[ballinpapo]

ok, so my g.f's bday is coming up, she drives a mustang and hates her car. but wants subs. she doesnt care what kind, and obviously doesnt know what good/bad subs sound like.. so my criteria is...


~$200 or less (im getting her something else as well)
hopefully relatively small.. (id prefer her trunk space)

if possible decent sounding..

i was leaning towards a kicker comp with slim box.. does anyone know anythign about bazookas? or alternatives

 

[ballinpapo]

nothing

 

[geewhizbang]

$200 is not worth bothering. You can get a sub and amp for that, but it would be hardly worth the bother.

Now $350 is enough for a good-enough sub, amp, box, connection kit, and you do installation. Installed, you would need about $75-100 more.

So if you are willing to go up to an adequate budget, I will post something, but otherwise I won't bother.

 

[geewhizbang]

Another thought is that you should think of a sub as a permanent investment, because you can easily remove it and put it in the next car.

 

[ballinpapo]

dude...

girl..
car..
subs..

lol

girls know nothing about cars, systems, what sounds good, what looks good..

all that matters is that i get her one (and ill install it myself) :lol:
sorry, i invested over $5000 in parts in my car, spending $400-$500 for "good" subs on a crappy old mustang is pointless..

which is why im asking if theres something i should look out for.

furthermore, shes not going to bass competitions, she simply wants alittle kick to her her car, not for the whole car to rattle..

 

[geewhizbang]

Even if she just wants a not-so-great sub, $200 is too little.

The box costs about $25-35, an OK amp with internal LOC, about $80-100. The wiring kit is about $40, which leaves less than $60 for a driver. At such a low price point, the driver would not only be wimpy but also less durable, and it won't sound good.

If you can be persuaded to spend a little more, you could get this 10" sub driver, about $120 shipped.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=295-460

The appeal of this sub is that it is very good quality, low distortion. It looks way more expensive than it is. So you can impress your gal with your sophistication and refinement, as this would be a very high sound quality sub.

 

[sdemo45]

^ yeah, because you know, girls care a lot more about looks than there being a brand stamped all over the product :roll:.


Are you expecting that $200 to cover the cost of the amp as well?

 

[geewhizbang]

yes

 

[sdemo45]

Ouch.. even finding a decent amp for under $200 is hell. I think the OPs only option is a bazooka tube.

 

[boostedminime]

5 dolla foot long

 

[geewhizbang]

Actually, you can get a very decent amp for under $100. You don't have to spend a lot for a good sub amp.

http://www.millionbuy.com/prfha1000m.html, less than $100 including shipping.

Sub amps like this one are designed only to run subs, so the amp can be less expensive, better optimized to run a sub, and sound great. It would sound terrible as a main amp, but it doesn't have to.

This one has 300 watts RMS, internal LOC that worked just fine with the OEM HU.

 

[krazyk86cu]

get her an infiniti basslink. It's perfect for just a little extra bump. Not sure how much they are, but the amp is built into the sub. google it

 

[sdemo45]

[quote author=krazyk86cu link=topic=141639.msg3053166#msg3053166 date=1239486825]
get her an infiniti basslink. It's perfect for just a little extra bump. Not sure how much they are, but the amp is built into the sub. google it
[/quote]

+1... but those are more than $200.


[quote author=geewhizbang link=topic=141639.msg3053129#msg3053129 date=1239484896]
Actually, you can get a very decent amp for under $100. You don't have to spend a lot for a good sub amp.

http://www.millionbuy.com/prfha1000m.html, less than $100 including shipping.

Sub amps like this one are designed only to run subs, so the amp can be less expensive, better optimized to run a sub, and sound great. It would sound terrible as a main amp, but it doesn't have to.

This one has 300 watts RMS, internal LOC that worked just fine with the OEM HU.
[/quote]

While I sort of agree with you, Profile is quite possibly the cheapest brand of amp available. While that fits here, its not going to be very good in the long run. Not only that, but Profile tends to over-rate their stuff.

 

[geewhizbang]

Whether or not the profile is a lower end brandname or not, this is a very well built very beefy amp. It is more than adequate to run the sub driver I posted. I am using it on a 12" similar to the one I posted and it runs very cool and plenty loud for my taste.

I am not using it for unnaturally loud hip-hop junk, it is for SQ, which his girlfriend will appreciate.

Even running this sub on an entire Bach organ concert with LOTs of really loud low bass, this amp gets barely warm, and sounds good and clean and accurate.

As I said, there aren't a lot of big differences with amps. There is no need to pay for a big name.

 

[krazyk86cu]

[quote author=geewhizbang link=topic=141639.msg3053394#msg3053394 date=1239498450]

As I said, there aren't a lot of big differences with amps. There is no need to pay for a big name.
[/quote]

I'm going to have to agree and disagree with you there. Your right, you don't have to buy a $500+ amp to get a good amp, however, having the right amp makes all the difference in the world.

Also keep in mind, cheaper amps tend to really over exaggerate their power.

 

[geewhizbang]

It seems like expensive amps do too. Most car amps quote peak power ratings, which are meaningless.

Whether or not the Profile is over-rated or not, I know by experience that whatever its actual output, it is MORE than adequate to drive this particular sub. I have never heard any clipping or distortion no matter how loud I play it. While I don't go for hip hop volume levels, most of my friends are suprised how loud I like it, so this is not wimpy volume even though it is quite a ways short from the deafening levels the hip-hop gangstas in my neighborhood go for.

A few extra bucks for an amp gets you someone better luxury features such as remote controls or multichannel amps have some features useful to people biamping their speakers. Some of these things are worth paying for if you need them, but if you aren't going to use these features a cheaper amp will sound just as good.

However, there is almost no difference in SQ any more. I doubt that a double blind test could distinguish my Profile from something extremely high end like Mark Levinson. The driver makes far more distortion than the amp, which is why I am suggesting that the OP buy a $120 woofer but only a $100 amp.

It isn't that hard to make a good-sounding, reliable amp with modern off-the-shelf integrated circuits, and an offshore factory to build it. Sub amps are especially easy to make inexpensively as they don't have to put out a very wide range of frequencies.

 

[gar187er]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9037632&type=product&id=1218011393973

and install it yourself....

 

[geewhizbang]

While that best buy unit is less work to put assemble, the total cost is about the same as what I suggested, but the whole thing is really low-end quality.

The Best Buy unit has a perhaps 150 watt amp, vs about 300 for the Profile I suggested. The woofer in the integrated box is extremely cheap as evidenced by the surround, so I'd guess that xMax for this woofer is probably 7mm or less. The box is ported, rather than sealed, probably to make the low quality woofer go lower, but at the expense of SQ.

About the only good thing that could be said about this Best Buy system is that it probably sounds a lot better than one of those horrid bass tubes. But what I suggested would just blow it away and costs the same.

It takes about 10-20 minutes to stuff a box with polyfill, attach wires to the woofer, and screw it into the box. You are usually better off buying separate components and putting them together yourself.

 

[sdemo45]

I dont remember you including the price of the box and wiring kit in your expenses. The Best Buy example, however, includes everything.

 

[Bounty44]

[quote author=boostedminime link=topic=141639.msg3053076#msg3053076 date=1239482595]
5 dolla foot long
[/quote]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: +1