# Best 10" Free Air sub



## TheHulk9er (Oct 28, 2010)

What would you use for a 10" free air sub to get the best sound quality and impact? My current Polk works very well but I was curious what the pro's here would use. I have a 2000 BMW 323Ci with the sub mounted in the ski pass thru and I am quite pleased with the amount of quality bass I get from this set up (but as you all know we can never be totally satisfied). 

Any help here is greatly appreciated.


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## south east customz (Jan 17, 2011)

DLS OA10, best I've used and I've used alot..id10 is good but I'm not buying any products from them since Eric left


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## Patrick Bateman (Sep 11, 2006)

TheHulk9er said:


> What would you use for a 10" free air sub to get the best sound quality and impact? My current Polk works very well but I was curious what the pro's here would use. I have a 2000 BMW 323Ci with the sub mounted in the ski pass thru and I am quite pleased with the amount of quality bass I get from this set up (but as you all know we can never be totally satisfied).
> 
> Any help here is greatly appreciated.


A lot of woofers sound "thin" in an infinite baffle because the QTS is too low. So you end up with a really slow rolloff that is the antithesis of "punchy."

This is why the Eminence Alpha 15a is probably the most popular Dipole sub in the world. It has tons of displacement, it's cheap, and it has a QTS that is IB friendly.


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## mitchyz250f (May 14, 2005)

Great info Patrick (if that is your real name), can you recommend a great performing, cheap 10".


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

The JBL w10gti has to be mentioned.... It would be my first choice. I know that!


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## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

Just a suggestion but I'd move to a 15" (new Acoustic Elegance maybe), a ski pass opening is more then large enough for that size. Assuming it fits vertically of course. It will also work better for a given trunk volume.


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## Patrick Bateman (Sep 11, 2006)

mitchyz250f said:


> Great info Patrick (if that is your real name), can you recommend a great performing, cheap 10".


Nah, there's too many choices, just let the spec sheet guide you.

If you were going to put a sealed box in a car, you'd want an F3 in the neighborhood of 60hz, give or take 10hz, with a QTC of 0.7, give or take 25%.

Infinite baffle subs are no different at all - the only difference is that there's no box to change the Thiele Small parameters.

So instead of an F3 of 60hz, you want and FS of 60hz or so, and instead of a QTC of 0.7, you want a QTS of 0.7.

It's the same criteria that Kevin Haskins used for his DPL-10 sub. But he designed his for the house, where cabin gain doesn't kick in until 30 or 40hz. And because of that, he spec'd an FS that is much lower than what we need in the car.

Please help me choose the components for my dodecasub - AVS Forum

Since it won't be easy finding a woofer with an FS of 60hz and a QTS of 0.7, you might consider using an EQ to transform the frequency, or simply use a resistor to change the QTS.


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## [email protected] (Nov 7, 2010)

The jl audio marine 10 is a pretty awesome free air sub.


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