# Old school MTX subs- any good?



## Buickmike (Aug 10, 2012)

So back in the day I had a 93ish MTX RTW-104 and it sounded really good in a ported box. I had the chance to hear a couple Blue Thunder 10's and remember them being incredibly powerful. 

I now have the itch to get some blue thunders. I almost never see them and they seem to go for a pretty penny when they do appear.

My question is, are they really that good, or is it just a nostalgia thing? Some of my favorite subs from the day are 1st gen JBL GTi series, RF Audiophile (I have both of these), and Superman logo OZ Audio (never owned any though). How do the Blue Thunders compare? Gold letter Kickers are also on my old school bucket list, but not sure if I'd like them or not.


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## hurrication (Dec 19, 2011)

100% nostalgia. I went through the same exact phase some years ago, and bought some blue thunder legends only to end up underwhelmed with them. For their time they were great subwoofers, but subwoofer technology has advanced since then and modern day subs are leaps and bounds ahead of the old school subs in terms of performance.

Also, you don't have to worry about the old subs being worn out from abuse or age. Unless the old school sub was kept upright in climate controlled storage for most of its life it's almost guaranteed that the suspension is going to have some sag.


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

I always liked the black cone 7000 series. Never heard the blue thunder subs though. I recently bought a 10" 800 series but I havnt listened to it yet. I wish I had just gotten a 7000 instead. 

I like old,school subs because of their efficiency. 500 would be more than enough for old school subs and hey sound amazing, for any decent modern sub you need 1kw+. I'm actually not a fan of where they have gone lately...but it is a result of power becoming cheap and efficient.


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## Buickmike (Aug 10, 2012)

This is the style I'm talking about:


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## stills (Apr 13, 2008)

I've got a 7000 10" and it does the job for me. I'm not really a basshead. 
I started with terminator 8's in high school. 
I've also got a blue thunder legend 8". Are the legends made the same as the originals?

It is difficult to find older subs that are in decent shape.
Newer subs do tend to favor more power/ smaller enclosure.


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## stills (Apr 13, 2008)

Fwiw the black golds are probably the best of the old mtx subs


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

Nice 7000. I need to add one to my collection someday.


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## 1styearsi (Aug 13, 2012)

now way would i waste my money on that old a sub and i'm all about old school american made audio.
my friend bought a set of volcano 15's because i had some back in the 90's.they were NIB never had power on them.ya the surrounds fell apart after a week of play i know he could fix that but he said f-it.....foam surrounds don't do well when they sit for 20+years.
i hate to be Mr Fosgate but rockford from the same year and price point ALWAYS sounded better than MTX.orion subs may have sounded better than all three mentioned they just took alot of airspace.IMO that is


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## stills (Apr 13, 2008)

I swapped my two terminators for a single Orion xtr dvc 10" on the same Orion 260gt( moon & stars) amp. Blew the locals away with my mad SQs. Good old boys couldn't understand running a single 10.


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## Buickmike (Aug 10, 2012)

stills said:


> I swapped my two terminators for a single Orion xtr dvc 10" on the same Orion 260gt( moon & stars) amp. Blew the locals away with my mad SQs. Good old boys couldn't understand running a single 10.


Those XTR's were real nice, hard hitting subs. Those are the first power hungry subs I remember. I had a buddy with 2 10's in the back of his Porsche 911 in flimsy fiberglass enclosures that replaced the back seat bottom. I ripped that out and put one of them in a properly sized sealed enclosure. Kept it off the same Alpine amp, but bridged the rear channels 4 ohm. It was MUCH better. The other one went into the trunk of an Infinity G20 in a bandpass box. The amp was too small, so it got replaced with a couple Kicker C8's and that worked out well.


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## Buickmike (Aug 10, 2012)

So looks like most of the "old schoolers' around here are not old school enough to remember the Blue Thunders. Either that or they must have been total crap. They really were MTX's competition for the gold letter Kicker comps. I've been looking for some super efficient loud ass sloppy bass subs from the early 90's to add to my collection. Both of these fit that description in my book.


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## Buickmike (Aug 10, 2012)

1styearsi said:


> i hate to be Mr Fosgate but rockford from the same year and price point ALWAYS sounded better than MTX.orion subs may have sounded better than all three mentioned they just took alot of airspace.IMO that is


You're talking to the guy who rocks two 10" 1st gen Punch Audiophile subs.  RF was good back in those days. I had Punch and they were decent. Hell even the Series 1 was one of the better entry level subs out there.


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## Lycancatt (Apr 11, 2010)

our company repossessed a van with 12 mtx 7000 series 15s in it which they had no use for..so I made warehouse subs out of them for a few years and loved them to death driven by old bob carver pro amps. no idea where they got to now but wishing I still had at least 4 of them


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## MACS (Oct 3, 2007)

The original Blue Thunder subs had rubber surrounds and last pretty much forever if you do not over power them. I have a pair of 12 inch BT's made in 1989 that are still going strong. I bought them brand new, so I am old school enough to give an opinion. 

A friend of mine bought whatever top model Kicker had in 1989, about same time I bought my BT's. His Kicker cones separated from the surrounds in less than one year from the Georgia summer heat. My Blue Thunders are still playing as of 2015. 

Can the Blue Thunder's handle 1000 watts in a ported enclosure? No. 

Do they sound really good in the right size "sealed" enclosure with 200 to 300 watts? Yes. 

The 12's like 1.5 to 2.0 cu ft sealed per sub.


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## Buickmike (Aug 10, 2012)

MACS said:


> The original Blue Thunder subs had rubber surrounds and last pretty much forever if you do not over power them. I have a pair of 12 inch BT's made in 1989 that are still going strong. I bought them brand new, so I am old school enough to give an opinion.
> 
> A friend of mine bought whatever top model Kicker had in 1989, about same time I bought my BT's. His Kicker cones separated from the surrounds in less than one year from the Georgia summer heat. My Blue Thunders are still playing as of 2015.
> 
> ...


Thank you! Finally someone who has these subs. I only heard them once and they kicked my ass. I listened to Limelight by Rush in a minitruck and it was like getting beat by a baseball bat.


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## NRA4ever (Jul 19, 2010)

I had 2 black golds on a mtx 2300. They sounded great


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## ricard_calderon (May 28, 2015)

I used to have a pair of 12" as the ones of the bottom with the "Blue Thunder" on script font.. sounded great with a Punch 150 HD!! I sold everything at a good price because it was really great...

Now I need your help, I am doing a DIY amplified baffle, I bought a Class D amplifier on ebay and other stuff in order to get this done... and I want to use a mostly unused MTX Terminator 15" 4 Ohm (black cone with the red "Electrical" letters in the middle)... I bought this because it was really cheap around early 90s of what I remember... I tried to put it on a reflex enclosure and never sounded right so I pull it off and keep it in the box until now... I lost the specification sheet where it clearly stated the recommended measures for a sealed enclosure...

My request is if someone still have this spec sheet to get the right measures for this bad boy?? I would really appreciate it.

Thanks



MACS said:


> The original Blue Thunder subs had rubber surrounds and last pretty much forever if you do not over power them. I have a pair of 12 inch BT's made in 1989 that are still going strong. I bought them brand new, so I am old school enough to give an opinion.
> 
> A friend of mine bought whatever top model Kicker had in 1989, about same time I bought my BT's. His Kicker cones separated from the surrounds in less than one year from the Georgia summer heat. My Blue Thunders are still playing as of 2015.
> 
> ...


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