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Posts Tagged ‘Subwoofers’

In any car audio system, the subwoofer must absolutely be present. It might not sound important at first, but if you remove the subwoofer component, there’s no bass left. A subwoofer by definition is a loudspeaker dedicated to producing low frequency sounds. Have you ever heard the booming beat screaming from a car? That’s the subwoofer at work. Of course, it’s turned past what the average car owner would have it at.

The top companies you’ll want to look for if you want to upgrade your car subwoofer are JL Audio, MTX Audio, and Kicker. These three are leading the car audio industry, all with early origins. JL Audio’s W7 line is one of the most advanced and most powerful subwoofer lines available on the market (pricey, but well worth it if you care about the quality). MTX Audio has released an amazing 60-inch subwoofer that holds the record for the size. They also have the largest consumer subwoofer that measures at 22 inches. Kicker’s L7 seems to be the best from the Kicker lineup, and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be.

Cars usually carry their subwoofers in the trunk or back parts of the vehicle because of the lack of space. Subwoofers and their enclosures tend to take up more space than is expected. As such, fitting them into dashboards and doors is extremely difficult.

An interesting thing subwoofers are used for are volume competition, also known as SPL wars. SPL (sound pressure levels) get extremely high in these battles, and some companies decide to produce subwoofers geared extremely towards the SPL rather than the sound quality. Companies like JL Audio have focused on both SPL and sound quality, as shown in JL Audio’s W7 series.

When installing a car stereo subwoofer, it sometimes requires modifications to the vehicle itself. Obviously, each car is built differently, and that includes the space allowed for upgrades/changes like the subwoofer. If you want to shoot for a larger one or one with a different shape (although mostly circular, some subwoofers are square), it’s important to make sure you have the right size available; otherwise, its time to bust out tools to make it so that you have the right size.

Never assume that a smaller subwoofer is weaker. For example, JL Audio’s 8-inch W7 subwoofer is more powerful than some 12-inch subwoofers from other companies. Because of this, you must always read reviews on the subwoofer you’re looking at before buying it in case that smaller subwoofer is indeed weaker. If you keep with the more popular brands, though, you shouldn’t have many problems, because these have been reviewed many times over and won’t fail to deliver.
Car stereo subwoofers sound like enthusiast-only business, but they dig deeper than most people think.

Alpine Electronics was founded in 1967 in Tokyo, Japan as part of the Japanese Alps Electric Co, which jointed with Motorola for the new name in a new country. It currently sells navigation and audio systems for cars. Alpine, although currently not the leading company in the car audio industry, has produced many lines of successful car subwoofers, all under $300 (with the exception of a couple of lines). The looks of the subwoofers are of note. Customers have reported that Alpine subwoofers are made so both sides look fantastic. One has even rated the clean look as a weakness, as a simple installation “will not visually do it justice”.

One of the more popular lines in the Alpine company, the Type-R series is also the largest: it has seven subwoofers compared to the three or four the other lines have. The Type-R series is composed of 10-inch, 12-inch, and 15-inch woofers. Alpine has really packed a whole lot into those inches, because there’s power, yet it doesn’t hurt like other subwoofers that sacrifice sound quality for strength. The two 15 inch products in the Type-R line are the only ones priced over $300, but that’s not to say they aren’t worth it. The entire line is priced as it should be, because high quality 15-inch subwoofers are actually quite difficult to find; most tend to stick to 10 and 12 inches. An owner of an SWR-1242D subwoofer (12 inches, part of the Type-R series) said that sound could be heard from the car from 2 miles away. He parked his car in a gas station and even made the shelves shake. You can get the 10-inch Type-R series for $200, the 12-inch for $220, and the 15-inch for $400.

It’s probably true that the second most popular Alpine is the Type-S series. It features two 12-inch and two 10-inch woofers. Combined with Alpine’s most famous products, their head units, the Type-S subwoofers are really something to deal with. As long as you supply these subs with the right power needed, you’re going to get clear cut sound that blasts straight through the air. The Type-S series is priced a bit lower, ranging from $150 for the 10-inch to $170 to the 12-inch.

Alpine surely delivers not only on quality, but just plain affordability. While leaders like JL Audio might charge over $400 for their 10-inch W7, Alpine maintains a high standard of sound quality at half the price, and sometimes even takes the jump and goes for sound pressure level as well. Nearly all of the Alpine series are absolutely worth the cash because they blast really well. They match up to Kicker and MTX any day, just at a lower price that won’t burn a hole in your wallet.