Choosing Subs - 1998 Chevy Tahoe

amo

amo

Active member
I am looking into getting some subs for my Tahoe. I know nothing about the business of car audio. I'm not looking for super duper car shaking woofers. just something that has some nice solid kick to it. Something that sounds super clear, but adds another element to my tunes.

I'm not looking to update my radio (header?) or any stock speakers, just something to throw in the trunk for some extra bump.

Looking to spend as little money ass possible (less than $500)

 
find someone who works at best buy make friends with them and have them buy it for you, one of my roomates worked at circute city and got 70 percent off his system it was orriginally like 2000 and he got it for around 700
 
If you want something that sounds clear, don't go huge. What you want for a clear sounding sub is one 10" or 12" sub, maybe two because of the size of your car, that has a high RMS. I'm talking like at least 400 RMS to each sub, at the very least. If you want it to sound good, expect to fork out some cash.

I paid like $600 for my setup in my WRX, I'm running a 10" Type-R Alpine sub at 550 RMS powered by an Infinity Class D amp pushing 600RMS at 1 ohm. It cost alot but it sounds sooooo good in my car. You get what you pay for.
 
How are you planning on connecting the headunit to the amp? As far as I know, stock hu's don't have RCA's.
 
Well since you have plenty of room id go with to 15's preferably Kicker is money is not an option if it is then go with rockford and if you think its too much its not theres a kid at my school who has 2 15's in a grand am
 
RMS is the root mean square of the wattage. A lot of subs and amps say a HUGE wattage, but that is just the max they can hit, and they hardly ever hit that. Realistically, they are around a average value, or, the RMS.

Ohm is the amount of impedence, or resistance, that the speaker is putting out. The lower the owms, the more watts RMS you can have because you have less resistance. Having very low ohms isn't always necessary for all applications though.
 
Do you have a headunit already? If so, I would recommend the following:

Alpine Type-R 12" Sub: http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=14954

Rockford Fosgate R500-1 Amp: http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=21398

Wire your sub down to 2-ohms and you can push 500watts RMS with that amp to that sub. A type-R 12" will make your system boom for sure.

Now for a box, look up the difference between sealed and ported and make your decision.

 
I've got the stock headunit and I would love to not have to replace it. Is that an option?
 
No not really, unless it has subwoofer amp pre-outs. Those are digital cables that run to the amp and give it the signal. The chance of having these is very slim. You can get around this by other wiring methods but it isn't worth it for easy of install nor for quality.

That setup I linked you is not too expensive and of excellent quality, the extra money you have up to your $500 you can easily get a good headunit.
 
you know I really prefer Subway's 5 dollar footlong. It's so much deliciousness for so little money.
 
$500 will get you like an alpine type S 12, an alpine amp and a sealed box. PRobably the wiring too.
I have that running in my car when I need to take the dual ported 12's out. It sounds really good, and you can get them super loud.
But you will probably need to get a new deck, who really cares what brand you use, if you replace your stock speakers (which you should do before subs) then you might as well amp the speakers, and then brand doesnt really matter. I have a sony deck actually, it probably puts out like 14 watts even though it says 52, but if you amp them it wont matter.
 
cause its a big car a 10 would be good for it, some good brands are alpine and lanzar for the subs

your going to need an amp too, bunch of good amps out but get one with a multichannel because then you can bridge it and make it more powerful, then if you want to add something on later it will be easy
 
This is really not good advice, don't listen to it. Being blunt here.

First of all, a 10" is great in a car for clean and powerful bass.....if you drive a sedan like me. For a big car like a tahoe, won't cut it. You either need more than one 10" or a bigger sub, like a 12".

As for the amp, you want a class D monoblock. Multichannel amps are great, I have one in my car powering 4 speakers. I have a pretty big setup, aftermarket speakers, sub, 2 amps, deck etc. Multichannels are NOT good for bridging to power a sub.

If you are going to be powering something like a good 10" like the Type-R Alpine i recommended, a multichannel amp will not make it to 500W RMS for anywhere near the same amount of money. Bridging an amp can work, but only if you are powering 2 smaller speakers, like 2 6x9" speakers.

For example, for the price you are paying for that Rockford I listed that can go 500W RMS, you could get a multichannel that can be bridged to 150W RMS. Nowhere near powerful enough to do a sub.

And the one guy who recommended the Type-S, they are nice but not worth it. It is not a big leap in cash to go up to the Type-R and the Type-R is leaps and bounds ahead.
 
Is it bad to buy in packages. I was just looking around and found these Sub/Amp combos for cheap. As far as I know MTX and Kicker are pretty reputable brands. Any thoughts?

http://www.vminnovations.com/Product_615/MTX_Dual_12_Inch_Subswoofers_and_Amplifier_Package.html

http://www.vminnovations.com/Product_735/Kicker_CVR12_COMP_1600W_12_Inch_Subwoofers_with_Sub_Box_Pair_.html

I'm guessing this XXX thing is super shitty? The only reason I looked was cause it's got everything in one package.

http://www.vminnovations.com/Product_567/XXX_Dual_12_Inch_Subwoofer_Amplifier_Complete_Kit.html

Just to specify I am looking for something to bump. doesn't have to be amazing sounds quality, doesn't have to be the loudest system, just as long as they don't sound like shit (crackle, buzz) then I'm ok with them.
 
I wouldn't trust that site, and ya those packages will work and they will bump hard but won't sound very good. That is due mostly to the type of box. The box ported specially to amplify some of the bass of the subwoofers so the subs don't have to. Meaning they use cheaper and not as good subs.

But ya, MTX and Kicker aren't bad at all. MTX being quite a bit better than Kicker even.

If you get a GOOD amp, and power the subs at their RMS or even slightly overpower them, it will sound much much better than almost any package. The reason being is because most packages come with amps that slightly underpower the subs. You want your amp to be able to push more power than the Sub can handle, that way you can compensate for power loss in wiring connections as well as from the wires themselves and it allows you to fully adjust the gains however you want.
 
my friend is trying to sell his two mtx subs and an amp. i think they are twelves and i know it is a rockford amp that is 150 watts per channel. he only wants two hundred for them. pm me for more info
 
this guy knows his stuff.

My buddy had one 12' alpine type R with an alpine amp and it just bumped! Amp makes all the difference. 1000 watt no-name amp probably won't be as powerful at a 250 watt alpine amp.
 
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