looking to buy a subwoofer

[crown vic muscle]

i kill speakers all the time, hook them up to a big amp, say 2400 watts and watch em pop! and your local pawn shop is a great place to buy new and slightly used speakers. I just put a new set in my expedition for under $50. but be careful, there is some real crap in those stores too. oh, and they usually are willing to haggle on a price too

[1987cp]

How do you mean, "pop"?

Personally, I need earplugs with a 100 Watt amp turned up more than about halfway.

Before I go shopping, I suppose I'll have to make some notes of how to identify a speaker or head unit that has been abused!

[zoomie]

head units i usually use pioneer ,sony after that, and if have the cash alpine or kenwood.. subs are kinda hard to test and you realy wont know what they wil sound like till you put them in a box but if you need some references lemme see if the surround is cracked or worn its probably been beaten on, if you smell anykind of burnt voicecoil at all dont buy it!! 10s are fast 12s will give you bangand boom and 15 will boom boom boom, brands to look for that i have had good luck with polk momo,jbl,lanzar(vibrant series),power acoustik FUBAR subs, to name a few....things i look for in a subwoofer is spl rating(the higher the rating the louder the sub is with less power, how low does it go( i usually try to get something that will go down to 20hrtz or lower usually 15-18 or so, rms power rating usually about 200 or up, i usually have my amps that overdrive the speaker a little bit, to me actually sounds better becuse it has all the juice it needs but i dont crank the amp to the point it blows the sub. say for instance i have a sub that max is 800 watts then i find a amp that runs somewhere between 500 and 750 rms in this case a hifonics txi amp that will handle from 4 ohms to 1 ohm at anyrate shop around talk to your local car audio shops and freinds and see what sounds right for you
Personally i like 15 inch subs, i dont know why but i do maybe cuase i got spoiled on my mach1 audio system i have in the house who knows?? hago and happy hunting

[crown vic muscle]

How do you mean, "pop"?

Personally, I need earplugs with a 100 Watt amp turned up more than about halfway.

Before I go shopping, I suppose I'll have to make some notes of how to identify a speaker or head unit that has been abused!

when a speaker "pops" its burning out the voice coil in one of two ways. you are either running too much power into the coil, wich is usually enamil coated copper, and burning it off and grounding it out, causing smoke, or you are over extending the coil making it distort the sound and the coil will eventually tear itself apart, breaking one of the thin strands that make it up.

and you will get what you pay for in subs and amps. if it looks too good to be true, it usually is, but go home and look it up on the interwebs. i bought all of my amps at the pawn shop. and volume over about 90 db i wear hearing protection. i have tested my car several times and in the cab its reading right around 124 and the trunk is over 130+ db. I have a JVC headunit, 2 2400 watt amps for my 12" boston acoustics G5's, and a 1200 watt amp for the 6x9's.

if you are looking at used equipment, have them test them to make sure that the work, and if the sub(s) have more than one coil, test them both. test EVERYTHING!!! if you want to know how its going to sound, bring a box and try it out. look for unusual wear, broken or damaged surrounds, crackling sounds, dented cones, buzzing, etc.

[1987cp]

130 dB ...... that would sure explain the sound level outside some people's cars!

[70torino429]

my single 12'' kicker comp sub in a vented box sounds pretty good but it just has the wrong sound to be in a truck. ill probably be sellin it this year.

[crown vic muscle]

what kind of sound are you looking for? tight and punchy or lound and booming? both? sealed boxes will give you that tight and punchy sound and ported boxes give you loud and booming

[83countrysquire]

i got a sub for free for now

[crown vic muscle]

what kind did you get and what kind of box is it in?

[Bozowolf]

On the issue of subs....

I've shopped and shopped again for car stereo upgrades and never once done it so I'm a noob when it comes to actually putting something into a car. That being said...

Where's the best place to install some subs without loosing trunk space? Is it possible to set some of the Bazooka type subs up by the spare tire or would the Infinity Basslink be a better choice for that location?

I'm not looking for competition grade stuff, just something that bumps a bit better than factory.

[The Famous Lee]

I have a set of Fusions, 2 12"s in a ported box... They're only 800 watts But they feels good and sound great

[crown vic muscle]

the package shelf is a good choice and so is the space behind the wheel wells

[1987cp]

I have a set of Fusions, 2 12"s in a ported box... They're only 800 watts But they feels good and sound great

"only" 800 Watts! My home system is a 100 Watt circa 1973, and it's plenty to cause hearing damage.

[grandpaslincoln]

Do the cops come out every time you play Glenn Millers Little Brown Jug?

[p71towny]

LULZ!! I love that song and have indeed cranked it up like that! Glenn Miller is the muthafukin mang! My neighbor says I'm bipolar tho cause right after listening to shit like that I'll throw on some slayer or ozzy ect.. back and forth. Actually I'd love to hear someone take big band music and put an 80s hair metal spin to the tunes.