Good Brands?and bad?
 

Well i am new to the car audio scene and am looking at picking up some equipment...i already got an alpine head unit so now i am looking for mids tweets and of course subs

anyways mainly what i was wondering is for subs...what is a good brand..more or less

whats really high end expensive stuff?
whats good but reasonably priced stuff?
whats middle of the road?entry style stuff?
whats decent for the price but not recommended?
what should i stay away from?(i place sony is this category...my brother bought sony stuff and it is garbage.)

i am kind of biased to alpine for the head unit because i like the features it has with the volume knob...this is why i bought an Alpine head unit.

but i was wondering what a good brand of subs is..and amp...without spending crazy money...my friend has 2 10" Kicker Comp VR and a Kicker amp...and that setup throws....in my opinion...but i also know there is probably better out there for cheaper.

also..my vehicle is a 1997 F-150 Extended Cab truck...and i will be placing my subs in a box under my rear seat...so they need to be somewhat "thin".....also are the Premier actual THIN subs any good?...i seen these in a local audio store flyer and wonder if they are worth it....or should i just buy a 2 inch riser kit for my rear seat and put some normal subs in...i got about 6 inches as it is with no box..so if i got the riser it would be 8 inches to work with for box and subs.

THNX
Duggy

Well Sony isn't the bottom of the barrel so I'll add to the list of stuff that is equivalent to or worse:

Jensen
Legacy
Profile
Pyle
Pyramid
SparkoMatic

The rest of your questions about brand are so broad that I don't want to make any other statements.
Price / watt can be a pretty good indicator for the quality - although there will be a few compnaies that give a good product for cheaper, while other companies get you to pay a bit more for the name . . . At times I feel that way about Alpine, but they still do make a really great product, while other companies after making a good product for a number of years and have established a name for themselves sit back and let the quality slip a little.

Go out and listen to stuff. Let your ears tell you what is best.

First off Nice to see a ford man!

Your buddy with the kickers is an entry level system, you can get much better, but for beginners, like me, their a good sub.

I ride with 2 10" RF P1's. My buddy has the same truck as you and he uses 1 10" RF P2 and his truck pounds pretty hard. So from your size restrictions and what not i would recommend 2 10" P2's. Keep in mind these are disposable subs and they are not the greatest quality. A step up from these would be Memphis/Pioneer kind of thing.

Each manuafurer makes a wide range of products, to fit different budgets.

You can't compare a low end from one brand to a high end of another brand.
Compare apples to apples.
Alpine makes speakers and subs in S, R, and X. if you want the good stuff go for X.
Kicker makes Comp, CVR, L5 & L7. + some rediculous show SPL stuff. if you want the good stuff go for L7.
You could do the same with all brands.
Balancing budget with quality is what its about. Getting the value you want is tricky.

I'm pretty happy with my system, ofcourse i want more/better, but can't justify the $.

Power Acoustik makes shallow mount subs...from what I hear they are half decent

And Earthquake makes a shallow mount that will smoke those Power Acrapstick and the Pioneers. You have lots of options in your truck. Keep the rear speakers to a good simple 6x8" speaker. In the front, fire in a good 6.5" component speaker (with a adaptor plate of course). If you are really after output from the subs, get that riser kit, throw out the shallow mount sub idea. Have a box purpose built to go under the seat and put one high output sub like a DD2510 down there in a slot port box. Fire it up with 400-800w rms of power, give the other speakers in the truck a minimum of 50w rms of power and sit back and enjoy.

One sub in the proper box will kill two in the wrong box. It is all about the box here. Concentrate on it first if you are after output.

^ listen to that guy ^

Its all about install... not brand name, or brand perception....

your biggest concearn is going to be getting subs that will fit, and work the way they should....

so you've got 8" to work with and say roughly 1" by 3.5" ?? well if you build a box from 3/4 MDF your 8" just turned into about 5.5" of internal box since you'll probably need at least 1" of clearance between the box and the seat....

that would only give you about 1.35 cubic feet of air space before displacment from the subs... thats about right for a single 12 and youll have to find one with about 5" mounting depth...


That said I think shallow mount subs designed for small boxes would be a good idea... a pair of these 12s would fit and would slam pretty hard.... SWS subwoofers

Agreed the SWS work well, some other options are the JBL GTO and Infinity REF they are around 4-4.5" depth without paying a premium for shallow style.

Best stuff alpine makes is the F1 status, and the only good sub from kicker is the solo X.

well everyone says box is important...i was no aware of this...i didn't think the box really mattered a whole bunch..

anyways i was planning on getting my cousin to build the box...just becuase he works with wood allot and has the tools and access to them and stuff to get it all done properley..

so i guess first off...what is the best thickness of MDF to use?(3/4 like huaz said?)...also what kind of bracing should i be looking at...for corners and stuff?..like 2?3? should i screw them in..or use some kind of adhesive?...also should the box be screwed together? or adhesive?...also does the carpet i cover it in matter?...how should it be attached to the box?(i would like to get a color to match the interior which is burgundy)

also my seat has a metal brace 3/4 way through...becuase its a split bench in the rear...how do you recommend working around this? should i make 2 separate boxes?...


also i have heard that if you listen to rock and or rap you want lots of porting so it drags the sound out...but if you listen to like country music..or tighter music so to speak you want your box completely sealed so it snaps back better..is this true?....i listen to a fair amount of country...but i do rock and rap as well...so should i go with a sealed box? or ported? if so how many ports? how big?what direction should they face(back to box of truck,up,down or towards the front of the truck?)

also if it says 600W max on a sub....does that mean i need a 1200W Amp??...like 600 per sub? or what?

also whats a good bang for the buck amp?..

hey guys i know this is allot of questions...so i hope someone can anwser them all

THNX
Duggy