Polk Momo Subwoofer (Recommendations Please....)

[MichaelG]

My boat has a stock Polk Momo 10" subwoofer which doesn't sound very good..... I think the problem lies with the factory enclosure. Will this sub sound okay in a proper enclosure or should I upgrade to a 12" or 15" sub. Any suggestions? Doesn't have to vibrate the water, just hit the low notes sounding good....Thanks in advance for your help.....

[jeepn]

can't speak to your sub or enclosure as i'm not familiar with either. but, the enclosure and sub combo make a difference. bigger isn't always better. i have an 8 inch sub in a ported box, that while it won't make the water around my boat splash, it will make a few peoples jaws drop when they hear i only have an 8.

[EarmarkMarine]

There is nothing wrong with the quality of the MOMO woofer. It can do an impressive job if placed in the correct application. You need the right bass-reflex enclosure. You need a vented compartment so the bass radiation can freely flow into the listening area without obstruction. This certainly impacts the output but is critical for any degree of musicality and tonal construction. And, it has to be properly tuned (crossover frequency, gain, etc.). All areas where factory falls short.

David
Earmark Marine

[ZANDERSANTE]

What boat is this going in? I built a custom ported enclosure for my 10" momo and it made a night and day difference.. and then once I switched amps it blew me away! I also cut vent ports into the passenger area to help get the sound out that made a big difference as well. I've posted pictures and stuff on here before, so you can look under my name and see what I did.

[MongoSV211]

A related question. Any suggestions about moving the Polk 10" into a ported enclosure (eg Earmark's TW10P) versus upsizing the woofer to 12" in a sealed enclosure (eg JL Audio 12w3 or 12w6 in an Earmark MD12-W6). Looking principally for increased volume but SQ is important. Either case would mount in stock location under observers seat and vent the access door. A goal is maximize storage area so a smaller enclosure would be preferred, which gives bonus points to sealed 12" as it is smaller than a ported 10" enclosure. I am running a 5 channel amp with 200W RMS at 4 ohms to the sub currently.

[EarmarkMarine]

There is no simple, straight forward answer to that question because there are a number of deciding factors. Its going to be very circumstantial.
A 10-inch in a bass-reflex enclosure will generally beat the ouput of a 12-inch of equal quality in a sealed enclosure by a small margin.
A larger enclosure in itself is generally more efficient.
Oftentimes as you go up in the series of woofer you have higher power handling, longer excursion and more mass that results in lower internal efficiency. So a more expensive woofer can be a challenge for modest amplifier power to drive and control.
When it comes to sound quality in a sealed system you are looking for a system Qtc (woofer in enclosure) of around .7 to .8. In a bass-reflex system you are looking for a well damped alignment that gives you a smooth rather than peaky response. In either case you can achieve good sound quality. There are bad sounding sealed and ported enclosures when its a poor design. Although sealed is a little harder to screw up.
Generally you want a woofer with a limited motor structure in a small sealed enclosure since too large of a motor can over-damp the system resulting in awesome midbass but with an early roll-off in low bass extension. And, the impact in an open field boat is very different than in an enclosed vehicle cabin. A vehicle gives rise to low frequencies so the higher but softer roll-off of sealed might plug in to the vehicle's response a little better. A boat can really use the extra leverage that bass-reflex provides.
With 200 watts on the subwoofer you might consider the JL Audio 12W1. Its light and responsive, has a moderate motor structure that is optimum for sealed and while it doesn't have the greater power handling of the upgrade series it is as good of a sounding woofer as you will hear. The pitch accuracy of the 12W1 is absolutely excellent. Its the first fully domestic woofer in the line and has very tight tolerances just like the more expensive JL Audio woofers.

David
Earmark Marine

[MongoSV211]

Thanks, David. Based on your input I will upgrade to a ported enclosure for the existing Polk sub or a JL 10W1. Should I upgrade amplification in the future I may revisit upgrading the drivers as well.

[ski4evr]

David,

How do you feel about a JL M10IB5 mounted in the walkthrough under the glove box using the loveseat compartment as the "box"? Would this give enough separation for the infinite baffle woofer?