you could put them between rafters or floor joists, with 3 or 4 spread over the room.
> 
> 4 sealed 10s would be easier to build and much smaller...not to mention you could spread them out over the room.
> 
> I'm not so sure of the Geddes method applied to a car though. We don't have any wave propagation at those frequencies in a car.


So, something like a Shiva-X in a tapped horn would be ultimately crippling to the human bone structure?


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## Patrick Bateman (Sep 11, 2006)

ItalynStylion said:


> So, something like a Shiva-X in a tapped horn would be ultimately crippling to the human bone structure?


you saw this right?

http://www.youtube.com/v/o36Kp6veJ6c&hl

It's a tapped horn made out of one of those shipping containers you see on cargo ships.


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

^Nope, that's the first time I saw it. I'm going to read up on this Tapped Horn design and build one. Seems like a very cool idea. I was reading the white paper and skimming the design stuff. Looks like a ton of fun.


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## my6x9s (Apr 15, 2009)

^^^ im with him im going to be building a few of the TH and i don't think the matter horn is a TH but i could be wrong. i was up late reading all the stuff i could on the TH good stuff thank you all for all the input on the questions


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## lilmike (Jan 4, 2008)

Another strong recommendation for using the W6-1139SI in a tapped horn.

They are quite the little driver. I put 4 in a tapped horn designed for my brother's home theater, the results absolutely amazed me. The tapped horn I built with 4 TB W6-1139SI drivers had 20 dB more response in room at 20 Hz than the 12" Velodyne it replaced when referenced to the same passband level (even with a 12 dB low-pass at 30 Hz on the TH). Lots more details in my posts here:

diyAudio Forums - Collaborative Tapped horn project - Page 120

I'm no guru, but I do have some experience designing and building them. If you measure what you have, model what you measure, and build what you model, you will come really close to measuring what your model predicts.

I'm also trying to figure out a way to put one in the car. (Must be something in the water here in Tacoma...)


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## lilmike (Jan 4, 2008)

The Matterhorn is most definitely a tapped horn.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Tapped horns are fun...you will be addicted to them.


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## yuri (Apr 11, 2009)

hi all ,
i run 8x focal 5ws(5 inch subs) in a 0.85 cft sealed box (arse out) .has enough output for me in a ML truck .
rgs yuri


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

yuri said:


> hi all ,
> i run 8x focal 5ws(5 inch subs) in a 0.85 cft sealed box (arse out) .has enough output for me in a ML truck .
> rgs yuri


post the proof!


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## 89grand (Nov 23, 2006)

yuri said:


> hi all ,
> i run 8x focal 5ws(5 inch subs) in a 0.85 cft sealed box (arse out) .has enough output for me in a ML truck .
> rgs yuri


Yeah, pics or STFU...or I mean, no not that, just post pics.


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## yuri (Apr 11, 2009)

89grand said:


> Yeah, pics or STFU...or I mean, no not that, just post pics.


you make me feel so welcome  , 
just for you i will go to my car and take a pic on my phone and get back to you soon .
rgs yuri


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## yuri (Apr 11, 2009)

ItalynStylion said:


> post the proof!


just for you guys .

sorry about the quality of the pictures , only have phone camera , its dark outside and raining (10.25pm )


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## my6x9s (Apr 15, 2009)

^^^^^ vary nice set up indeed ^^^^^


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## Lanson (Jan 9, 2007)

I have a spare new in box Tangband 6.5" sub if someone needs it. 

We used 3 of them (planned on 4) in a small pickup, and it rocks!


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## 89grand (Nov 23, 2006)

yuri said:


> just for you guys .
> 
> sorry about the quality of the pictures , only have phone camera , its dark outside and raining (10.25pm )


That looks pretty cool. Never seen a setup like that before.


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## my6x9s (Apr 15, 2009)

ok i think i have found what i want for my personal build ... and this was a suggestion from a friend "pete" here is the linky for ya Aurasound NS6-255-8A Aurasound 6.5" Woofer from Madisound
price is right and the specs seem good


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## yuri (Apr 11, 2009)

my6x9s said:


> ^^^^^ vary nice set up indeed ^^^^^


thanks guys , 
the sq is very good and output would surprise you for such small subs ,check out this review .
Focal 5WS Subwoofer - Car Audio and Electronics Magazine

also great especially if used in pairs for sub bass upfront ,ie under seat , in glove box . 
also fantastic used as mid bass drivers in a 3way setup .
I was originally planned to use 4 a side on each front door for midbass ,but decided to keep the doors looking stock . 
.


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

yuri said:


> thanks guys ,
> the sq is very good and output would surprise you for such small subs ,check out this review .
> Focal 5WS Subwoofer - Car Audio and Electronics Magazine
> 
> ...


All those must have set you back some $


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## yuri (Apr 11, 2009)

BeatsDownLow said:


> All those must have set you back some $


I bought all of them seconded hand , mostly 1 or 2 at a time as they came up , took quite a while to get all 8 . around £400 in total ,which was about the price new for 2 of them . 

in fact i bought every item pre owned for my system apart from power cabling ,phonos fuse boxes and 1 of my amps which i had from Previous systems ,


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