magindat
05-16-2007, 06:57 AM
Ok, so I've hated MTX for many years, but in this case I am very impressed.
My weekend install for a fellow member included the MTX Thunderlink 10" powered subwoofer. This thing says 300 watts on the box. Yeah, right... maybe when lightning strikes! It's actually rated at 100W RMS. I'd put it at a good 85W in my opinion. It is relatively small. It has a 10" woofer and a 10" passive radiator.
I was skeptical. A passive radiator design is usually not so good in a car. There's really no room to disperse the passive radiator's energy before it mixes with the woofer's opposite energy. Well, in this install we found a way around that!
Fortunately, this unit comes with the hardware for many mounting possibilities. The radiator is on the exact opposite side of the enclosure as the woofer. One of the suggested mountings is a stand-off type mount restricting the output of the radiator. Very good, MTX.
For the MM, we flipped the script. I used those stand-off mounts and extended them about 2" and flipped 'em over. I then hung the unit from the rear deck, much like the factory sub, so that the woofer blew through the stock hole. This hanging mount put the radiator about 2.5" above the shelf. Perfect! This allows most of the woofer's energy to go into the cab while the radiator's energy is dispersed in the trunk!
The unit is rated at 20 amp draw. The factory amp circuit is 25 amps, so I used the factory power and ground. Another feather in the cap of this unit is the RCA sensing turn on. No remote turn on wire is needed. This is good since when using the factory power, I have experienced a back feed through the remote which never lets a standard amp turn off!
This unit also has a remote control for crossover frequency, phase, and gain. It's kinda gaudy, so I didn't mount it up front, but I DID mount it in the trunk since the install made access to the settings on the unit inaccessible.
As for listening, well it's no boomer! It did, however nicely fill out the bottom end. I was also VERY IMPRESSED with the low frequency response. One passage of a test song dropped down through 15hz and the box played it! Good and solid, but not by any means loud.
For the adult listener this is a great unit. The install allowed space to keep the spare. A bass-head would be p!ssed with the minimal output. This is definately a worth-while upgrade to the stock woofer. Furthermore, this unit CAN be used with the factory radio with a little wiring redo at the factory sub plug!
I'd say that it's worth it's money in sound quality. Do NOT expect high output, but the out put IS stronger than factory!
My weekend install for a fellow member included the MTX Thunderlink 10" powered subwoofer. This thing says 300 watts on the box. Yeah, right... maybe when lightning strikes! It's actually rated at 100W RMS. I'd put it at a good 85W in my opinion. It is relatively small. It has a 10" woofer and a 10" passive radiator.
I was skeptical. A passive radiator design is usually not so good in a car. There's really no room to disperse the passive radiator's energy before it mixes with the woofer's opposite energy. Well, in this install we found a way around that!
Fortunately, this unit comes with the hardware for many mounting possibilities. The radiator is on the exact opposite side of the enclosure as the woofer. One of the suggested mountings is a stand-off type mount restricting the output of the radiator. Very good, MTX.
For the MM, we flipped the script. I used those stand-off mounts and extended them about 2" and flipped 'em over. I then hung the unit from the rear deck, much like the factory sub, so that the woofer blew through the stock hole. This hanging mount put the radiator about 2.5" above the shelf. Perfect! This allows most of the woofer's energy to go into the cab while the radiator's energy is dispersed in the trunk!
The unit is rated at 20 amp draw. The factory amp circuit is 25 amps, so I used the factory power and ground. Another feather in the cap of this unit is the RCA sensing turn on. No remote turn on wire is needed. This is good since when using the factory power, I have experienced a back feed through the remote which never lets a standard amp turn off!
This unit also has a remote control for crossover frequency, phase, and gain. It's kinda gaudy, so I didn't mount it up front, but I DID mount it in the trunk since the install made access to the settings on the unit inaccessible.
As for listening, well it's no boomer! It did, however nicely fill out the bottom end. I was also VERY IMPRESSED with the low frequency response. One passage of a test song dropped down through 15hz and the box played it! Good and solid, but not by any means loud.
For the adult listener this is a great unit. The install allowed space to keep the spare. A bass-head would be p!ssed with the minimal output. This is definately a worth-while upgrade to the stock woofer. Furthermore, this unit CAN be used with the factory radio with a little wiring redo at the factory sub plug!
I'd say that it's worth it's money in sound quality. Do NOT expect high output, but the out put IS stronger than factory!