2 10’s or 2 12’s…

Trying to decide if I should go with 2 10” subs or 2 12” subs…if you are a fellow bass head tundra owner, please tell me about your setup! please tell me
1. Sub size (10 or 12)
2. Brand/ model
3. Ported or sealed box
4. Your experience with them! (Are they exactly what you wanted? Do you wish you went bigger/ smaller?etc.)

 

i vote for 10's.
Been happy with my 2 JL 10tw3-d4's in a ported box.

 

Can I ask what brand of box you went with? Or did you build it?

 

I went with a box made by tech12volt....well, actually almost everything in my dummy nice stereo is from James at Tech12volt. Plenty of people on here have been happy with his prices and customer service.
his website is a little brief, but he caries just about anything you could possibly want.
https://www.shop.tech12volts.com/category.sc?categoryId=124
best to reach out to him via email and let him know what you are looking for and what kind of budget. tech12volt@gmail.com

 

Awesome thanks! Definitely seen a lot about his stuff on here, I’ll shoot him an email and see what’s up.

 

Tech12volts sub box. With 2 10’s. All of my systems over the years all 10’s they hit harder. Just my opinion. And some audio guys opinions also.

 

I agree w/the other feedback; I've run 10s, 12s and 15s over my years. 15s are waaaay to boomy. 12s can be good if you have a considerable amount of power driving your mids, but even w/that you'll need to cover a much larger range of frequencies so dialing them in can be tricky (I've seen a couple of guys run 12s for their deep bass and 8s for their mids and higher bass frequencies w/good success but that's a lot of equipment)

I've always been most impressed w/systems that are running (2) or (4) 10s (depending on the setup) in a well engineered ported box. When done right, the 10s produce a nice tight bass that can be 'boomy' if it needs to be; but, is normally tuned to produce clean crisp bass. To me these systems sound the best.

I'm older now, so my audiophile ambitions are much less than they use to be. I went w/a single 10" in a ported box and JBL/DSP amp upgrade from james @tech12volts, and I've been very pleased. However, if I was looking to build an exceptional system (replacing head unit, all speakers, etc.), I'd talk w/him (James) about designing a custom system using dual 10s and a sealed box.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

James at Tech12 hooked me up. Did 2 JL 10s with JL components in the doors driven by a JL 5 channel amp. Kenwood HU. Still happy with it all 3 years later.

 

I have 2 12s in a sealed box behind the back seat of my 2019 crewmax. They are stereo integrity bm12 mk5. However these are not made anymore BUT stereo integrity is developing an 11 inch version. Stereo integrity bm11 I think.
Shallow subs but very tight bass.
I’ll take my 12s, 15s 18s and 24s any day over 10s or smaller. Never been a fan of 10s.

but that being said there are limited options for crewmax tundras.

I had james build me a box for my 12s.

there are more options for 10s.

and just to say, boominess or tight bass isn’t based on the size of the sub. My 24s produce some of the tightest and hardest hitting bass I have ever experienced. They can also be subtle and articulate. It’s more about the sub itself and the install.

 

JL Audio has shallow mount subs in both 10" and 12" versions. The model numbers are 10TW3 and the 12TW3 respectively. I just put together a build thread showing my install of the 12TW3-04. The 04 indicates that they are the 4 ohm version but these are dual voice coil and I have two of them in a sealed box that allows me to get down to one ohm. With two 12" subs behind the rear seat of the 2019 Crewmax there is no room to run ports in the box. It is to small. You can check out what I did here.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/2019-crewmax-all-new-custom-sound-system-diy-build-thread.122853/

Things to consider.

No matter which sub you choose to go with 10 or 12 if you use two of them, the box volume will not be ideal. Actually far from it. A sealed box is the only option you really have in this case. If you use only one sub either 10 or 12 your box volume will be plenty sufficient and you can run a port. This will give you lower base extension at the expense of output volume. Which rout you decide to go will be determined by your design goals, your budget, the amount of work you are willing to put into it (or pay someone else to do) and what the rest of your system is comprised of. If you are only adding a sub to your other wise stock sound system then my advise would be use a single 10" woofer in a ported box. Something like the JL Audio sub I mentioned above combined with a 500.1 watt RMS class D amp will do you fine.

If you are going for a full on custom build like I did with a full sound treatment and complete system delete and replacement with a goal of absolute sound quality with no shortage of power then the two 12" in a sealed box will give you a tight controlled base and with about a thousand watts of power you will get plenty of extension and the subs will hit hard. To get the most from this choice you need good solid mid base drivers in all of the doors. With out the mid base in the doors the subs will sound disconnected from the rest of the system especially with most of the upper register coming from on top of your dash things will sound very wonky.

10" subs will give you a little more box volume to work with but it will still need to be a sealed box. Any port that you would put in a box that small will not function properly for two reasons. First there just isn't the needed air space to achieve resonance and the port would need to be several feet long and secondly the port unless constructed outside of the box will only serve to take up even more space inside the box further reducing the boxes ability to be a resonant chamber. In a sealed configuration whether you use 10" or 12" subs you will get a lot closer to the desired air space and with enough power behind the sub you can make up for some of the deficit.

10" subs are easier to work with as far as getting them in behind the rear seat. JL Audio also makes what they call a "stealth box" that has been designed and made specifically to fit the 2014 and above Tundra CrewMax trucks and is made from fiberglass and uses two of the 10TW3's that face to the rear of the truck. They are friken expensive but if you want a simple plug and play option that has all of JL Audios sound design teams many hours of development behind it then this is an amazing option. I wouldn't go that rout myself but that doesn't mean that it's not a solid option.

And no I don't work for or have any affiliation with JL Audio. There are many different subs that will work fine I just can't speak to any of them because I have no experience with them but since I just installed two of the 12" JL's in my own ride I can speak to them and will say that they are extremely well suited for this install.

I hope this helps. You should check out my build thread linked above as it is pretty detailed and you never know what tid bits of information you might gleam from it. I have after all been installing custom sound systems since the early days back in the 1980's. So I do know a thing or two about it.

 

Thanks this was super helpful! I also did take a look at your setup, it’s quite impressive! I however do not have the knowledge nor the means to do a lot of that stuff, so I will probably have to hire someone to install some of my stuff for me I do think I will go with your idea of 2 12” in a sealed box, however I noticed you built your own box… so I will either have to find a sealed box that will fit in the truck or I’ll have to hire someone who knows how to build sub boxes. However, here is what I have come up with so far:
Subs- 2 Kicker comp RT’s (I know a lot of people have recommended the JL’s, and I have personally heard JL’s and know they are good. However I have also had 2 different Kicker subs and had yet to be disappointed with their products as well, and since these are cheaper AND have a higher RMS than the JL’s it’s what I am looking into at the moment. But as always feel free to share input about it if there is something I should know!)
Amp- 1st option is JL JD1000/1
2nd option is kicker CX 1200.1
(Again for the price I’d rather the JL amp, and bc with my very limited knowledge on this stuff it seems like that amp may align better with the subs? {500rms x 2 subs = 1000 which is what the JL amp provides@2 ohms. Kicker provides 1200@2 ohms so it might be too much?} but again I’m green to all this so y’all lmk if I’m way off. I have also heard great things about JL’s amps so if they have something that could work better than what I’ve found I’m all ears!)
As for the door speakers I’m really just looking for something to upgrade from factory. I’m replacing the HU and everything else…might as well get the most out of my time/ money and replace the door speakers as well, but I definitely care much less about the brand/ specs than the subs/amp. That being said, I did see what you said about needing something with hood mid bass, so any suggestions you have for a speaker set with good mid bass and a corresponding amp would be appreciated! (Not sure if the speakers you got had what you were looking for, or if you made the comment about mid bass bc you found the speakers to put in to be lacking)
Again thank you all so much for your help/input! Very hopeful to get this stuff figured out and learn more about it as I go

 

From what you and @Jack_A_Lope said, I think 2 12’s in a sealed box is what I’m looking for. I saw you said that 10’s seem to do the best overall, and from what jack said 2 12’s in a sealed box could get me similar punch to 10’s, but better SQ for longer low bass? I do remember my single 12 sounding better for some stuff than my friends 2 10”s when it came to super low, drawn out bass. However these were both ported boxes and vastly different vehicles (12 in Nissan versa and 2 10’s in a jeep wrangler) so it’s hard to compare that to how 2 10’s or 12’s would sound in a sealed box behind the seats of a tundra…
So just gathering pieces from different people, I think if I get 2 12” sealed with enough power, I should get what I’m looking for

 

Single 12. But I kind of wish I went bigger. My vote would be 2 12s just for more cone area.

 

Removed larger section of back seat
Sound deadening material on ALL metal surfaces throughout the truck (floor, doors inner and outer, ceiling, pillars, hood, bed)
XS Power AGM under hood battery
320amp H.O. AutoTech alternator
Big 4 power upgrade
All 1/0 ofc power and ground wire
80ah lithium battery out back
3 runs of 1/0 ofc power wire
Alpine head unit
6.5” component speaker set per door amplified with a 4 channel Sundown amp
18” Sundown X series sub in a custom built enclosure powered by a Salt 6 (7200watts) sub amp
She’s loud. Doing 153db @37hz. 148.6 @27hz actually the loudest single sub setup in my state. It’s good for me, because I still have full function of my truck, minus one passenger seat. Whichever way you go, upgrade your electrical first.

 

Very nice…definitely not what I’m looking to do though still want all my seats, and the ability to flip the seats up and have the large fooor space when needed (so no under the seat subs either) looking to fit what I can behind the back seats, I’m sure that will be plenty for me

 

Bobby Gately makes a box with four 6.5" that goes behind the rear seat. It looks like you have to move the seats forward a bit. bet it slams.

 

Kicker comp RT's are good subs. I had one in my Explorer. What you need to be aware of though is the mounting depth. Both inside and outside of the box. Also you should have grills on the subs just because the space is so tight you need to make sure that nothing can interfere with the subs operation or it could spell disaster.

JL makes some pretty great amps but they are pricy. I'm running both my subs off of 1 JP8 amp from Down4Sound and it cost me around $200.00 where the same power amp from JL will cost you around a grand. I'm running my subs at 1 ohm and the amp is able to output more then 1000 watts RMS. That is more then the subs are rated for but I always like some overhead in my system. You don't want to have to run your amps hard to get the rated power for the speakers. If you are trying to get say 500 watts it is better to have a 800 watt amp supply the 500 watts then a 500 watt amp supply the 500 watts. One amp is hardly breaking a sweat while the other one is pushing clipping. Amplifiers will always work their best at about 3/4 output so that is where I try to set the RMS targets for. More power is always better but you need to show proper restraint with the volume knob is all. Another thing about high powered systems is they have better low level listening performance as well.

I'm very happy with the speakers I choose. The mid base in my system is very strong. Everything ties together nicely.

 

I thought I was psychotic about my sound until I saw some the outstanding systems I see here. I have 2 of these. Never in my life would I have thought I’d be happy with 8’s, but here I am, loving it.

https://www.jlaudio.com/products/cp108lg-w3v3-car-audio-microsub-subwoofer-systems-93133

 

Ok awesome, so it sounds like the kicker amp (or something similar that has a little more power than the subs rating) would be the way to go then? I’ll put screenshots of the subs (K comp RT 12”) and the amp (K CX1200.1) to see what you think. As far as the mounting depth of the subs, still looking around for a box that could fit them, but they seem pretty comparable to some of the other slim subs I’ve looked at.

 

My tech12volts setup I won in a raffle. 2 JL 10s and a 500W Alpine amp I added.

 

Ok, not wanting to thread jack here, but I have to ask what brand sound meter are you using that's giving you readings in the high 140s and 150db range ??

The reason I ask we are trying to do some sound dampening at our range, and the few meters we have access to are only reading up to mid-high 120s, so the process has been very inefficient for us.

If you don't mind sharing the model/brand of the meter, I'd appreciate it

 

Update-
So after talking to my friend who had 2 10’s (mentioned before, in the Jeep), he recently jumped up to 2 12’s and says he regrets it. He doesn’t notice too much more low bass/ better long notes, but the punchy bass in rock has become muddled. He also noted that he had MUCH lower power than I thought (I thought he was close to/above 1,000Rms but he said it’s closer to 600) So he is in the 2 10”s camp, however both setups he had were ported boxes, and in a jeep not a tundra, so not a perfect comparison. However, considering I am having a difficult time finding a sealed dual 12” box for behind the seats (that will fit the shallow mount subs I want anyway), and it seems like I don’t need as much power as I originally thought I would…it’s looking like 2 10’s in a sealed box will be the way I probably go.
so right now here’s what I’m considering-
Subs- still looking at 2 Kicker Comp RT’s for the price, just 10’s instead of 12’s (which brings the RMS down to 800 instead of 1000)
Amp- still looking for what would work good for these 10’s, so any recommendations would be great! Still looking at the Kicker CX1200.1, but 1200 is probably a bit overkill for an 800RMS setup…but y’all lmk! I know it was recommended to have an amp that is slightly more powerful, just don’t know if 400 over is too much.
Box- I found this one (linked below) and they literally have the 10” Comp RT’s listed as their recommended subs for it so it should work good! (Y’all lmk what you think though)
https://www.soundoffaudio.com/2014-21-tundra-crew-max-dual-10-or-12-sealed-subwoofer-box-behind-the-seat/

 

I have 2 American bass shallow mount subs in a sealed box. With an American bass 5 channel amp. MB quarts components in the doors. I am older now so after my last system, I down graded and went for a cheap system this time. Found the sealed box on line for like $40, can’t remember the brand now, but fits behind the crewmax back seats. Sounds good but not really cranking the volume these days, lost enough of my hearing.

 

I have an SplLab MiniV2 very accurate. Those measurements were taken off the windshield, vehicle sealed.

 

You guys are into it - I’m stoked with my class d amp and 6.5 kicker, lol

 

Good summary right here.

 

I have always been a 2 10's in a sealed enclosure fan. It's tight and deep enough for most, without huge enclosures and space hogging.
Overall it comes down to the details: which drivers, what amp, and very importantly, the design of the enclosure and accurate matching of the driver's Thiele/Small parameters. You make a mistake there, and it's over for SQ of the sub.

That's why I'm using the JL stealth box in my 17' all that data is perfectly matched to get the most out of their subs. However, I treated the fiberglass enclosure to additional sound dampening to tighten it up even more. It lacks the super deep, but performs excellent within the truck and it's limitations. I push it with 1000w of Audison power and control. I have no complaints.

 

Lots of good info here. I have been into car audio sound systems/bass head for over 15 years. (yes, I'm showing my age ). I've had 15", 12", 10", 8" in all brands from low end to high end. I have found that I prefer 10" the most. They are more accurate and produce the sound I like. I have 2 JL Audio 10TW3 in my Tundra with a JL audio HD900/5 amp. It sounds awesome. To be honest...I didn't like the way the 10" sounded at first. So I had a custom sealed box rebuilt and it sounds much better now.

 

That looks like a good match up just make sure you wire the subs properly. Seeing that they are DVC at 2ohms per voice coil you can wire each driver in series making them 4 ohm drivers then wire them parallel to arrive at a 2 ohm load < or > wire the drivers in parallel to achieve a 1 ohm load then wire them in series to arrive at 2 ohms. Just don't wire every thing in parallel or you will only have a 1/2 ohm load and I don't suggest anyone wire their systems that low if they are going to be daily drivers. If you want to get every thing out of that amp I would be looking for either a 2 ohm single voice coil version of that driver or a 4 ohm DVC version instead. That way you will be at 1 ohm and able to get maximum wattage from that amp. 1 ohm is still pretty low but that amp can handle it so it shouldn't be a problem but 1/2 ohm is a no go.

 

In normal circumstances yes, you would be building a box to ideal specs based on the drivers Thiele/Small parameters but unfortunately in the case of the Tundra especially if using 2 subs (10" or 12") you build the largest box that you can fit behind the seat and that's all you get so the Thiele/Small parameters don't really apply in this case. You just kind of have to deal with what you have and hope for the best. You have a little more leeway if using only one sub you can port the box but even then you will be building a box to fit the space and not the other way around.