Help Please! Trying to decide...

[HandySandy]

I was wondering if someone could give an opinion about which products are better.

I would like to have a new sound system installed in my boyfriends car as a surprise and I am very confused about what would be best. He has an 2009 Chevy Malibu. I think I have decided to go with a Kicker Solo Classic 12" subwoofer, and MB Quart speakers (unless someone has a better choice), but I am stuck on which amplifier(s) to buy.

I am looking at Rockford, JL Audio, and Hifonics. As far as value, quality and performance who offers better product?

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[UMWDawg92 10+ year member]

What is your budget?

 

[HandySandy]

Around $1000

 

[SpeedEuphoria 10+ year member]

whats he listen to mostly? rap? metal? country?

 

[HandySandy]

Mostly rock, but also a variety.

 

[SpeedEuphoria 10+ year member]

Around $1000

Is that with the install price? Are you looking to buy online or local?

This is a nice sub for a sealed box and great price

You could even step up to the 15" version on the same site for $30 more which would give more output and still sound great sealed, just slightly larger box required.

Just hard to find a 1 ohm amp with good bang for the buck unless you step up to like 1000w or so

this one would be OK for the price;

http://cgi.ebay.com/AUDIOPIPE-AP10001D-1000W-MONO-Car-Audio-Power-Amplifier-/230502810940?pt=Car_Amplifiers

Then would leave the components and another amp to run those. many will say(after they have lots of bass) that you only really need front speakers. So a decent set of components for the front is where I would start.

I hear these components are good for the price;

http://www.crescendoaudio.com/product.php?productid=17514&cat=0&page=0&featured=Y

This would be a decent amp for the highs if using 4 speakers

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360290011453&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

That puts you at ~$440-$470 shipped and you would need wiring and rear speakers and a box for the sub and a headunit if you like

As far as value on the amps, Hifonics/audiopipe are OK and cheap. The others have a Name brand that gets higher markup and some have better quality but others dont(some have sold out). Kinda like MB Quart speakers used to be great but now are so/so. The subs though are the older models that are still higher quality

 

[HandySandy]

Thank you, that helps!

So I assume for the amps you do not recommend any from Rockford, Hifonics, or JL Audio.

 

[SpeedEuphoria 10+ year member]

JL should have good amps just higher priced. Rockford is pricey also and there older stuff is better then the base models currently(although them have a few higher price models that are very nice). Hifonics, some are OK for the price but some are issue prone like the BRZ line, most preffer the BXI line(just beware of there refurbs)

Here's a nice amp for a good price, only issue is its not Class D. Meaning it will sound better but draw more power. Since your on a smaller system it should be fine though. It prob does over rated power and would be a great match for that dual 2 ohm MB Quart sub.

TXA-3002 - Cadence 2 Channel High Power 600 Watt Amplifier

Cadence is know to make great amps and have good customer service.

I think that would be a nice sounding sub stage with the 12 or even the 15.