oh man I am so drunk and laugh at this!

 

Effiency plays a large factor in a subwoofer. It will take power to make it move. Take for example, the TI Elite, this is also ineffiecent just like the Type X. If the TI elite is not fed the power it want's it will not sound "proper" or "good". Meaning....the subwoofer will not perform as it should with say 1/2 the power it wants, same goes for the Type X. A good example of an efficient subwoofer is an IDMax, as well as the Xenon. The IDMax wants 1000RMS, but will perform quite nicely with 500RMS (half it's rated), the xenon will also perform very nicely with 250RMS (half).

Efficiency plays a large role if you are on a budget, or don't plan on upgrading your eletrical system. </font>[/QUOTE]The effitiency of a sub changes with the box.
Generally speaking, the more effitient the bigger the box it needs to play low, and the lower the effitiency, the smaller the box it needs to play low. The higher mass cone will give the sub lower effientcy at 1k but it will allow it to play lower freguency notes louder than the more effitient sub. They only way for the more effitient sub to be able to play the lower notes louder is to be put in a bigger box, which sucks cuz there is only so much room in a car.

Another thing is that a lot of companies inflate the effitiency nubers, so they might not be acurate. There is a formula u can use ( you need the fs, qes and vas) to check to see which companies are telling the truth.

Also, most companies measure effitiency at 1k @ 1w/1meter. How many systems you know that have the subs playing that high? Its not really a good number to judge if a speaker is good or not.
If a sub cannot perform with lower power something is wrong , the sound should be good just not as loud.

 

Who said it sounds like crap witho less power?

 

what pg maniac is saying is that it should see at least 1/2 power all the time
i now sell decks that you can only turn 1/2 way down to make sure the sub is seeing enough power to work
you see the magnet feezes the voice coil in its magnetic grip once you give it 1/2 power it will jump out and begin working
unfortuantly if the bass stops in the song you have to turn it up again to get it working

 

Wow, why do i even post at all.

 

In the GTA i have had luck with Ultra autosound on Dundas st. in Mississauga...they always answer my questions and don't give me opinions unless asked, they are never pushy and they always have lots of models on display and hooked up. 20 Hz Car Audio in Woodbridge is pretty good but are very busy and it takes long to get things done, so you have to be patient. Every other C.A. specialist that I've been to will never get my business, as I've had very poor service and attitude from them. I've had excellent service from Best Buy (woodbridge) car audio dept., and would not hesitate to deal with them again. I can't say the same for their stores at Downsview and Markham. Most of the really bad stores have gone out of business in the last 6 years or so(boo hoo). I also purchase many items online and I have had excellent service so far, except one, overall though I prefer to deal with online or catalog companies for most purchases. Over the years I've found most C.A. specialists don't care about the casual customer and/or do it yourselfers, they are only interested in the guy or gal who wants to do a full system from them. That's my essay on the subject!