EthanH

Who makes the best subwoofers at a resonable price? I already did a search, couldn't find exactly what i was looking for. I want to get two 12" subwoofers and an amp for $500 or less.

gray89vert

iTrader: (3)

Im not going to reccomend any brands but if i were you I would try to get a packaged deal at best buy or circuit city

lowgas&rubber

try to stick to name brand if u want a good sub and amp. Kicker and MTX has good products.

sully91rs

i would steer clear of best buy or circuit city. its rare to come across a salesman that actually knows anything (im not saying there arent any, im just saying ther rare). u may end up leaving with more than u wanted to spend and on some mediocre stuff. in my experience, i've gone with cheap pioneer subs (ts-w300r) and an alpine mono amp (mrp-m350). all together i spent $280 on two 12s and an amp, and im very happy with the setup. it cant be heard blocks away, but I have noticed numerous people stop 10 to 20 ft behind my car wen i have the music up.
PS, its in a ~3 cu ft sealed enclosure. i tried the plate, and, overall, i like this more.

lockchad

Here comes this s-storm question again...... Kinda like asking "What is the best food, for the best price?". Do some searching online for reviews. And ask your local shops. That is where you'll end up taking them back to if you ever have any problems anyway, so you may as well get to know them.
As far as what type of shop.. Bestbuy, and circuit city are driven most times by quotas on service plans, and margin. It is a good place to go if you know what you want, but if you have no clue they will go to thier highest margin item and sell you on that. Trust me, I was a dist. mgr. for bby.
As far as local shops go to them and ask what they have in thier cars. More than likely they get a good deal from working there and work off of what the shop gets it for. Why is this important? Because they see product come in and outta there, they of anyone are making an informed decision, they are. And if they are getting 10% or so above cost they are going with the cheapest/best that the shop sells. It also means that thier profit margin is high and they know how good they can make the price. Just as well most of these shops don't B.S. you. They wanna see you buying product, not returning, so they will sell you what works. It probably won't be in your price range but it never is. Save your pennies. Recommendations from pro's that you will be dealing with for problems is worth the extra dollars. Also on this note, if they have salespeople skip past them and talk to the installers. They know what the hell they are talking about.

Gummie

I would suggest to stay away from name brand stuff. Internet companies are defiantly the way to go because you get a much better cost to product ratio. Check out this thread for some links and a listing of internet companies along with a brief overview.

You might want to try out Elemental Design's package system. You get 15% off everything when you use it, which means you can get two 13kv.2s (two 12" subs) and a NINe.2x (600 watts x 1 @ 4 ohms @ 12.5 volts, closer to 700-750 at 14.4) for $437.75. Shipping is free, which is a nice plus and everything will be brand new with a 3 year warrantee. IMO they make great products. I’m running two of their amps and two of their subs in my stereo.

The other option for building a system (two subs + amp) for under $500 is to get used and/or refurbished. You might want to check out Ikesound. They sell all kinds of refurbished and otherwise discounted stuff. I got my headunit from them for $330 vs the retail price of $500 at the time. For used and other possibilities check out ebay.

Another option if you want to go new is to buy home style equipment that happens to work well in a car. One example that comes to mind is Dayton’s Reference Series. They’re $122 each and would make an excellent subwoofer for a car.

The reason to avoid name brands is because $500 really isn’t going to buy you much, especially at normal retail pricing. Split realistically that leaves you about $100-125 for each sub and $250-300 for the amp. That’s an Alpine Type E or Infinity Reference sub. Not that those subs are bad or anything, but they’re defiantly baseline. If you do decide to go retail buy from cardomain and crutchfield. They’re priced a lot better than their BB/CC counterparts.

Edit: local shops are good for advice and the occasional sale if they have what you want but be wary of high prices and/or high pressure situations. It seems like most of the 'good' shops have been closing lately. They are, however, a great place to listen to stuff before you decide what to buy. I discovered my components that I ended up buying by auditioning what everyone in the area had for sale.

EthanH

Opinions on these. I hear alot of crap about pyle and sony, but lots of good things too. Anyone that has one, give me the facts.

Cam-aro

iTrader: (4)

If your want a solid bang for the buck, but not huge quality, then Sony is alright. Sony amps are HUGELY popular for having problems when you attempt to bridge them out, the amps will either shut down or pop fuses.

Go to Best Buy, we can rock some HUGE packages for ya. They just approved our store to do massive deals, like two Alpine Type R's, Two 12" Vented Box, Kenwood KDC-9102(1700w) Amp... rings out around $1000, we sell it for $699.99. Check the Best Buy ads, we have Alpine/Sony/Kenwood/Rockford/Pioneer package deals going on all the time. Go in and talk to the guys, see what you can work out. Make sure your comparing amps and subs by RMS, not peak power... that's where the biggest mistake is made. I'd recommend at least an 8gauge amp kit also.

Haha, ya hurt my feelings with that Best Buy comment. I agree, not all sale people in car audio know what their talking about... I work with a few guys like that. I install, so I don't get out on the sales floor to talk to customers much, but I do what I can to make sure everything is going well.

lockchad

don't forget your C.A.R.E.

EthanH

Yeah, i dont want to spend over $500 for a system. Post a good quality, but cheap amp picture/link for that sony woofer.

NEEDAZ

Sony and Pyle suck, no two ways about it, no way to say "for the price there good", they stink, flat out, that's it. (insert Jims "sounds like a retard banging on a folding chair" comment) Their speakers are a wast if you got them for $10.00. The amps are low power, over rated, unreliable turds. Did I make that clear. It eser to say which brands NOT to buy. And that's two of them.

Gummie

This will be my final post in this thread since it looks like you decided not to read my first one. You can get two nice 12” subs along with a pretty nice amp for $438 shipped. Pile and Sony = garbage. Sure, they will fill a need but they will do a pretty bad job doing it. You're better of spending that little bit more the first time and just being done with it then buying cheap stuff, being unhappy with it, and buying the better stuff later down the road wasting the cost of the orginal equipment.

As for why they’re garbage... Well, I’m willing to wager that most all of us work on our cars. What do you buy when you’re fixing things? Do you tend to be a person that does quick fixes that end up lasting for the rest of the life of the car, do you ignore the problem completely, or do you fix it the ‘right’ way the first time? If you fall into the first two categories then Sony/Pyle sound like they would be good for you. The just barely get the job done and you’re not going to get any true performance out of them despite their flashy looks and outrageous claims. They’re cheap products and you get what you pay for in this case. What can you expect for $50 a sub and $100 an amp?

EthanH

Gummie, i read your first post. Dont get a name brand, then how are you suppose to get info on them? Also that sony is around $170, and i never mention what amp i would get. Have you ever actually had the sony xplode, or someone you know?

lockchad

alright man. You have to realize as well, its not always WHAT you buy, but WHERE you buy it. take a look....
Car Audio wholesale distributor Alpine Pioneer Kicker Clarion Hifonics Kenwood Boss -
Ikesound.com - JL Audio 13W1V2-4
Car Audio wholesale distributor Alpine Pioneer Kicker Clarion Hifonics Kenwood Boss -
Ikesound.com - Directed Audio A802,2 Channel Amplifier
personally if you START READING AROUND, you will find the opinions you are looking for. If you want us to hand you a system that is perfect for the amount you are spending... not gonna happen. One person will tell you what you want, 3 people that HAVE NO CLUE will tell you what thier friends told them and it's all down hill from there. I'm 29 I was in the industry since i was 18. Others on here have similar experience. Take advice with a grain of salt and talk to people who do it FOR A LIVING.
If you had to have heart surgery, would you talk to a doctor? Or the doctors roomate? Both can talk the talk, but theres only one I'd trust.

CreepingDeath94

iTrader: (4)

Agreed. Research what you're looking for and then shop around. I have my 12" kicker solo barics going on 8 years old now. So while they were very expensive the day they were new, youd probably be on your 4th set of subs of cheaper quality in 8 years. You can find good used brand name subs and save over half as well. If I were to sell these old style round kickers, Id be lucky to get $75 a piece for them...very lucky. That in mind, you can get killer speakers used in great shape for pennies on the dollar from someone looking to upgrade their system.

Amplifiers are a bit scarier to buy used, but can be done too. Specialty car audio shops may have consignment items that they probably arent going to sell in junk or blown up condition as it would make them look bad. Amps are probably the one item that will cost the most to get quality and longevity. I havent been in the industry for a few years now, but then Rockford sold some pretty cheap amps that would push speakers quite well for their limited wattage rating and price range.

If this is going in a third gen. bird or camaro, you dont need a lot of power to get great sound. I was surprised how well my initial 300 watt system sounded. The hatchback design funnels the bass forward and it takes less power to get that boom forward. Box design and the number of subs will be the determining factor here I think. I basically eliminated my "trunk" and replaced it with a box to accomplish the sound I wanted. Either way, research what youre looking for and go from there. Everyone here will recommend to you what they have or like. Good luck.

vorgath

My setup:

Profile California 600MSX mono amplifier, factory refurbished, 59 dollars

Single 10 subwoofer, Infinity Reference 1042W, Circuit City had a sale, 69 dollars

Wiring kit, 40 bucks at Fry's

Enclosure, hehehe my own design, sealed box for now

Here it is 1991 Chevrolet Camaro - Olaf's Chevrolet

Gummie

Ok, I lied. I will post again

Yes, I have heard Sony's. They're a pretty common brand around here and one of my friends is pimping a pair. He loves the fact that his amp puts out 1,000 watts and that his subs can handle up to 800 watts a piece. I mean, gee, 1,000 watts That amp is lucky if it’s putting out 500 watts and those subs would be pushing it at 400 watts.

I duno. They're not a bad company but everything is extremely over rated. Bigger numbers for the customer. Honestly, for $170 you can buy a pretty good speaker. Even if you don't want to buy from an internet company you can buy refurb/b-stock (ikesound as myself and lockchad have said) or used from a friend or off e-bay.

Read reviews all you want but keep in mind that people like my friend will be posting about how amazing his Sony amp/subs are and how loud the get and how they're the greatest stuff on earth. People tend to support what they own unless it's really horrible.

Poke around ikesound and/or the web and see what you find.

Stealthy-One

if you are on a budget you might want to look into Tang Band. low prices but they are really good quality. http://http://www.partsexpress.com/w...WebPage_ID=144

I have run them and liked them a lot, but unfortunately some one decided they liked them more so tehy busted my back window to "borrow" them. But I guess they forgot to return them....

DIY drivers are nice, you can get EXACTLY what you want, but it takes a bit more planning to get them setup with crossovers an such. But in my opinion it ends up sounding better than packaged systems.

lowgas&rubber

i just ran over an audiobahn 1100w rms flame q sub for $100. I know those are good get 2 of them and then find an amp to fill the rest of ur budget. The subs were at Car Audio Deals

lockchad

Alright, no where in a thread thats titled, "best speakers", should Audiobahn EVER be mentioned. This only confuses the newbs that search, if they search, and then see what they want to see.
Can we make this a rule???

p.s. ma audio, is audiobahn, is volfenhaag, is visonik. All found right next to the legacy amps at your local pawn shop.

vorgath

But bbbb bu bbbbbbuttttttt *studder studder excitement studder*

the Audiobahn have shiny chrome and they are HEAVY ... excellent for TRACTION



had to say it

sully91rs

All that chrome has gotta give like 5 hp. if not like 30.