WHAT ARE THE BEST SINGLE COIL SUBWOOFERS OUT THERE SO I CAN JUST GET AWAY WITH ONE ALPINE MRDM1000 AMP. MY PROBLEM IS LIKE AN IDIOT I PURCHASED 2 - 2 CHANNEL AMPS FOR MY SPEAKERS SO I ONLY GOT ONE AMP OUTPUT LEFT. HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLP
honestly, it depends on your budget. Personally i like sound and looks. But you may be into performance and want something that works. The big dogs in here will tell you Adire, Kicker, JL Audio, Kove, and Ox especially and MAYBE some other names like Infinity and Crossfire. If you want something that does the job: Pioneer, Cerwin Vega, Rock Fos, JBL, SPL (based on my ear though), Polk. Power Acoustik is just above the beginners level. If you want bass for the buck, go directly to Wal Mart and get you a Fast and Furious Kit or find an Audiobahn dealer. They are not the best at reproducing the frequencies of a symphony; but if you are a person that listens to bass for just that, a head banger, hip hop head, or a boom box boy (just like music loud), they are the best at what they do. That is a beginners line. If you do Boss, Legacy, Lanzar, Volfenhag (subs that is, my amp is okay), or anything else that has a magnet shaped like the Volfenhag's magnets you are in for a real treat of spending more money on some better subs. Honestly after checking out the forum. all you really need is that new JL 13" sub and a decent monoblock amp and you are set. anything else maybe barbaric on your pockets and your ears.
Please, don't get any fast and furious kits or Audiobahn, boss, legacy, lanzer,SPL, or volfenhag. Mono Class D amps are the way to go for subs, especially for the price. JBL amps are awesome for the price. If you want a lot of bass, the 1200.1 is nice, less than $300. The 600.1 is very good, too, and is 200 or less in the right places. Adire audio, JL audio, Eclipse, Image Dynamics, Kicker, Elemental Designs, Resonant Engineering are all awesome sub brands. I prefer single voice coil. Two single voice coil subs, 4 ohms, are the most universal for matching with mono amps. Dual voice coil are fine, it just depends on what ohm load you're planning to run the amp at, and how many subs you want.
Jonathan, did not I say it depends on your budget?
If that is all a person can afford is the low end ish and can get the sound he needs from it, then the purpose is served. Remember, the reason why the companies like Boss, Volfenhag, Legacy, and others exists is because EVERYONE cannot afford high end products, lacks the patience to save up for them, and/or will only spend a certain amount of money on car audio equipment.
IF everyone could afford the good ish, then those companies would not survive off the marketing plans they have put together. they target audiophiles, not audio fools. 75% are audio fools and are content with that. 14% are car audio inquisitive and would like to know more. 1% like you and Glasswolf have dedicated some years into the science of car audio.
For an analogy, you have the PROSPECTOR, INVESTOR, ANALYZER, AND REACTOR. The prospector started the game like AR-Acoustic Research. The investor tried to perfect the product and may or may not have done it-Sony. The analyzer looked at car audio and stepped it up to create a class of its own-JL Audio. And the reactor(s) are the companies that said, "Hey we can do that, too. Let's supply the demand." A whole heluva lot of us are on the reactor (budget-restricted) end of things and simply something that we can look at and like looking at when we pop the trunks and something that helps our music to be louder for our friends to say, "Here comes Billy Bob down the street." or to overcome roadnoise while traveling (which gets into another thing like Dynamat that people cannot afford).
I also saw that you have been in car audio about 6 years as well. The BEST ADVICE THAT ANYONE CAN TRULY GIVE IN THIS FORUM IS THE BEST WAY TO CHEAP ISH SOUND GREAT because the great stuff will sound great on a basic installation regardless...but what about the cheap ish?
while yes this is a Q/A forum, please I am asking of you and Glasswolf to please give the best advice for the equipment we have instead of crushing most of us by overall saying, "IF YOU DON'T HAVE THIS, YOUR SYTEM WILL PROBABLY SUCK!!!" If I ask a question again and if anyone does not know the answer to it, don't suggest another piece of equipment to me. simply say you do not know so the person that actually does can answer it for me. Nothing else matters but that equipment I am asking about. I am one of those people that have thick skin. 99% of the time and would not care normally. But dont answer my ish particularly if you (you as in anybody that cares to answer) don't know. Not a direct blow to you and Glasswolf, but give us ways to tweak the crappy ish. That way we can say, " Jon and Glass told what I can do to make my pile of crap sound like a masterpiece!!" Feel me?
It's not a matter of that. I'm saying there are better deals out there than those kits. Some people pay 150-200 for a Boss amp alone. For $200 or less,you can land a JBL 600.1. Adire Audio Shivas sound great and are 125 a piece, definately not unreasonable by any means. With a 600.1 and Shiva, you still have the flexibility to buy another Shiva later on, run a 2 ohm load, and have more power in your system. You seem to forget that the things to tweak the "crappy-ish" cost money also, which could have been spent on better equipment. Time invested on building custom boxes could have been overtime at work getting a better paycheck. I have been there and have been screwed over with inferior products, it's not like I've had JL Audio, Focal, or Dynaudio in my car all my life. I think we've all had Wal-mart specials at one time or another. Now that I'm past that and the internet has revolutionized business, you don't have to check I-wantas for good systems at great prices. I'm as much about value as the next guy.