quality of mainstream subs?

[Dirtrider4eva 10+ year member]

so yes we for the most part hate em,

thats why i put this in the TD.

but i wana break it down about their true quality?

(excluding PRICE as a factor)

for example kickers mid-upper lines. the solo-x does a good loud job,

what about alpine type s-r-x. ive heard them sound good.

never hear much about RF subs, friend had a15" p3 before i knew much about subs,

did good of 1k (what he said)

just felt like bringing this up.

would they be considered halfway decent? we tear them down here, but do we have great reason.

marketing does jack up their price, but im talking about what the subs abilities r.

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[Imtjnotu 5,000+ posts]

When it comes to mainstream mediated only company I would buy for subs are alpine

 

[murph 10+ year member]

rf's t1/t2 are nice subs just seem kind of cheap with all the plastic

 

[Dirtrider4eva 10+ year member]

ive always been curious of P3s.lol

 

[brodeisel 10+ year member]

i liked my type r i had. It got loud and did pretty good in my 30 hz box.

 

[murph 10+ year member]

p3's are comparable to the type r's. If they are the older ones they are ok.. the newer one are slightly better than the type r's and get loud while sounding not too bad

 

[Dirtrider4eva 10+ year member]

oh yeah? ive heard they dont need large boxes. picturing 4 p3s off of 3k would be funny.

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

Boston Acoustics makes some pretty good subs. Their power handling is very under rated and they all have top notch SQ.

 

[Dirtrider4eva 10+ year member]

yeah i agree, but their not so mainstream. i get what your getting at.

Dayton has great sq subs that go passed.

 

[subzero 5,000+ posts]

for "mainstreeam" I have owned some first generation R-10s and I enjoyed those. I never owned any Frosgates, I owned a Pioneer IMPP 12, and I enjoyed that sub. I had some MTX 10inch splits and those where ok. I had a pair of old school Pyle drivers, and those things where a surprisingly loud sub. Then I came across some soundstream SPL subs and the Exact subs and loved the full rich bass they produced.

IMO I think alpine and soundstream subs where very close.

But, MOST that goes back to the old saying 90% install 10% equipment. When I worked at audio express, I have heard some nice frosgate, JL, Boston, Alpine.... setups. and I also heard so really ****** installs with awesome gear.

Mainstream companies like Soundstream and Alpine try to fit every budget. so yea, there are some really low quality equipment from both those and just about every other mainstream company.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Most impressive Kicker setup I've heard was the Comp VR's (out of their current lineup anyway). Solo X is pretty awful considering the weight and space investment, they get smelly fast on 3K and aren't terribly efficient.

Seen good things done with Alpine R and X's, MTX 9500 is pretty impressive and JL stuff is pretty solid all around for what it is. There's a few other mainstreams that are pretty nice as well. I wouldn't trade my gear for any of it, but at 50% of MSRP and minus a lot of the douche-baggery much of it would rate a lot better.

 

[subzero 5,000+ posts]

Most impressive Kicker setup I've heard was the Comp VR's (out of their current lineup anyway). Solo X is pretty awful considering the weight and space investment, they get smelly fast on 3K and aren't terribly efficient.
Seen good things done with Alpine R and X's, MTX 9500 is pretty impressive and JL stuff is pretty solid all around for what it is. There's a few other mainstreams that are pretty nice as well. I wouldn't trade my gear for any of it, but at 50% of MSRP and minus a lot of the douche-baggery much of it would rate a lot better.

yea, I cant forget the kickers. I used to run some early 90's kicker 10's. those where dam good too.

 

[VWBobby 10+ year member]

Lots of good mainstream subs out there.... Type R's, CVRs, Kicker Solo-X, L7's are OK. JL W6 and W7 are both good SQ/SQL subs.

For older subs, I've had good luck with MTX Thunder 5500 and higher, SoundStream Pro 12's, Phoenix Gold Titanium 12's (currently).

I think the reason that the "underground" subs get so much praise is the 'cool' factor. If you can buy some American made, Sundown or (fill in current nut hugging brand) subs that your average person doesn't have.....it makes it all that much more cool, especially since you are usually saving money.

Back when I was in high school (12 years ago), JL Audio was the shit and only the rich kids could afford them. All of us poor kids were running around with MTX or SoundStream equipment and hated on JL because we couldn't afford it. I thought JL sounded better in some installs though! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[funandgames 10+ year member]

You usually get what you pay for...

 

[KTMrida4life 10+ year member]

You usually get what you pay for...

Im having a very hard time convincing myself of that, but Ive learned in the past that is *usually* the case and sometimes it is really worth the extra cash.

It would help if I could hear some of lets say Sundowns lineup vs a comparable (price range wise) mainstream sub.. honestly all I have ever heard is mainstream.