Orion HCCA 12.2 subwoofer

[Boosted77]

Orion HCCA 12.2 subwoofer. I was asked by another member for some feedback on this sub. I've been beating on it pretty hard for several months now. It's now in a 2 ft3 box tuned to 34hz per WinISD. First off it's a big sub that weighs in at over 60 lbs. The magnet alone is 445 oz. It houses a 4" copper voice coil and handles a rated 2k and can have as much as 4" of cone travel. The quality of the sub is top notch, but you should expect that from a sub with a MSRP of $799. When you handle this thing it just looks menacing and looks like it means business. Of course one good thing about this sub is re-cone kits are available for around $100 bucks which made me feel a little better about beating on it as hard as I do.
I, at first, ran my Zapco Ref750 to it which was under-powering it by 1k rms. It still hit hard feeding it 1k so it will put out some pretty impressive bass at that power. So I then hooked up my PA A3000db which is 2k rms at which the sub banged even harder, of course. But even with 2k going to it daily it just seemed like it could take more so I looked around and picked up a nice used MTX TA92001 which is CEA certified 3k, though I've read that these amps do a bit more like 3.2k to 3.5K. With this amp I did have to set the subsonic filter and cross-over precisely because the sub would start to stink a little under heavy playing. By this I mean riding down the interstate with it cranked all the way up for 45 minutes or more. Now I have DMM'd the amp and I putting over 3k to it daily with a second battery to keep the voltage up and it takes it like a champ. It is an SPL sub so don't go for an SQ set-up using this thing. The bass is almost violent because since I am running a single 12 in a hatch back I push this sub really hard to make up for only running one, but when you open the hatch and stand there and listen to it, it sounds good. I've heard a few other subs but this one sounds like it is; an SPL sub so it's not the most refined bass note but you'll feel it in your eye sockets and I mean that. It has vibrated some things loose on my Car which I have not yet located and now I have to re-glue my side hatch glass with 3M "window weld" because the pressure has dislodged the glass. For a single sub set-up I've been more than happy and anyone who has heard my set-up says it's really loud.
You can find them around for under $400. There are other subs for around the same price that look pretty impressive though this one is the most expensive sub I've ever bought and personally used. I would recommend this sub for a few reasons. For one it can be re-coned by you and takes no glue or anything, just some allen wrenches and about 20 minutes. Second, it handles much more than 2k daily so you can feel alright about feeding it more than rated. Finally it's just friggen loud, and like I mentioned earlier it's almost violent. I do feel the bass from this one 12 shaking my insides. It does blur my vision a bit on certain frequencies too.
All in all I would recommend this sub to someone who is looking for hard-hitting bass but is not looking for an SQ set-up by any means.

[immortal_82]

you hv good experience to sharing this sub....

[Boosted77]

Just a follow up. I have been beating the absolute piss outta this sub now for a few (more) months, solid. I got a very small voice coil smell coming from the enclosure and this only happen once and that was before I installed the extra battery. No smoke or anything, just a small odor. I did uninstall the sub and tested the voicecoils which is 4" in diameter with a 444.98 oz magnet. They are still what they were when I pulled it out of the box when I got it. Also, I initially bought it used from a guy off of Ebay. I'm running well over 3000 rms to this thing daily and it is rated at 2000 rms. So if you have $350-$400 for a single sub and you wanna try one, I do recommend this sub for the above listed reasons. It does handle well over rated Power on a daily basis as long as you have the electrical to feed this sub a clean, un-clipped signal from a good amp. That is the key to this or any sub for that matter. Check my videos out if you wanna see it in action. This sub moves some serious air for a single 12 Thanks for reading.

[Boosted77]

Threw a Termlab mic on the winshield today and did a 145.6 on music and a 145.9 @ 43hz. I saved the vids for proof. I really just turned the Car on, put in a cd and went for it. I didn't have a lot of time to mess around with any settings or anything but it was a lot of fun since I've never been able to do that before. So I guess that's decent for a single 12" sub. I hope if someone is thinking of trying the Orion HCCA 12.2 out, go for it! These subs are definitely tuff and they put up some decent #'s too. Thanks for reading my review.

[immortal_82]

have some vids...

[Boosted77]

Yup here's the vid to prove it. Please rate the vid if you think the score is decent for one 12" sub. Thanks for checking it out.

Realm of Excursion - Orion - Single Orion HCCA 12.2 @ 34hz. MTX TA92001 @ 1ohm 145.6 db termlab

[MusicsMYlyfe]

Thats good bro

[immortal_82]

very nice vids.. high excursion can be push...

Question: Orion hcca hv a recone kits?

[Boosted77]

Yes they do have re-cone kits but I think they are back-ordered until after the new year. With the HCCA you just unscrew the cone from the basket. No cutting or re-gluing. The re-cone kits go for about $150.

[Boosted77]

Today is February 14, 2011. I've had this sub now for about 9 months. I had to drive about 100 mile round trip today to pick up a turbo compressor wheel for a friend on the other side of Atl. So I was on the interstate for 90% of the time which allowed me to just turn it up and wang out for like 45 minutes both ways. I beat the piss outta this sub today and it didn't so much as do a damn thing except make my ears ring. These subs are monsters. Who else around here is running over 3000 rms to a 2000 rms sub daily and hasn't blown it yet? Anyone?

My deck sub output is set to zero, bass boost off. The deck goes to 62 and I was listening to it at 44 which is as high as I usually go on a daily basis. That's loud enough for me right there.

Since I live in a suburb of Atlanta I don't get to really turn it up for more than a few minutes at a time because I always turn it down at stop lights and such so as not to piss off people around me. I don't want another $180 loud music ticket.

This sub is loud and mean, period. With such a large motor when it gets moving on some songs it shakes the absolute piss outta my little hatchback. Along with the MTX amp it's getting a nice clean unclipped signal from which was set using a DMM.

I have nothing bad to say about this sub. It's a friggen runaway Mack truck smackin me in the back of the head un-relentlessly. I really don't know why more guys don't run this sub. Is it because Orion is owned by DEI now? I don't care. They hit the nail on the head with this one.

Get one. Feed it 3000 clean un-clipped watts rms from a good amp in 2 ft3 tuned to 34 hz and you will smile while your teeth rattle in your mouth and your eyes blur. I personally know this because if you sit still and just look at something you have to constantly refocus your eyes because they are vibrating in your skull so hard. No B.S..

This is just a follow up review. I want guys to know how the sub is holding up because I am running it pretty hard, everyday. The key is to watch your voltage and make sure the sub is fed an un-clipped signal. If this sub blows, I will let you guys know. I took the sub apart about a month ago to check it out. It looked fine.

I'm still waiting for DEI to issue new re-cone kits as they have been on back order since about October. I was told their old manufacturer fell out so they are still shopping around for a new one. Hurry up DEI! I want one to put in the closet just in case.

Thanks for reading my review. I hope this helps someone who's got $400 to spend on a sub and wants one that can take an all out beating on a daily basis.

Word to the wise and a side note. Do not mount this sub sideways. It says it right in the manual. It can self-destruct and I've seen 2 vids on Youtube where the guys were clueless as to why their sub grenaded. Read the instructions, build a nice enclosure and feed it some clean juice and pound out, everyday.

[Boosted77]

Just a follow-up. The sub is still going strong and mean. I do watch the voltages carefully when I'm going full tilt. If it drops any below 12 volts I cut the sub-control down a notch. I took it apart not to long ago to look at the coils. They were fine. The only time I ever smelled clipping on this sub is when I first got it and didn't have the electrical up to par just yet.

But with the addition of a new 35aH battery this past summer, I was able to gain it up a bit. I also finally found the manual for the amp so I could then decipher the marks for the filter controls and boost. I wouldn't recommend using too much bass-boost, especially (sorry to say this) if the amp is a cheeseball. But I gotta admit, there's a reason the MTX TA92001 went for around 2K back in the day. Clean semi-unregulated power; amp runs cool with good voltage and does about 700 watts over rated rms.

Nothing much has changed about the set-up, except the battery. I just haven't heard too many other guys doing 145's on a single 12 tuned to 34 hz, unless it's some Youtube vid where the guy is straight burping the set-up for a few seconds and then editing out the part where the sub smoked. It's a nasty bass-bashin' set-up imo. It shakes that little car so hard. I know the HCCA is somewhat looked down upon by the senior members because it's said that it's an inefficient power-hungry sub.

When I jump in the van and listen to the SA-15 on the Zapco Ref750, it's a totally different bass experience. It still hits hard and flexes the van's sides, but gosh it's sound better than the HCCA, but the SA-15 is not being fed so much power either; right at 1k rms. Old school Zeff-Advanced-Products-Corp. for the win.

The HCCA is an SPL woofer and has to be fed a bunch of power to get it to move, but when I open the hatch and stick my ear right down to the sub as it's doing about 3" flex, all I hear is bass. If you've ever heard a sub clip, it does make a distinctive sound, but I truly can tell you that the HCCA sounds good with as much going to it.

The HCCA a straight beast and I promise you I haven't going through the first re-cone yet. If I do, I will let everyone know and take pics to prove it.

So thanks for reading the follow-up. Later bassheads...

[Burkem_10]

Good review, thanks. I liked what you said about the SA-15. You should do a review on that too. I've been dying to get my hands on some SA-12s

[cxa0897]

i was looking into a sa 15 for a minute too...just needs way too much volume. my 1200 watts would be lovely for it though according to what you wrote

[Boosted77]

Dude, where did you get that sig pic? That was a funny convo between myself a couple other members on here a few months ago. It got kinda asqued and I belted that out along with a link to an Oliver Twist website, saying that very thing, "please sir, can I have more bass?"

I wish I could find the topic on here. I looked but there's too many to rifle through and I can't remember what month it was.

Very funny.

It's saved on my desktop. Thanks for the funny pic. And it's got a Kicker sub in it too for the win. There's so many underlying points to that pic it's almost too much. Perfect.

Also the SA-15 will thrive with 1200 rms in 3 ft3 tuned to about 34-35hz.

[cxa0897]

i made it myself yesterday. were covering charles dickens theories in one of my classes. that combined with the recent influx of kicker threads inspired me

[Boosted77]

That is so ironic for sure.