Those 9500s are monsters but keep in mind that motor force and excursion dont tell the whole story when comparing them to modern designs. Many of the newer subs you see getting hyped actually use vastly more efficient magnetic gaps and much lower moving mass to reach high output with half the power those old MTX coils demand. You can definitely get them loud but you are fighting massive thermal limitations and inductance that modern subs like my L7 15s avoid by using better heat dissipation and optimized cone geometry. If you put them on a scope you would see the 9500s start to smear the signal pretty early once you push them past their mechanical limits due to the suspension design and weight of those old cones. Its not just about being blinded by carbon fiber but looking at how the newer stuff handles the music without needing a 4 cube box per sub. If you still want to run them stick to a low tuned enclosure and watch your voltage drop closely because those coils pull alot of current compared to today's efficient neo or optimized ferrite drivers.
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Anyone still messing with the old MTX 9500s?
Saw a few guys in the discord claiming these new budget subs outperform the original MTX 9500 12s and frankly that is just dead wrong. I still have a pair of the 9500s from back in the day and the excursion and motor force on those older beasts beats most of the modern stamped basket stuff people are hyping up now. Sure, they need a ton of airspace to really wake up, but they handle power like nothing else from that era. Right now I am rocking a single RE Audio SXT 15 on a PR1000 in my daily, but I am seriously debating pulling the old 9500s out of storage to see if I can get them hitting like they used to in a proper ported enclosure. My current setup: RE Audio SXT 15, PR1000 amp, 0 gauge run to a XS Power D3100. Has anyone actually put the 9500s up against modern mid-tier subs on a scope and seen better results, or are people just blinded by shiny new carbon fiber cones?
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Replying to OldSkoolDave
Transitioning from heavy old school subs to more current designs taught me a lot about cone control. I moved from a pair of older 12 inch power hungry subs to my current JL Audio W3 10s on an XD600/1 and the clarity difference on fast transients is night and day. The issue with those 9500s isnt just the power demand but the back EMF damping. When you look at them on a scope while playing complex metal or rapid bass lines you see that cone inertia causing a lack of definition compared to something with a lighter assembly. If you stick with the MTX you gain that massive physical impact and room filling presence which is great for certain tracks. If you swap to modern tens you get tighter response and less muddy tail end on the notes. I would personally stick to the modern smaller drivers because the lack of smear makes daily listening much less fatiguing. My current setup stays clean even when I am pushing the XD600/1 hard and it requires a tiny fraction of the box volume those massive 9500s require to perform their best.
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