What is the difference between expensive subs and inexpensive subs

[Based]

Really what is the difference? Are they louder? Do they just last longer?

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[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Mostly quality of build. Better parts.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

If they are better balanced then yes they can get louder with less power. However some are designed for low notes, some are for linear response, some are for SPL. You just need to know whats what.

I'd recommend reading this. To find out what really makes a speaker tick

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_l73GVBBlIUNTc2YTc2YTktNTNmYi00YWNmLTlmY2ItZTU0MTRhMzdkYTAy/edit?pli=1

There's some subs where they are just useless power dumps that i'd stay clear away from. Just overly built to handle more power just for the sake of handling power while other subs get way louder on less power. cough emf ermagerd... cough FI SP4... Cough B2 X2C

 

[shizzzon 10+ year member]

The really expensive subs like FB Audio Neos (Upwards of $1799 per driver) are expensive with the following end result-

They will destroy any Ferrite based motor on output as we have tested against sub close to $1,000 using Ferrite motor and result wasn't even close.

TS parameters show the Neo is over 200% more efficient than all other Ferrite design in FB Audio lineup so comparing apples to apples, you can a LOT of output from a single driver.

When comparing Ferrite to Ferrite, the same thing applies. That is why you have 100wrms subwoofers and 5,000wrms subwoofers.

In car audio, paying more money offsets one of the following characteristics to gain another-

Weight

Cost

Performance

 

[kr15 5,000+ posts]

With the "forum" companies, it usually (but not always) seperates who actually does R&D and holds patents (Sundown) and those who are cookie cutter companies (Massive).

In the mainstream, it sometimes seperates those who have built up a ton of goodwill toward their brand (JL), and companies which people are generally indifferent to (Pioneer)

You usually (not always) get what you pay for, especially with forum brands. It is more hit or miss with mainstream

 

[mastershake575 10+ year member]

More expensive brands will usually have at least have a USA made voice coil and will have a decent amount of time/money tied up to research and development (sub won't be as peaky, efficiency will be higher, cooling is better).

Inexpensive subs are very hit or miss. Some brands use not only cheap parts but cheap designs as well. Some brands like soundqubed/american bass will use cheap parts but will use a proven/reliable design to make up for it.

 

[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

Expensive subs....better quality usually. Lots more rms involved.

Cheap subs...get what you pay for, rms is lower than more expensive subs.

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

more excursion normally & higher rms yes but the huge $350 or more subs (some 1/2 that price) sundown, fu, cab etc handle tons more power but the almost always NEED more power so depends what u want or have.. if u have a big amp get a good sub if u have a $50 amp u can get a $50-$100 sub usually works well (right box, ohm load and all that assumed) I have a good sub (was really good 8yrs ago, now it's just better than low end) but I have a crappy cheap amp but sounds great cause I have a good ported box.. some of the $90 pioneer subs are great as example have great reviews to back me up (I used to have the $58 ones and they were very good) but as example if I had 2 of the $58 pioneer subs with amps these guys use (they'd explode) but if u adjusted it right they'd probably sound good but if u ran same amp all power going to 1 good sundown even cab ultra ported it'd be lots louder with 1 sub.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

You have to look at the big picture. Some are way more expensive but only have a few hundred watts RMS and 15mm of excursion. They have some fancy Italian or French brand name. That's fluff.

 

[NSTALN 10+ year member]

The design of the sub, R&D costs and the cost of the parts required factor heavily into the end cost of the driver...Neo magnets can be very expensive, added steel parts like extended top-plates and longer pole pieces etc...some subs may not look very different but they may have shorting rings or various gap/coil treatments for better linearity etc...specialized tooling for custom frames for cooling etc...all gets factored in.