8 vs 10...infinity/alpine vs shiva, re se, ed k/a...ugh!

[divera]

I need some input, so here is the criteria and please forgive me for the super duper long post. Had my car broken into a while back and had my head unit and amps taken. I was pretty ticked off, but the silver lining is that I have a clean slate to work with. I replaced the head unit and amps and while my single 12 mtx 8000 was spared in the theft, my tastes have changed yet again.

I'm looking for an 8 or 10 inch sub to stick in the back of a hatchback area. The 12 was nice, but took up too much room. I can't settle for garbage products so my price peak would run to around 300 max for a single sub. Of course I don't want to spend 300 if I can get good quality stuff for half the price. I was originally thinking of grabbing a 10 inch alpine type r or infinity perfect, and I do prefer SQ way over SPL because tight, accurate bass suits my musical interests. This usually means plenty of reggae, NOT dancehall, more like bob and ziggy marley type stuff. But hey, I don't want to sound wimpy if I turn up the volume a bit either. So the ideal situation here is for me to get away with the smallest sub possible somewhat below my price range, yet is high in the SQ department. So, I came back to this board to research it and discovered some other names other than the usual mtx, kicker, rf, pioneer, infinity type stuff. The shiva sounds good, but I would have to grab a 10 inch(correct me if I'm wrong, they have no 8). re se I don't know too much about because there site is still under construction. Then my personal favorite, the ed k and ed a. the k series sub I can grab a 10 for a good price, but if I want to save more room and go with the 8 in the a series, I shell out more money for it for a potentially better product.

So in summary I guess, there are 3 questions. Compared to the more mainstream infinty/alpine subs of the world, would the shiva, re se, and ed k/a equal or better the perfect 10 or type r 10 for example, in the SQ department, yet still hit reasonably hard in the SPL department FOR THE PRICE? Based on my criteria do you think getting a GREAT quality 8 inch sub could be comparable to getting a cheaper, larger 10 inch GOOD quality sub, as in the ed a 8 vs the ed k 10? Oh, and I'll be running about 300 rms of good, clean power into it which I'm sure is good for an 8 and average for a 10. And the 3rd scenario/question is, for example, if I grab an infinity perfect/alpine type r 10 inch sub for 150-200, would an 8 inch ed a in the same price range be just as rewarding with SQ and SPL? Again, sorry guys for the long post, I just can't decide. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif Thanks in advance for the help! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

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[Mark_ab 5,000+ posts]

Shiva's are, unfortunately, only made in 12" size. For your musical tastes the ED A and K series suit your needs. In your shoes, I would opt for a 10" A. As far as SQ compared to mainstream Type R and Perfects, I will decimate both in all arena's. You couldn't go wrong with the K series either, it just depends how much you want to spend.

 

[divera]

Wow, you really are the super moderator extreme. You replied so quickly with good info. This is what I gathered from your post and please correct me if I'm wrong...

Depending on what you want to spend, get the K or A in 10 inch size, they're both good products (I'd probably pocket some cash and go w/ the K). If you're gonna shell out the cash for an 8 inch A, you might as well spend a bit more and grab the 10, especially since they move more air. And when you say you will decimate the type r and perfect in the SQ arena, are you referring to your brahma's or compared to the ed K and A? Thanks again.

 

[wesleysh 10+ year member]

He meant to write "it" will decimate, not "I" will decimate. I'm pretty sure that is what he meant, referring to the 10A being far superior to the Alpine or Perfect.

"Shiva" is the name of Adire Audio's 12" sub. Kind of cool the way they did it. "Tempest" is the name of the 15" and "Maelstrom" is the name of the 18". So whenever you see one of those names, you know exactly what size it is. Then above that is the Brahma series, which goes with traditional naming with a 10, 12 and 15 (an 18 has been in the works for some time now).

Shiva's actually take very large boxes, FYI.

If I were short on space, I'd go with the A series. That would give me the kind of sub I can really push till it performs like a bigger one. I personally have a 15A on the way.

If you don't go with eD for some reason, I'd check into Image Dynamics IDQ series subs. It's another SQ first, small box sub.

 

[divera]

Thanks for the help guys. I'll be leaning toward the 10 inch ed k, but if anyone else has any suggestions, I'm open to them. I can't justify spending more for an equivalent size type r and while the ed a would be nice, frankly the ed k seems to be the best bang for the buck out there while retaining good SQ. Then again, I'm not really looking for too much SPL from one 10 inch sub, just a nice balanced sound overall. Again, the advice was much appreciated.