Comments on: How to Choose Subwoofers for Your Car Stereo

on 1/23/2006 RMS power is always better than peak power. RMS power is what a subwoofer or amplifier can play constantly without burning up or distorting. Peak power is what a subwoofer or amplifier can play for a brief musical burst. Never go by peak power. I don't care what kind of speaker or amplifier your buying. In my experience I bought a 760 watt peak power amp for $150 and two 1100 watt peak power 12" subs for about the same price. Now the problem with that was I was going by peak power instead of RMS power. Turns out 760 watts peak power was only 380 watts RMS and 1100 watts peak power was only 350 watts RMS. Peak power is only a marketing tool to get you to buy something. Now that we've got that out of the way, when you go to buy your amp and subs using RMS instead of peak power a good rule of thumb is to get an amp which will match at least 75% of your subwoofers RMS power rating. Hope this was helpful to anyone considering buying a system.

on 11/22/2005 Many people think that if I have three to four twelves that the bass will be better. That might be true to a certain degree, but its not. Yes it will be louder and more carrying but its easier to distort the sound in your car or truck. Two twelves is the most recommended for sound quality in your vehicle. Of course the type of enclosure, type of amp and how it is wired matters, but it depends all on the sound you're looking for. When it comes to size, the bigger the sub, the deeper the bass, but the bigger the sub, the slower your bass responses are. If you like for your bass to be heard more outside of your vehicle than inside then I would recommend 15's and up. If you're looking for your bass to be more inside your vehicle, I would recommend 8's, 10's, and 12's(depending on the box its in and the amp pushing it).

on 11/22/2005 If you have loud bass and can't hear the words, that's where tweeters come in. The tweeters give that nice, crisp, "CLAP" sound so you can actually hear the words while having the feel of the bass.

on 11/22/2005 Another option for smaller spaces are Bass Tubes by Bazooka. These come in 3 sizes (6.5, 8, 10 inch woofers). You can get them with a built in amplifier or get a passive version so you can add your own amp. I have the 6.5 inch 200 watt RMS amplified bass tube. Here are some things I learned:

1. Fuses are your friend! They may be annoying sometimes, but save your butt in the end.
2. Don't always go for the bigger woofer or more wattage and make sure you compare RMS wattage, not peak wattage. Peak wattage is the most the woofer can output under conditions that will never happen in real life (like a solid tone for half a second). Smaller woofers have a really really fast response time and if you port them right you can get them to resonate for deep bass too. It is harder, but worth it.
3. Wattage is just how loud it can get, it is nothing about quality. However, if you woofer isn't getting enough power then it will sound bad. Too much wattage will overpower the rest of the system (which might be what you want), but it is nice to hear the words once and a while.

So over all it is the whole package that matters. Get one that works for your system. The 6.5 inch sub with a built in 200 Watt amp from bazooka worked for me. It is more than loud enough, and gets really deep for a 6.5 and compares to many 12 inches. This is because Bazooka knows its speakers and made the tube just right. Its response time is unbelievable. I hear bass notes that I never knew were there because my friends 12 inch sub wouldn't be able to recover to play them. But most of all it is small. I was able to fit in in the spare tire compartment under my trunk without removing my spare tire!

on 11/22/2005 Speakers produce sound by moving air. At a given frequency, the more air moved the louder the sound. You can move more air by two means. 1. Increase the speaker size (cone diameter), which everyone is well aware of, and this is easy to accomplish and design. 2. The other method, which is not very well publicized, is the throw. The throw is the effective traveling distance of the cone. It is costly to manufacture a speaker with increased throw, that's why your cheaper speakers have such a short throw, and your higher end sub typically has a much larger throw.

So how does this come into play? Lets take an example (hypothetical):
Take a 15 inch Phoenix Sub which has a 1/2 inch throw. Do the math and this speaker displaces 88ci for 1 throw (7.5^2*Pi*.5). Now lets take a 10 inch Apline sub which has a 1 inch throw. Do the math and it displaces almost 79ci for 1 throw (5^2*Pi*1). So you can see that at any given frequency the 10 inch Alpine is moving nearly as much air as the 15 inch Phoenix sub. Drop to a 12 inch Phoenix Sub at the same throw and suddenly you are moving only 57ci of air (6^2x.5) compared to the 79ci with the 10 inch Alpine.

Just something to keep in mind in choosing a sub. Cone size cannot be used to compare intensity or frequency response between different speakers. Look for a quality smaller sub. It takes up less space, and ultimately probably saves weight too (due to an overall smaller enclosure and package).

on 11/22/2005 The smaller the diameter of the woofer, the quicker the bass response will drop. You'll find 10's in a sealed enclosure will sync nice with your rock music because of the air displacement inside the box. I prefer 12's in a ported box for rap or techno. Always try out subs with music you commonly listen to before buying, and be sure to experience the difference in ported and sealed enclosures as well. Remember, the customer is always right.

on 11/22/2005 Two tens would probably be better than one big 15 inch. The big subwoofers (12 inches, 15 inches) have slower responses. Small subwoofers (8 inches, 10 inches) have a tight and more controlled sound. A good quality 8 inch subwoofer will sound better than a cheap 12 inch subwoofer.

on 11/22/2005 When you wire you system, you shouldn't cross the wires or have them tangled up. If they are tangled, it could cause a kink in the wire and you could lose power to your subs. Try to hide the wires as best as you can, because looks do matter.

on 11/22/2005 I recently bought a 900 watt 1 ohm amplifier. People (especially car audio employees) said, "No. No. A 4 ohm is safer, blah, blah." And hey, maybe it is, if you have cheap speakers. I'm so happy with my 1 ohm. It hits the frequencies better than any other amp I've heard. Ever! I've blown two 10 ohms already. That means my amp is awesome and I need to stop being cheap with the speakers and get a hard core dvc 12 (or something). Take it from me, 1 ohm is unbeatable. Expensive, but well worth it.

Power acoustic is a cheap speaker! Sorry, but it's true. They say 1400 watt max with the 10 inch, but apparently the rms is 600. I found that if they don't blow, the wiring frays loose from the speaker moving so much. They're nice to look at, and even sound great (at less than the rms stated). Truth be known, they don't last long at all (just my experience). I'm looking into some JL speakers, I hear they're soldiers.

on 11/22/2005 If you want your bass to sound crisp and loud, without taking up all your trunk room, then go with Kicker Solo-Baric L7 or L5. If you have a 10 square, it's equal to a 12 inch circle. If you have a 12 inch square, it's equal to a 15 inch circle. If you have a 15 inch square it's equal to a 18 inch circle. So, if you want loud bass, go with a square subwoofer to save room.

on 11/22/2005 Before you play any stereo in your car, you might want to let the subwoofers and amplifier warm up first. If you play the stereo when it is cold, you can damage your subwoofers. Turn on the heat in the car for a while. This will allow your subwoofers and amplifier to warm up.

on 11/22/2005 A 12 inch subwoofer is good for cars, but a 15 will be louder and drop lower. People say that they don't hit as fast, but that's because of power. An 18 inch subwoofer is strictly low bass only. This means bass so low it'll either break windows, start your car without you knowing it, or even shake main parts of the engine apart. This is power that even competition 12's cant handle. The average 18-inch subwoofer needs 1000 watts just to move the speaker.

on 11/22/2005 Don't worry about a capacitor for your headlights. Get a capacitor for sound quality. Holding long bass notes takes a lot of power. Without a capacitor, the bass starts to sound like it's dribbling. With a capacitor, the bass is one constant note. If you're into sound quality, the difference is huge.

on 11/22/2005 This is a good thing to know if you have subwoofers. You can easily mount a plate in front of of the subwoofers which will conduct the air and the sound flow. You will have a clearer and louder bass, and you might save some room in your trunk.

If you want to louden the bass of your speaker, try putting it in an enclosure (preferably closed). Make sure it is big enough and that the speaker is strong enough. Polypropelene surround speakers have a sturdy cone.

on 11/22/2005 If you are going to be powering two subwoofers, you should look at the RMS wattage that the amplifier puts out when it is bridged, because it is often less than you think. My Sony Xplod 2 channel 600 watt amplifier, when bridged, puts out 300 RMS*1, but when you run two 10's off of that, the number drops down to 100 RMS*2. Check before you buy, if you want to power two subwoofers.