how good are the bass tubes Help

[spider77]

hi all iam planing to install a sub in my car, now i want to understand the main difference between the base tubes and the sub in box enclosures. To me its like this,the base tubes are much cleanly enclosed and looks good. one of my friend has base tube setup and he is crazy bout that. i have a baleno and i have got pioneer Ts_2150 (these speakers still rocks guys) rear speakers and boston front with alpine tweeters,i am running these on JVC hu.u may say JVC? but i actually got pioneer system ( basic model) first and then i was so disappointed that i had to get it changed to jvc and yes jvc sounds much better than pioneer, even the guy at Torque showroom near indiranagar Bangalore was surprised that jvc sounds better than Pioneers.

Now for my next upgrade (sub woofer n Amp),please help me with the right brand and good sound quality.

thanks
Karan

[revtech]

whats your budget dude ? and secondly tubes arent better than subs in sealed or ported boxes they just sound different.what kind of bass are you looking for ? tight or boomy ?


Rev

[nosfreak]

Originally Posted by revtech

whats your budget dude ? and secondly tubes arent better than subs in sealed or ported boxes they just sound different.what kind of bass are you looking for ? tight or boomy ?


Rev

Not pointing to anything but why do say bass tubes arent good?... im using a bass tube in m800. I get the tight bass that i want. the only ive noticed in seal sub the bass get boomy but cannot handle really high bass.. now again that depends on the type of sub. but why arent tubes good? just a question.

[icemanz]

Tubes will offer a boomy bass which will sound loud and will attract crowd initially, but in few days it may get annoying to you.
Ported boxes and sealed enclosures provide a tighter bass which is like a heavy punch and adds to sq.
Again its the matter of personal taste. Listen to both and decide for yourself.
Good tubes are available from JBL, for subs to go in sealed/ported enclosures you can check out Pioneer, JBL, Hertz, Alpine and few more based on your budget.

[shuvd]

Guys, I have JBL active bass tubes installed in my cars. I'm quite happy with it. I mean I'm not an audiophile, but I'm not a showoff either. And in active tubes, you can tune the setup to some extent.

[speedzak]

First of all, Bass tubes are not bad. Revtech was just saying that it is not as good as boxed subs. It is not better in terms of SQ. It also depends on the design and construction of the box too. But tubes are great VFM and also offer lots of boom and bang for the buck.

Clear, accurate bass cannot be easily achieved from a Bass tube. It's easier achieved from a boxed one. A sealed box consumes less space too.

Why do you think JVC is bad? It is a good brand. Be proud of your possession.

[navin]

Originally Posted by speedzak

Clear, accurate bass cannot be easily achieved from a Bass tube. It's easier achieved from a boxed one. A sealed box consumes less space too..

spider, zak is right and accurate abss can be achieved in a bass tube but I have not seen a commercially available car bass tube that can do that. Home Audio has a few bass tubes (like the Sonotubes) that can be resoanably accurate.

It does depend primarily on what music you like.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by shuvd

Guys, I have JBL active bass tubes installed in my cars. I'm quite happy with it. I mean I'm not an audiophile, but I'm not a showoff either. And in active tubes, you can tune the setup to some extent.

What is an active bass tube? The ones in JBL 10" and 12" are active ones or is this something different?

[hydrashok]

Originally Posted by mobike008

What is an active bass tube? The ones in JBL 10" and 12" are active ones or is this something different?

An Active Bass Tube has an amp built in. You don't need a separate amp to drive it. The built-in amp powers the driver in the tube. You'll need to give power input also to the tube, just like you do for an amp. They are less messy as everything is in a single package, and so lesser install hassle, and lesser wire. And (usually) the amp will match the sub-driver's power requirements just perfectly.

I don't think JBL's active tubes are sold anymore (in India, anyway).

On a lighter note, they (the active tubes) are easy to identify -- They look like the nuclear bombs we see in movies. If a cop sees one in your boot, you'll need to give him a demo before he believes you're not out to bomb somebody

The current JBL tubes (10" & 12") are passive tubes, i.e. they need to be amped separately.

[mobike008]

Thanks Hydra, now another OT query, how different would be the sound emanating from a 10 incher compared to a 12 incher JBL bass tube?

[hydrashok]

Originally Posted by mobike008

... how different would be the sound emanating from a 10 incher compared to a 12 incher JBL bass tube?

Wellll... The 12" would be louder and uhh.. boomier, and give somewhat deeper bass than the 10" tube. The difference between the 10" & the 12" wont' be thaaaat much, except for the loudness. You'll need to listen for yourself to really understand/judge/feel the difference.

[shuvd]

@ hydrashok - You don't say! I've been though this many times. Mostly at night, and during the Republic and Independnce day periods. Boy o boy! Do they get hyper on seeing that silver "bomb"! They have different names for the tube.. bazooka/bomb/missile speaker.

[revtech]

Originally Posted by nosfreak

Not pointing to anything but why do say bass tubes arent good?... im using a bass tube in m800. I get the tight bass that i want. the only ive noticed in seal sub the bass get boomy but cannot handle really high bass.. now again that depends on the type of sub. but why arent tubes good? just a question.

buddy im not sayin bass tubes are bad or anything hell i use a 12 inch bass tube...!!! what i meant to say was its more boomy then a sub in a sealed enclosure.so if your one who like tight bass then the tubes not for you.

Originally Posted by speedzak

First of all, Bass tubes are not bad. Revtech was just saying that it is not as good as boxed subs. It is not better in terms of SQ.

yeah thats exactly what i wanted to say. if your looking for pure sound quality you got to consider a sealed enclosure...

[Sam Kapasi]

There are different types of enclosures that you can buy, often with the same woofer inside. Therefore the kind of enclosure will dictate the kind of sound you get from it.

A bass tube is a bass reflex enclosure. Due to it's unique construction, there are fewer standing waves in the car. But due to it's size and shape and material (It's not wood) it offers some very LOUD and BOOMY bass. Some call that inaccurate, some call it fun!
It is a low cost alternative to a sub in a created enclosure and is extremely popular around the world as a quick solution, with an amplifier.

Hydra is correct, we stopped marketing the BOMB a few years ago.

So if you are looking at buying a ready, no fuss enclosure from the market you can buy
1) A bass tube - loud. fun and cheap
2) A sealed Box - Less sensitive (less loud) but more accurate
3) A bass reflex box - Loud, more accurate than a tube but more expensive
4) Bandpass Box - SPL types, needs lots of power
5) Dual Sub Bandpass box - see 4, just be crazier and have a bloody big amplifier.

Each one has different properties. And different price points too.

[low_bass_makker]

sam bhai the band pass are the most efficient ones...so they would need less power when compared to the bass reflex one and very less when compared to the sealed one.....

also the bandpass are great for SPL.....