Subwoofer Brands

[djb160]

Which Subwoofer brand would you prefer all things being equal (price)?

Any good ones here I've forgotten?

[Johny]

id prefer sound streams if my pockets were deeper but my rockford fosgate ones do a pretty good job :)

[hi flyer]

I have a boston. Made in USA. Fairly top the the range i am told. And sound stream is top of the range stuff also. I'd go with sound stream if money were no object.

[Roberto]

Sony for me, but no matter the make or model, its the correct enclosure that realy counts.

[stuey]

I have a boston. Made in USA. Fairly top the the range i am told. And sound stream is top of the range stuff also. I'd go with sound stream if money were no object.

I used to have a full Boston Audio system in a car a while back, it really was very very good, better than pretty much anything else on the market at the time.. heard Dynaudio are good too.

[n13l pm]

JL audio make solid subs, highly recommended if you have the money.. I have two 12" Orion subs, really good subs. Sound streams are also highly rated but i havnt actually used them.

[WildCards]

Eek, I recall Infinity and Rocky Fozz making some pretty swish stuff, but it's a few years since I was vaguely interested in that stuff, so wouldn't have the foggiest.

[Danj]

Ive had Pioneer, Pro Plus (dont know if theyre still around?), JBL, Infinity, Vibe, kicker and Yamaha (home cinema). Honestly think it was either the Pioneer or the Vibe for me.

[Beastlee]

You didn't include DB Audio. I have a Raptor 15" and it copes with very low frequencies at high amplitude with aplomb. And at about £120 5 years ago it's still perfect!

[Turbo_Steve]

DBA, Focal, JL, JBL, Alpine (sound nice but not very efficient).
MTX are massively loud, but a bit boomy.

I haven't used soundstream myself, but I've heard them and seen them and I wish I could afford them LOL


And the sentiment about enclosure design is exactly correct: MTX subs, even boxed, came with 4 sheets of A4 covered in Thiele-Small parameters for THAT specific cone, as well as a full frequency sweep plot of both impedance and response.

[djb160]

Im only interested in shallow mount stuff and not all brands have them, like soundstream. Others I just don't know about coz Im a noob at sounds stuff.

[pitslayer]

Rainbow subs are supposed to be pretty good, aswell as the audiobahn.
Ive got a kicker downstairs but no amp that works, well apart froma 6 channel kicker amp but thats my brothers not allowed that

[CANDEE]

I currently have an RE(Resonant Engineering) and a DLS(rrp is about $1300 or something to the tune of that...).

The new pioneer flat piston subs are supposed to be quite nice if you are after a shallow mount sub.

Have a talk to Chris or Dale @ Pauls Audio and mention that i sent you their way. :)

Jeremy

[djb160]

Cheers J. It wont be for a wee while yet. Gotta get the car first. :D

[CANDEE]

Cheers J. It wont be for a wee while yet. Gotta get the car first. :D

All good Dale :)

Any hints on what it will be??

J

[djb160]

Nah depends on whats around when I start working. I want recaros though. Oh it'll be a VR4 Leggy at any rate.

[Gly]

DD aka Digital Design, nothing else compares IMO
i have a 3515,

http://www.ddaudio.com/dd/caraudio/woofers.asp?series=3500e

[dickytim]

DD aka Digital Design, nothing else compares IMO
i have a 3515,

http://www.ddaudio.com/dd/caraudio/woofers.asp?series=3500e

Too true, but alas I still have to go with Alpine as my favourite brand.

[Goku]

Alpine for the best quality, Pioneer for bang for buck and JVC or kenwood for good quality without costing the earth.

In the end though, it's all about personal preference, what music you listen to and what it is you want to achieve with your setup.

[djb160]

Interesting. What about all round subs as all sorts of music would be put through it from cat stevens to avril lavine to NWA to slipknot. But no one group of genres prodominately.

[Turbo_Steve]

Have to confess I will never buy another piece of Kenwood kit: I've had their top end stuff up against budget pioneer models and been totally amazed by the difference in detail levels.

Subwoofer wise, you're either after longevitity or sensitivity. If you want massive sound pressure levels, in boxes that resonate beautifully but have a spikey frequency response, then buy something ultra-rugged that will take being run at maximum excursion for long periods of time. However, you will almost always see that as the wattage rating creeps up, the sensitivity drops as the motor windings are overlapped, the former has to be longer, and better cooled, the suspension has to be stronger, and the cone weighs more.

Conversely, if you're after something that does your music justice, you want the lightest, most rigid cone possible, finely wound coil with an ultra-light former & capstan etc etc so that it can all move quickly, and maintain a fairly regular impedance.

Unfortunately, all these things make the cone fragile: in the wrong box, the suspension won't take the abuse, or if overdriven the voicecoil will expire, and if you try an over exert the cone, it'll destroy itself.

Generally, Automotive subwoofers fall somewhere between the two: compare the specs of pro-audio drivers against automotive ones, and be amazed.

A good example of this is that most domestic & pro audio equpiment still uses plasticised paper cones, that are a proper cone shape. Most car audio stuff below a certain price point uses an injected foam piston instead. One of the best manufacturers at hitting the sensitivity vs durability interface seems to be JL Audio: they follow classic speaker design, with minimal "bling", and design it very well. They offer a range of impedances, suspension stiffnesses and sensitivities to suit the application, and come complete with Theiele Small parameters, and (on the higher models) a complete test sheet, much like the MTX stuff.

[bigsed]

I have an Infinity Reference Series sub at the moment which is superb. Also had a Cerwin Vega before but it was sold in the wrong enclosure and blew before I was able to really test it.

[djb160]

Hey I like the look of the JL TW5 series.