hi, i have a Alpine CDA-9813 head unit, and pioneer ts-c160r speakers as my front speakers. these speakers play the high frequencies great but not great on the low frequencies so i wanted to get a sub. i want to get a good sub woofer but i don't think my parents will let me spend whole lot of money at one time like that so i want to get the POLK MM12WENCL sub woofer without an amp at first. is that a bad idea? how bad would the sub sound without an amp? if i do end up getting this sub woofer should i get a multi channel amp i plan on getting more subs in the future or would it be ok if i got a mono amp? would that be a good choice of a sub?
It would sound like sh*t, even if u bridge the rear channels how your HU you will notice as you crank up the music lots of lights will be dimming and you could risk damaging youu equipment. So its best to buy all the required stuff that goes with a subwoofer. But if you are fine with all the cons of not having a amp, be my guest and buy the POLK sub.
if you are concerned about money, try looking on ebay for everything. They will have excellent deals one what your looking for. I have been very happy with ebay overall. So you could save 50% of what you would pay for at a reqular store.
head unit amplifiers are NOT bridgeable. you cannot drive subs with the power from a head unit look at a self amplified sub solution like the Infinity BassLink or SAS Bazooka if money is tight. use the proper 8AWG wiring kit if you do get one.
I was exprimenting with a situ. like this and i have came to the conclusion that the sound from your subs is notto its fullest volume. But what i did to do this is unplug both your rear channels and hook them up to your terminal of the sub and there you go, a system that can not be pushed very loud becuz all the power is being drawn to the dual 12" 400 watt subs and will then notice how much power is lost when your lights start to dim. So glass you are right, you can NOT drive subs from the amount of power from your HU
you can't drive subs well at any rate.. they're meant for an amplifier.. that's a lot of mass to move, and that takes a certain amount of clean power to do it well. even if it's only 150W for a 12" sub, that's a hell of a difference over 11 watts from a radio. heheh
as for bazooka.. I don't like their amplifiers at all. their bass tubes work well enough for adding to a factory system, or just for some low end fill.. not what I'd call hard hitting, but they work to round out a basic system that lacks low end. easy as heck to install the self amplified ones, too, and easy to remove when need be for added room. good cheap solution, like Infinity's BassLink is. not what you want for a high quality SQ system of course.. but they do add a little punch to a system. I have a self powered 8" tube sitting around that I used in the Jeep for a bit when I was between systems and wanted something to fill in the gap. did fine for what it was.
