How to Choose Subwoofers for Your Car Stereo

Many people with car audio systems like deep thumping bass, but factory stereo systems commonly do not include sub woofers -- the speakers that produce great bass. Here's how to pick the right sub woofers for your car.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Car Subwoofer Enclosures
• Car Stereo
• Car Subwoofers

Before You Shop

1. Think about the kind of music you like to listen to and what you like about it. The more bass that is in your music the larger subwoofers you should get.
2. Decide where you will put the subwoofers. Subwoofers commonly go into an enclosure in the trunk, but by using special enclosures subwoofers can go under seats or in side panels. This is mainly going to depend on how much space you have, often smaller cars cannot afford to sacrifice much space to sound quality.
3. Decide exactly how much you are willing to spend. It is going to cost at least $300 and it is best to set yourself a price limit before you go shopping.

Selecting the Subwoofers

4. Go to a store that sells subwoofers or browse the internet. See the Resources section below for some suggestions. You will also need to purchase an amplifier to power your subwoofers.
5. Decide whether you want one subwoofer or two. This depends mainly on your music preference, but may also be affected by the space in your car. One is good for those who listen to classical, rock, or country, while two are more suited to those listening to rap, r&b, or techno.
6. Decide what size subwoofers you want. Common sizes are 8-inch, 10-inch, 12-inch and 15-inch. The larger the subwoofer, the lower the frequency it will produce (which is especially important for techno).
7. Decide what kind of enclosures you will put the subwoofers in, as this may be dictated by the speakers you've chosen.
8. Consider sensitivity. Sensitivity is how much sound you get for how much power you put into the speaker, higher is better.
9. Consider maximum wattage RMS. Max wattage RMS is how much power the subwoofer can handle. Usually the more power they can handle the more sound they are capable of producing, but also the more expensive they will be, especially since you will need to purchase an amplifier that can produce all that power.
10. Consider the cone. Options include kevlar, polypropylene, aluminum, or carbon fiber cone, getting better in the order listed. What you don't want is a paper cone.
11. Consider the surrounds. Rubber surrounds are best; foam is okay. Do not buy woofers with urethane surrounds. Cones and surrounds affect not only the quality of the sound the subwoofer will produce, but how long the subwoofer will last.
12. Pick the one that fits the above guidelines best. In the lower price bracket MTX is probably the best brand, and Infinity and Polk dominate the higher end market.
13. Choose an amplifier to power your new subwoofers. You want something that comes as close to producing RMS power equal to the max RMS rating of your subs without going over that rating. Other than that, total harmonic distortion (THD) is the most important rating of amplifiers. THD is expressed as a percent, and you want the lowest number possible.

Tips & Warnings

• You may want to pick a couple spots that you will most likely put your new sub woofers and measure them before shopping.
• Instructions on installing sub woofers in your car can be found right here on eHow.com.