Hi,I was looking for quite some time for a subwoofer that would fit in my standard cab Ford F-150 pickup, preferably behind the seat with no loss of leg room. I am 6'3" and need all the help I can get in that department. I created a purchase list for my stereo system; I chose an Alpine 9887 head unit, JL Audio 500/1v2 sub amp, JL audio 2550 2 channel amp for the front speakers (Rockford Fosgate T1652 6.5" door speakers, be warned you will need to open the factory hole up about .25" all around the circumference of the factory cutout for this particular speaker basket to fit. In their defense, once installed the factory door panel snaps right over the top of them and they don't interfere anywhere else with the door's operation, actually a fairly simple task with a nibbler or air hacksaw. I suppose you could do this with a dremel tool and abrasive cut off wheels but it would take you a while as the metal appears to be 20 ga. or better on the doors skin. I digress)
The RF P3S 12 pre-loaded enclosure arrived almost exactly two days after I ordered it here on Amazon, amazingly fast and free shipping to boot! I had removed the carpeting that covered the rear of the cab to install some dynamat and had good access to the structural metal to screw the "L" brackets to. I used a pair on the top of the box and a pair installed along the sides towards the bottom of the unit. I do not want it moving around and it will give the best sound if rigidly and securely mounted. I put the amps under the passenger and driver side of my bench seat. I had to raise the factory height of the seat by two washers under each set of nuts and two washers under each set of bolts (front) that secure the seat to the cab, a perfect clearance and no one will be able to steal your pricey electronics without removing the seats (TIP: Check for proper operation of amps and crossovers, levels, etc. before installing seat, I had mine in and out of the pickup body three times before I was happy. If its any consolation the factory carpet/floor mat only required the most minimal of trimming to snug right up to the front of the amps. I chose to purchase the "Bass Boost" control knob from JL and am glad I did, I can alter the sound of the sub (EG: Levels) by merely disabling the "Subwoofer" control in the Alpine head unit and using the "Manual" "Ear" or "Seat of the pants" method the control knob offers. If you prefer to set the levels of it from the head unit you can disable the knobs functionality by simply engagaing the "Subwoofer Control" from the 9887's menu. Its a very nice little accessory to break the sub in with. If you find it wallowing you can reduce the level and maintain your SQL till the sub is able to limber up a bit at a calculated pace.
Alright, the RF 12" sealed box, shallow series, truck sub..I wont "Date" myself but to give you an idea of my age, before this system I had never owned any JL audio products but was relatively sure from all of the stellar reviews that the two amps would be money well spent.
I have what I like to think is fairly good taste in mobile audio and tend to go for themid-level to high quality gear, my old car, a Volvo wagon, had a Nakamichi CD400 head unit, PPI amps and Diamond audio "Hex" 6.5's in it for my entertainment system. For what its worth,my first "Good" stereo had "Jensen Triaxle" speakers installed in the rear deck and doors (They were the "Bomb" at the time"...The first time I heard "Money for nothing" over the amped triaxe's via a top of the line Pioneer head unit I was hooked...All in all...just another brick in the wall....Time flies! I digress..
I listen primarily to TOP 40 Country and talk radio. I do have an extensive CD collection in my ITunes library and tend to like my music with some "Punch" but not sloppy vibrating bass, you know the types that run 2-4 12's and spend all their money on making their license plate rattle without giving a damn how the "Overall" system is balanced or sounds.
I auditioned the RF' component speakers before buying and was impressed at their balanced tweets and solid mid's at a substantially loud volume, I don't have AC in my pickup and even with the Dynamat application during the install riding with two-twenty air conditioning can rob you of volume very fast! The ability to "Crank" it up adds the enjoyment of the trip in the summertime, mine and others :)
Lets face it, it is only one 12" speaker and can only produce so much movement in the airspace of the cab of the truck or any other space for that matter. To under power it or send "Dirty" audio to this limited application speaker would be against all principles of mobile audio, I am sorry to have spent time giving you the "Nuts & Bolts" of my system but to give the speaker a fair and accurate review I have tried to convey the thought and effort that went into my installation, your mileage may vary...I did not spring for the name brand "Dynamat" , I had a half a roll of "Grace Ice & Water" left over from my barn's new roof and danged if it did not look like Dynamat without the aluminum foil (Plastic coated instead). It seems to work equally as good as Dynamat for damping the exposed metal surfaces, doors, cab roof and floor & inside the hood of my vehicle (1994 F-150 regular cab) pickup.
On installation of the sub the bottom of the MDF box rested on the outside edges of two bolt heads that were squarely in the middle of the floor where the bottom of the sub rests. A razor knife and small router bit gave me the clearance the RF box needed to sit firmly and squarely on the ledge behind my seat. As a note, the MDF looked a little "Crumbly" after I routed it down through the carpet into the wood structure. A little "Thin" superglue applied to the bare MDF is cheap insurance against it chipping out or developing a weak spot by my having removed 1/8" of material with the router bit. Flood the MDF and you will see when it stops absorbing the fluid its pretty much saturated. I also dribbled some of the thin CA into the screw holes for the "L" brackets I pre-drilled. Again, it offers superior strength to the exposed MDF and helps the wood screws keep their "Bite".
I have the gain on the JL 500/1 turned up about 5/8ths of the way, I have not looked at the signal through an oscilloscope for clipping yet. I will do a better adjustment of the amps and head unit after the speakers "Break-In".
I burned a CD with some of my favorites on it to include Steely Dan's FM, the Eagles, Toby Keith, Rascal Flatts and various other artists for a "Demo" type CD representative of the kind of music I like to listen to. None are "Bassy" to the extreme but most have some good kick-drum accompaniments with the guitar rifts. Plenty of mid to mid-low bass notes for the sub to deal with. I think the amp cut off at 80HZ so anything below that is being shipped off to the RF 12" for play.
Several other CD's have been played over the past week and the sub just seems to get better (I knew it would) and tighter as time goes by. I have been told that 30-40 hours of play are needed to properly break it in and not to "Max" it out until it has had a chance to loosen up a bit, could be "Black Majic" but sounds reasonable to me so I comply.
The intro to Leonard Cohen's "The Future" has a really tight bass line and shows how rapidly the little RF 12" can respond under stress. Having the "Gain" knob at about 12 o clock the sub keeps right up SPL and SQL with the rest of the components, at a volume setting of "22" on the Alpine 9887 my ears start to hurt with zero distortion, yeah, I am pleased, very pleased with the overall sound and "Balance" of the system. Especially given the very small size of the truck cab and the location of the forward tweeters and their phasing. I did not bother with "Kick panels" as I have found them to be pretty much not worth the effort for the relative "Gain" in staging or musical "Presence". What you need in a pickup is clear & loud or loud & clear, se la vie...
With no loss in legroom, the relatively "Small" size of the box and the quality manner in which it was manufactured and detailed (Box trim and carpeting) I am very very happy with my selection and would recommend this sub to anyone with similar space restrictions who need good solid bass without breaking the bank or having to make their own "Custom" enclosures. The $179.00 I spent on it leads me to say that it was probably the best "Value" in all of the components I purchased for the system. Be warned that there is no "Grille" for the speaker and it would probably be susceptible to damage should it be mounted in a location that sees more "Traffic" and access that the area behind the seat of my pickup. I dont store anything behind my seat so I did not worry myself about protecting the surround, if its not going to be installed behind the seat of a truck you may want to protect the surround from inadvertent damage or your girlfriend's spike heel shoes carelessly thrown over the seat into your new sub.
Overall it is a very nicely engineered package that just needs bolting down to install and enjoy. No "Box Math" or fitment issues with the speaker/enclosure. Hopefully this system will give me hours of trouble free enjoyment before my next vehicle needs a system.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Rockford Fosgate Punch P3L-S12 Shallow Single P3S 12 Inch Pre-Loaded Enclosure
Product Description:
Have a regular cab truck with no space behind the seat? We have the perfect enclosure that delivers respectable Bass where there previously was none. This pre-loaded enclosure features a single Punch Stage-3 12" shallow mount woofer and features a 4-Ohm impedance so it's sure to be compatible with several amplifiers.
Rockford Fosgate Punch Series Enclosures
The size along with the quality of construction of an enclosure for your new Rockford sub is almost as important as the sub itself. Rockford makes 8 different enclosures that cover just about every size, power and budget requirement. And they all have one thing in common:they produce the kind of bass you expect from Rockford Fosgate. So get a Punch loaded enclosure and start cruising!P3L-S12 Features
P3L-S12 Enclosure:
Computer optimized design
Constructed with 1/2" MDF
Covered with high density carpet
High current binding posts
Wired exclusively with Rockford Fosgate speaker cable
P3SD212 Subwoofer:
Custom 10-AWG nickel plated push terminals
Extended pole piece and bumped vented backplate
High excursion Poly-Ether-Ester surround
High-temp voice coil with spun-laced Nomex� re-inforcement collar
Kevlar Fiber reinforced semi-pressed paper cone and ABS/Acrylic dustcap
Linear spider with embedded 16 AWG tinsel leads
Protective PVC textured magnet cover
Reversable diamond cut cast aluminum trim ring
Rigid die-cast aluminum low profile basket
Vented spider cavity
P3L-S12 Specifications
Woofer Quantity: 1 Woofer Size: 12" Woofer Series: Punch Stage 3 Shallow Woofer Impedance: 2-Ohm x 2 DVC Power Handling: 400 Watts RMS
800 Watts Max System Configuration: Sealed Enclosure Material: 1/2" MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) Speaker Connector: Up to 12 AWG Binding Post Dimensions: H 13.5" x W 27.37" x D 5.25-3.25"
Thirty Years of Rockford Fosgate
Rockford Fosgate products have been designed and engineered in Tempe, Arizona since the beginning. Rockford's 30 year reputation is grounded in engineering and manufacturing some of the finest audio products in the world. The company's no-compromise approach has yielded patented iconic products such as the Punch EQ, Punch 45 amplifier and the 3Sixty integrated signal processor. Today, Rockford's new products push the performance envelope even further. Each new product is a step forward--they sound bigger, they play louder, and run longer. Rockford never settles for "good enough."The 2010 product line represents the company's core philosophy. Rockfords new amplifiers, speakers and subwoofers have raised the bar on the competition.
What's in the Box
Rockford Fosgate Punch P3L-S12 Shallow Single P3S 12-Inch Pre-Loaded Enclosure, User's ManualRockford Fosgate Punch Series P3 Shallow Enclosures
Rockford Fosgate Punch P3L-S10 Shallow Single P3S 10-Inch Pre-Loaded Enclosure Rockford Fosgate Punch P3L-S12 Shallow Single P3S 12-Inch Pre-Loaded Enclosure
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