I have a pioneer 4100 head unit and stock speakers all around. I want to add some bass (since my Orion amp and 2 RF 12in subs got swiped). I've been reading that tubes sound better than plates and now I understand why. My question is: Are the powered 10in Bazooka tubes for $315 overpriced or really crappy? Anyone have experience with them? Thanks in advance.

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I just bought an unpowered bazooka tube and found a decent amp on special from crutchfiel. the two together caos about the same as the same tube that was powered. I figure, why bother taking the chance that the amp is crap if I can buy a good Kenwood amp for about the same price?

 

It really all depends on the tube itself. They will all be different.

I built a bass tube for my house with a single 12" and it plays from 80Hz down to 18Hz flat at about 150 or so Db.
But the thing is 3.5 feet tall and 24" round.

One thing for sure, the single 10" bazooka tube will not be anything close to your 2 - 12" setup.
The tube will make the 10" sound louder and punchier on rock songs (or tunes where there's more mid-bass than sub-bass) than a 12", but will not even come close to the low frequencies the 12" can produce.

So really, it all comes down to the type of music you listen to (Rab/Rock/Blues/Classical) and the specifications of the tube, speaker, and amp.

For $315, I would deffinitely go another route.
My car sub is a single JL-12"W0-4 in a sealed enclosure, with an RF160a2 (apx 180watts bridged) pushing it. Total cost was about $300 or so. It hits a max of 127Db and plays pretty close down to 23Hz -- flat.

Thomas.

 

They rock...

 

ever farted into a tube before, or a sewer?



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I had a 10" amped Bazooka once...I was actually pretty impressed with it...although it would be no match for your old two-12" setup.

And yes, the Bazooka is drastically overpriced, in my opinion.

For your $315, you can buy a separate amp, speaker, and enclosure. Not only will it probably be better-sounding, but it's more flexible....

In the future, you might buy a bigger amp, but use your old one for your regular speakers. Or maybe you'll keep the amp...sell your subwoofer to a friend and buy two 12s again. Or maybe you'll blow the sub, or maybe the amp will break.

You can't do any of the above with a Bazooka. If one part of it breaks, then the rest of it is going in the garbage too. (Well, you could probably dig inside and bypass the internal amp, I suppose). If you want to upgrade, you have to sell the Bazooka and replace everything.

The Bazooka is decent-sounding, very simple to install...but if you don't mind a little extra work, you could do far better with your money.

 

if yoru going to go spend $300 bucks, why dont you just go and buy a real stero - you can get a nice sub and a small amp for that price

 

can I power a tube with a JL 500 watt rms 1 ch amp?

 

my mom had a 8' tube in her spirit, she also had 2 12's, you could hear the tube with the 12's, and if you dont want to rattle the neighbors door off, just want decent bass, yea a tube would be cool, id personally build a little box and drop a 10' in tho...

 

I just installed the bazooka tube with the kenwood amp today (see below) I was very impressed with it. From crutchfield, the whole setup along with all the wiring and tools I needed, plus some Dynamat cost me only 350 shipped. If you're looking for more power, you could pick up the 500 watts RMS 10" RS series tube for only $240. Of course a powerful enough amp would be more too. This setup had plenty of punch for me though. I was surprised how much it added for so little money.

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Kenwood KAC-529S driving 8" Bazooka EL804 bass tube

 

Thanks for your input guys! Much appreciated. I wish I knew where to get a tube and an external amp for about $300. That would be ideal! Thanks again!