Efficient Sub Suggestions?

[camino 10+ year member]

Hey, I have been wanting to get an upgrade for my system, but honestly have no idea what to get. I want to get a good 10" sub, but due to recent cash troubles, It needs to be somewhere around 50-125 bucks shipped, and it needs to be efficient.

Main consideration is efficiency, cuz this will be running on 300 watts for a while until I can save up enough to buy a better amp. Which will be a while.

All suggestions are appreciated!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

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[MisterGrubbs 5,000+ posts]

Hey, Amazon has the PG RSD woofer on sell for 50 bucks shipped, you might want to check it out.

And honestly

If you were to put the woofer into a nice box, you might be suprised as to what you can do with one sub and such little power //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[FJF 10+ year member]

Hey, I have been wanting to get an upgrade for my system, but honestly have no idea what to get. I want to get a good 10" sub, but due to recent cash troubles, It needs to be somewhere around 50-125 bucks shipped, and it needs to be efficient. Main consideration is efficiency, cuz this will be running on 300 watts for a while until I can save up enough to buy a better amp. Which will be a while.

All suggestions are appreciated!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

This is a very sensitive sub and its sound quality may surprise you:

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=17263

 

[Hoodlum007 10+ year member]

What about the Image Dynamics CTX series subs?

 

[FJF 10+ year member]

What about the Image Dynamics CTX series subs?

ID rates the 10" at ~83dB (sensitivity). FWIW, the IDQ12V2 that I had was rated at ~90dB by ID and it was ~8dB less sensitive (@ 60Hz) than the Blaupunkt sub I linked above. The IDQ wasn't nearly as much fun to listen to, either.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Oh god, not another lets compare worthless subwoofer efficiency specs thread again.

3 words: Hoffman's Iron Law.

/thread.

 

[tinmanchris217 10+ year member]

I had the old series of Kenwood tornado subs, and its sensitivity was supposedly 91 dB.... Nice cheap sub too. Got mine on super sale for $30 at Circuit City.

Most of the newer ones are 90 dB -ish and cheap. Just don't expect to put more than 300-400w RMS into any of them, for daily.

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=19378

 

[toyrunner 10+ year member]

Image Dynamanics IDQ's are the best sound quality subs & are Cheap too.

 

[FJF 10+ year member]

Oh god, not another lets compare worthless subwoofer efficiency specs thread again.
3 words: Hoffman's Iron Law.

/thread.

It may not be a bad idea to comprehend the difference between efficiency and sensitivity.

I'm actually surprised that driver sensitivity isn't considered in car audio, and power handling is. It's the complete opposite of how the rest of the audio world goes about things. Now that I think about it, I guess it's par for the course.

 

[thehardknoxlife 10+ year member]

Check out the JBL GTO series. Very very efficient.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

I'm actually surprised that driver sensitivity isn't considered in car audio, and power handling is. It's the complete opposite of how the rest of the audio world goes about things.

It's not really surprising, though, given the space constraints.

 

[FJF 10+ year member]

It's not really surprising, though, given the space constraints.

I don't think it's the space as much as the intent. A sensitive driver in a small box won't necessarily generate less amplitude, and at the same time it won't extend as far down, either. Power won't fix that factor, but does it really need fixing? Let me pose a practical example. I run a very sensitive driver in a fairly small ported enclosure. The box is tuned relatively high, yet the in-cabin F3 is a bit lower than 25Hz. I cut it off before that, but I think you see my point. The extension is there. In my case, it's useless due to drivetrain/road noise, but that doesn't deminish the scope of the effect.

As the sub is very sensitive, it doesn't require a big amp, it runs at a gentle 4 Ohms with no need for electrical upgrades, and it sounds better than any other (car) sub I've auditioned. Talk about dynamics! I imagine that you use a high-sensitivity transducer with your SETs, so the concept probably isn't anything new.

 

[strong*I*bumpin 10+ year member]

Infinity Ref's,JBL's,IDQv.2's,Dayton Quattro's

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

I imagine that you use a high-sensitivity transducer with your SETs, so the concept probably isn't anything new.

Yes, but with a Qts around 0.2, I had no qualms about building six foot tall floorstanders for my 6.5's...something that isn't likely going to happen in a vehicle //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

I've heard of a few people using Fostexes and Lowthers in small ported enclosures, but I can't imagine they're getting anything out of them under 100Hz.