Im looking to get a reasonable deal on subs that sound good and amps that performs. Im hearing Sony Xplod amps are ok and same for the subs. Now how about Power Acoustik, this is what i was thinking about getting. Or maybe pioneer,rockford fosgate, or kenwoods. Im just trying to make some decisions before Christmas.....Thanks...Al

 

I would recommend you stay far away from Sony subs and amps. A friend of mine has had countless problems with the Sony amps.

Main thing to remember is in Car Audio you get what you pay for, so don't jump at the cheapest amp that says it makes massive power. There isn't really any big overall governing standard to make sure the company backs up it's claims. So you have companies that have amps making less power than what they say their making. On the other end you have companies that say their makes say 1200 and they really make 1400+ watts.

First I would recommend you pick out the subs you want then choose an amp to match the requirements.

I would recommend you check out the local car audio stores and listen to a variety (JL, Kicker, Alpine... all the major brands and models) and go from there.

It's always easier to decide once you hear things in person than just looking over the specs.

If you do not have a cd player yet, this would also be a good time to look into them.

 

Quality ones.?.? :shrug:
What are you trying to do? What are you looking for out of a system? What are you looking to spend? Have you searched this form? If you had you would read some great things about Sony (Blatant Sarcasm). Try Just plugging in some brand names into the search and see what you come up with. To start you off:
Sony = Junk
Power Acoustik = Junk
Pioneer = Subs and amps suck right now, HUs are great.
Rockford = Up to debate. Old stuff was great, then went to the dark side, now seem to be moving the bar back up.
Kenwood = Not bad, I like them (sometimes). PITA to fix most of the time.

 

id buy off the internet and save yourself some money. research whats good and what isnt through caraudio forums etc.

here's a couple very good places to deal with:
http://www.mmxpress.com
http://www.crutchfield.com (expensive because they're authorized dealers of most products so you get warranty)
http://www.thezeb.com

 

Im trying not to spend more than $150 per sub,and im looking to get 2 good sounding 12's.....I do have a nice cd player but now i want the subs and then an amp.

 

id suggest spending say $200 on a single 12 and using the left over $100 from the subs into additional money for a good amp.



http://adireaudio.com/TextPages/ShivaPageFrameText.htm
adire audio shivas are $125....get one put it in a ported enclosure with 600 clean watts rms (JBL 600.1) and you'll be happy.

 

personally i would say spend 200 on 2 alpine type rs and the rest on a good amp. the jbl 1200.1 comes to mind. i have two types rs and i love them. they are great performing subs for the low price. I also have two sony amps and i can tell you that i returned them 3 times. So take it for what its worth.

 

ok, then im staying away from the sony subs and amp. I saw some JL Audio subs, 12 W0's for $120,in 4 ohm or 8 ohm, does anyone know the difference. 12 W3's are $220 but are supposed to sound really good and deep bass. I see the W3's come in 6 ohm.

 

4 or 8 ohm subs have no performance differences over each other...they can just be wired differently for different style amps.

W3s are decent but a type R will be louder and sound better, and an adire shiva will beat them both

 

for amps.. i can only speak on personal usage so

i say on amps PPI is great

on subs i say JL audio or MTX (JL i think is better)

1 12" W0 is great bass when hooked up to the right amp.

right now i have a JL W0 12" hooked up to a 1 channel Rockfordfosgate(yes the older kind) and its awesome.

for my speakers im using a PPI 4400 to all 4 speakers. MB Quarts


side note

in my tahoe i have 2 10" Solo Barric L7's hooked to a PPI 4400amp and a digital cap. damn thats some bass

 

hmm cool,then maybe ill get one W3 12" sub for now,cause i heard they sound even better than the W0,deeper bass and louder.

 

im pretty sure thats all you'll need. unless you like ungodly bass thats super lound.. i dont.. i just use what i need.

 

dont get a sony amp at all, i had one and it worked for like 3 weeks then it blew randomly. i wasted 100 bucks on that amp from ebay. id go with rockford fosgate if you want good sound for the money, they are american made which is always good and decently priced. my friend has a rockford amp and 12 in his civic and it sounds great. its good sound for a good price and its not like you're going to be in competitions or anything.

 

Have heard very good things about these but how do you wire it causes its an odd ohm(6) i'm running 2 infinity Kappa Perfects at 2 ohms, how do you do a 6 if you run 3 subs you get a 1 ohm load right? Not trying to hijack the thread just trying to help you out with GOOD info.

 

they arent all 6 ohm subs....majority of them are dual 4 ohm, then theres dual 6 and dual 8 i think.

http://www.jlaudio.com/tutorials/wiring/index.html

 

Are JL's amps made to handle the 6/3/1 ohm loads? By that i mean will a JL amp run them better than another company since they are designed by the same people. Most amps run in a 4 ohm configuration. Can they run them without damage just witha different power level. For example my amp is 400x1 at 4 or 800x1 at 2 with a 3 ohm would that be about 600 or does it not work that way. I have been around stereos for a while but never cared about the specifics now i am growing up and care about the little things.

 

The JL Audio "slash' amps are regulated. Meaning they have the same power rating from 1.5ohms to 4ohms

 

that's not exactly what that means, and saying it like that is likely to confuse people who aren't familiar with "regulated" amplifiers.


generally, a regulated amp, is referring to the power supply, meaning that the amp will make its rated power between two voltage ranges.

 

Going through my closet i found 2 old amps someone gave me a while back. One is a Pyramid Artic series 300 watt, and the other is a Pyramid Gold Series 75 watt x 2 bridgeable amp. Im wondering now if they might be good for some subs? Anybody ever use Pyramid?

 

they are better paperweights than they are amplifiers.

 

Or how about if i used the Pyramid amps just for my 6 x 9's and dash speakers? or might that just be a waste too?

 

they are still better paperweights than amplifiers.


you'd likely get better power from a decent head unit.

 

When the Pyramid stuff first came out it was not the greatest but it was better than alot of factory stuff as well as some aftermarket head units, however things have come along way since then and the factory stuff can blow pyramid out of the water. So if you don't wanna put them on your desk try selling them on ebay or something, you know what they say theres a sucker born every minute.

 

You are correct. Didn't mean to mislead any one.
regulated means that the amp can make its rated power over a range of input voltage (11.5v-14.5v.)
the Jl Slash Amps also have the ability to make their rated power over a range of impedence (1.5-4ohm). They explain this as part of their Intelligent portion of their R.I.P.S. (Regulated Intelligent Power supply)
Sorry for the confusion

 

it all depends how loud you want it and how much money
power acoustic isnt junk..its not very high end but its not junk..i got the 1600 watt power acoustic amp and only problem i had with it in the 4 years i had it is the light burnt out...everything else works fine..its rocks my 2 12' jl's.

if you dont wanna pay alot and still get great boom get for subs
-jl audio wo's
-alpine type s
-i dont know the lower fosgates but H.E's are good
if you stick for these 3 companys for subs,amps,speakers you wont be dissappointed if you do it all right..like dont crank the bass gain on the amp or deck and make it clean you will have them for years with no problems....

for deck i totally recommend panasonic higher end ones they are very very good and alpine to

stay away from anything xplode all sony knows is home audio they are making a bad name with there car audio

 

They don't know home audio ether.
The W3 are a good driver, just don't over think the 6 ohm thing. The biggest thing is not to go under the rated minimum impedance of the amp. If it can go down to 2 ohms you'll be fine at 3 ohms, just a watt or two short.

 

About how much would a Type R 12" sub run me? If i do go with the JL W3's then maybe i should grab the ones they have in 4 ohm and not the 6 ohm. It says they have dual 4 ohm voice coils.

Now the Power Acoustik 12's say they handle 1800W peak, 700W RMS, and they have 200-oz. strontium magnet, Dual 2 ohms voice coils, and a nonpressed paper cone. And theyre on sale for $120 per sub.
I think they sound good but then i have to find a good amp to match with the ohms and all that,which im not at all good with.

 

you should do fosgate..there amps are very well put together and arnt that pricey

 

Just remember one thing while you are shopping in Car audio you get what you pay for. $120 for a sub is not bad but i paid over 150 a sub for a 10 so....While money is not the answer to everything it can point you in the right direction.

 

a type r is 98 bucks at ikesound.com

ikesound type r


hmm they raised their price. Now its 110. still a good price for a great performing and better on the wallet sub.


oh and let me quote Jim85IROC "Listening to Rockford Fosgate is like listening to a retard banging on drums"

 

I don't think you got that quote right. Is it still a quote then?

 

i dont know but it was similar.

sorry search resulted in: "a retard banging on a folding chair"