well.... dual voice coils means there are 2 seperate coils of wire that move the speaker up and down. 2 coils are usually better because you can divide the power up between the 2 and this will relieve the stress and heat from them. also you can get more excursion and better response with 2 coils.

if a speaker is rated for 500 watts max divide that by 3 and that is the correct continuous power you can put to it. so its about 167 watts RMS (or continuous) power. thats the correct value...most of the time a speaker says 250 rms and 500 peak. this is not the correct value and i don't kno where they come up with these numbers...but i'm guessing thats just when their ****ty coils overheat and melt.

you want an amplifier that can put out about 170 rms to the sub most likely at 4 ohms(if the sub is rated for 170 rms). if you want more information look online at like www.howthingswork.com or jus search the web.

 

http://www.howstuffworks.com/speaker.htm

http://www.howstuffworks.com/amplifier.htm

a lot more info than anyone could tell you about here.

 

Prms=Ppeak/(square root 2)

companies usually advertise lower peak power because they don't want people blowing up the speaker. basically, the rms value is what you can continuously run a speaker at, whereas peak power is what it can handle at most for an impulse. so if a speaker is 100watt rms than you want to power it with at most 100watts.

 

Personally I have to say that the wood selection is really different with every sub system you are going to set up. First of all I think MDF is very much everything it is cracked to be. I've seen examples of MDF enclosures in SPL comp cars that have pounded their way to the top. If you are going for a very loud setup you can special order 1 inch thick MDF board. If you are going for a normal system (<600 watts RMS) then I would choose the thickest that your local Home Depot or Lowe's carries. Build the box to exact specs as provided by the MF unless you can find overwhelming proof to build other dimensions. When you finish the box finish it with a poly-urethane coat inside and out and a silicon based sealent on the joints inside. Outside the carpet doesn't matter, thinner is always easier to bend around corners. If you want to port the box you can but I have never been a fan because personally unless the sub is specifically designed to work only in a ported box you are better off (sound quality wise) to seal it and get a better amp to compensate for any apparant loss of volume. Although porting a box really just boosts the lower end of the spectrum, so sealing doesn't actually lower volume at those ranges as much as porting increases. Porting is prime if you are only and I mean only ever going to play rap and some techno. Even though it boosts those low ranges (16-40) everything above that becomes more muddled and lost and IMHO I think it decreases the sound quality. Don't know if that helped or not, but it worked for me when I built boxes for my Kappa Perfect 12.1s. Peace Out

 

Hey,
about the pwer ratings of speakers, the continuous power handling of subwoofers are not necessarily 1/3 the max power. My hifonics warriors are rated as 300 watt subwoofers yet the manual gives them a 250 continuous. hows that for conservative?
In any case, it all depends on the manufacturer of that model. companies get bought and sold so their standards change. like soundstream and, of course, hifonics. Hifonics used to be a good company. Now its kinda dropped the ball. its still decent stuff, but not like the old VII and VIII amplifiers, if i only had my old Zeus. what an amp. But now i've gotten out of car audio for the most part. I've settled for what i have, Cadence A5000+, 2 12" Hifonics Olumpian Warriors(the older model, not the new warior series) and whatever components i have anymore. Damn, i feel like an idiot now, i'll just shut up
Sidi