WOW, I haven't posted in the general discussion for a while. Mostly Donut Shop.

I currently have two 12 Inch subs in my Ford Explorer. I don't really want to go with a bigger amp and or more powerful subs. What I am wondering is what kind of change I will notice if I simply got a sub box for three subs and added a third sub?

I wouldn't be running anymore power to them, but I'd obviously be having more cone area. Would this just give me deeper sounding bass, or would it indeed sound louder because of the extra cone area? This has never been explained to me so I was always curious.

I would think I would notice some kind of a difference. Maybe just air movement throughout my vehicle?

What amp and sub combo are you using?

Rockford 800watt aII and two 12 Inch Kicker Comp VR's 4OHM DVC

Athough the 800a2 is only rated for 4ohm bridged the A-series were great amps and you will have no problem running a third D4 sub in series on it.
It is likely giving the subs ~900rms as it is so adding a third will give you a bit more power and enough to still drive them very well given the correct enclosure.
As long as you have enough airspace to make a box big enough for three VR12's then you will see a decent increase in output over what you have now.

I would suspect not much of a difference unless you increased power output as well.

^^^ Well, you'd think with more cone area moving you'd notice some sound difference. :confused:

see basic car audio electronics' website for a table that you can plug your specs into to give you an estimate of spl. Scroll down on the right side to number 31(speakers)to get to the section that has this table. I believe that by adding just one more driver and leaving all else the same, you will only gain about 1.5- 2.0 dB in spl.http://www.bcae1.com/

1.76 db increase from difference in cone area...

You can probably squeeze a couple hundred extra watts out of the amp, and will also have less power compression... (You could risk blowing outputs ???)

If you are going to do it, why not just sell the 12 and get 3 15s.. :D ?

[ December 07, 2004, 08:50 PM: Message edited by: Haunz ]

^^^ Getting some 15's isn't a bad idea. I've never had 15's though. I've heard they tend to sound a little sloppy???

you can make it much louder by simply building a new box and keeping the same number of subs. What kind of box do you have now? THe loudest street A vehicle in the world used 2 10" kicker L7s in an explorer...true they had a whole lotta power but still. I don't know what type of box you have but I bet you could easily gain more by changing the box to something more suited for the truck than by adding an extra speaker