Hey I've been looking around at some different places and was just wondering if anyone had opinons, on what are some good sub's and amp's. I'm looking for maybe one or two subs, in the 10"-12" range most likely. As for cost, im looking to spend around 1,000 between the subs, amp, and head unit. I know this may be a semi-broad question but any info is apprectiated.
Zak

 

I have good luck with Kenwood products for both subs and amps. I stick with pioneer for the head unit. You could blow windows out for $1000. I have had the Kenwood tornados I think that is what they are called, they were 12s with KAC-929 1000 watt amp and it was extremely loud.

 

i really like kenwood as well i have a kenwood head unit and amp. Kicker makes the loudest subs IMO as long as they are the square solobarics. Feel free to PM me ill send you some links.

 

I'm going to have to go and disagree on the kenwood recomendations. Kenwood is generally weaker, and far harsher than most other brands.

for a deck, Alpine is the best sound quality you will find for that budget (and most any). For subs and amps, that depends on who is doing the install...sounds like it won't be you so I would suggest finding one quality 10 or 12....JL has many to offer, putting RMS or slightly better to it, and putting some Polks (MOMO preferred) in the doors with an amp. you may need to save a little more money if you really want volume and quality.

 

Everything sounds good, but subs -> JL <- end of story.....

 

Well I have always been slightly biased towards JL for some reason, so I have been looking into like maybe getting one 12" W6 or something like that, with maybe a JL 1000/1 powering it..? Does that sound like a good combo? As for what I said about the 1,000 budget, thats not really true. I have 4500 total left over after I bought my truck, so I was planning on doing other stuff to it (lift + BFG AT's). But I mean, the system is more important to me right now..so maybe I could go more. Any other ideas about headunits/speakers..so far I've heard polk and alpine, which I have looked into both and they seem like good quality. Anyone have any experience with the new eclipse HU's? Thanks for the input guys, keep it coming!
Zak

 

There are some really kick-*** ones at audiocubes.com they come from japan so you lose a coupe radio stations at either end of the spetrum witht the converter, but no one else will have one like yours. I would definitely go with memphis for amps, treo or eclipse for the subs if you want SPL, Image dynamics or RE if you want SQ, and Eclipse or Alpine for the headunit. If you want door speakers or component systems go with cdt audio.

 

I agree with the last post. I've always went with MB Quart, sound great and I have the lowest model of coaxial speakers. I have their refrence subs and the sq is unreal. You can get 2 off ebay for about 170$ now and they're not super high powered which means you don't need a high power amp.

 

if you buy stuff off ebay you probably won't get a warranty. 99% of the time your stuck with your thumb up your **** when something goes wrong...

 

They may say it's warrantied through the manufacturer, but manufacturers will only ensure if sold by a licensed seller.

 

I have an alpine 9833 HU and love it...as for an amp I agree that Kenwood puts out a pretty good amp. I currently run a KAC 8401 4 channel for my Infiniti speakers and find it to be an awesome amp. The best feature it has is a built in fan...From personal experiences Id stay away from Bazooka and MTX amps...ive had overheating issues with both

 

My friend had a Bazooka amp and that thing could fry an egg after 20 minutes!

 

About the ebay warranty. I've sent an Infinity Perfect 10 back to Infinity twice, from ebay. Also my SoundStream amp I sent to SoundStream for free repair that I got from ebay. If you're going to buy something real expensive I recommend NOT buying it from ebay though just in case the warranty doesn't work out.

 

Damn and thats in a $1000 budget with headunit? I trhought the 1000/1 retailed for about that.

 

Subwoofer kicker. they make high output subwoofers you need a big amp to power them but they are loud as hell and sound great imo. heres a link to some kickers http://cgi.ebay.com/KICKER-SOLOBARIC...QQcmdZViewItem 1500 watt peak power!!!!!!!!!
http://cgi.ebay.com/KICKER-SOLOBARIC...QQcmdZViewItem 1200 watt peak on a 10 thats amazing. i love my solobaric my friends say they can hear me coming for 10 seconds before they see me. 2 of my other friends have 12's and they are so crazy loud. I would recommend these to any hands down. They are so loud and at a good price. If you read up about the square they say a 12 in square like these has the same surface area of 15 in round subwoofer. I think they are the best. But thats just me

 

dross93,
In reality I have around 4k to work with. I only said 1k at the start because at that point in time I was unsure about what else I wanted to do with my truck and wanted to keep some of that tucked away for other mods. However, I talked to my dad and as of right now Im lucky and he's paying for my insurance and he wasnt too pleased about me putting all this money into making my tuck fast and stand out and such. He just doesnt want me getting speeding tickets and figures that if I have a faster car it would be more incentive(sp?) for me to speed so, in the interest of keeping him happy I'm going to lay low on the other stuff until i go to college next year But I would like to keep it around 2k. And the 1000/1 goes for like 4-5 hundred on ebay w/warranty if you buy from a good seller. Im really looking at that 9835 H/U tho, such a nice unit. Anyone have any experience with thesee it just looks so nice, haha. Those go for about 350 on ebay, and i figure thats not too awful bad for such a nice unit. But maybe i was trying to debate wheter it was worth getting a like a 7" indash mp3/cd/dvd one for like around 8 hundred and getting cheaper subs/speakers/or amp?? Thanks for all your input guys its really helping me out

 

There are some great reccomendations in this thread and for $1,000 you can do pretty well in a truck. I don't recommend going with ebay for anything as it has already been pointed out most sellers on ebay are not authorized retailers so technically you don't have a warranty on your products, and especially with a company like JL you may not be getting brand new stuff. Best to buy from authorized retailers. Online Sounddomain and crutchfield (can be pricey but if you look has some good prices from time to time) are good choices.

Make sure you include door speakers in your system because if you don't and you keep the factory speakers in there its just going to sound muddy and not nearly as good as you want it to.

What do you want out of your system? SQ or SPL?

JL Subs and Amps are awesome, but can be pricey and it's difficult to do a full budget system using them.

I fully recommend using Alpine headunits. I have had a couple of Alpine headunits, Kenwood excelons, Clarion, Panasonic, JVC, and had experiences with others and Alpine is clearly the best in my opinion. You can get a great deck for a decent price. I recommend getting at least this unit:

Alpine 9851 (there are some available for less, but if you want iPod integration this is the lowest Alpine that works with their iPod control, this is what we are putting in my truck): http://www.crutchfield.com/S-xg4011O...0&I=500CDA9851

Awesome price on a sub/amp package with MB Quart sub and amp, i mean, really awesome:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-xg4011O...50&I=700RAPW12

Sub enclosure:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-xg4011O...0&I=044T1012SS

KnuKonceptz.com Amp Install Kit:
http://www.knukonceptz.com/productDe...prodID=KOL-AK4


Alpine 9851: $279
Sub and Amp $299
Sub Enclosure: $89.99
Amp Install Kit: $31.99 (shipping is reasonable if not free from them)

=$700 + free shipping at Crutchfield and -$20 refer a friend discount (I can give you my code) = $680 (Another great thing about shopping at crutchfield is I believe they include the dash kit and wiring harness for free when you purchase a headunit from them)

That leaves you about $300 to play with, you can get door speakers and an amp to power those, or door speakers and iPod Interface and XM or sirius radio and run off of deck power or some other combination of the above.

If you want to keep it simple with the door speakers and go with something that goes in the factory location and run them off of deck power for now this is a good choice:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-xg4011O...g=400&I=065S85

If you want something a bit nicer and aren't afraid of modifying the door panels for components and using speaker adapters you can get something like this and still have it be a budget buy (I just bought a pair for our truck)

Infinity Reference 6000cs:
http://www.cardomain.com/item/INFREF6000CS?vq_id=none

Staying with the Budget theme, Infinity Reference 7520a 2 channel amp:
http://www.cardomain.com/item/INFREF7520A

Infinity Reference 6000cs - $112.95
Infinity Reference 7520a - $99.95
KnuKonceptz Amp kit: $31.99 (alternatively if you get the amp kit you can get a wiring block and another 2 channel cable from knu konceptz)

Approx. $250

So add the two together: $680+$250 = $930

You have a rocking complete system for $930 with $70 leftover or add ipod control or satellite radio.

Just one scenario, everything will have full factory warranty, and you get service you can rely on.

 

a couple of posts were written while I was putting my together, one word for you.

Don't buy JL Audio off of ebay and expect to have any kind of warranty service. JL audio is one of the toughest in the industry about cracking down on online sellers of there gear and they WILL NOT honor a warranty on anything you bought from a non-authorized merchant. If it's JL Audio and they claim that it's new on Ebay it is product of dubious origin. It's really buyer beware.

 

if you are looking to spend 2k and save 2k get a kenwood ddx7015 H/U, it will fit great and look great. as far as the subs brand and power what kind of music are you gonna listen to mostly this has a big influence on your choice, also think about how you are gonna dampen if at all and if you need to upgrade your alternator or battery ( optima yellow top) and wiring kits. thats alot of money into things that arent right in your face so they slip your mind when pricing. it wont effect cost too too much but also how are you planning to mount them ( please please dont just do some rectangle mdf box with carpeting, not with that kind of money invested into the sound) thats just my but thats food for thought

 

I think this shows how loud some kickers are saw it and thought it was kinda funny and figured i'd show yall it.

 

Ummmm.... Just in case you didn't know this... That's not just a "kicker square sub." It's The Beast. It's got 48 Kicker L7s and 48,000 Kicker watts.

 

No, just a couple hundred dollars. That's all.

 

can someone lend me a magnifying glass for that pic??

 

yeah, go to www.teamgates.org

That's Alma Gates' Beast

 

Thanks a lot for that in-depth post jrhotrod, very informative. Is it just JL that is that strict about their warrantees(sp?)? Say if i were to buy an alpine unit off ebay, are they the same way. Its just hard not to want to go through ebay because of the great deals to be had, even though they may not have warranty...just wondering if the warranty was really worth the extra $...