When I bought my truck the guy had a full stereo in it, head unit, door speakers, amp, 12" sub, the works. But he removed the amp and sub before selling it. He however left all of the wiring for the amp so I guess I can just buy an amp and sub and install them under the rear seat. I know NOTHING of car stereo, all of my expertise is under the hood. I do know a decent amount about general wiring and what not though. But I don't know what amps/subs are good, what size/type I need, etc... I'm not going to ask you to tell me what to get, but does anyone have any links that can help explain this? If you want to suggest good brands for both I'd appreciate it. I'm looking to spend no more than $250 for both, so maybe I should go with some used components. Thanks!

 

If it's a single 12 then i'd roll something fairly cheap like a fosgate p2.
Or maybe a kicker crv.
Amp look for used for sure if you want to find one decent and keep both under 250.00

 

here are a couple of good combos that will keep you in your price range......

1) http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=17749

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=18395

2)http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=17682

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=14539

3)http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=16586

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=17200

4)http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=17019

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=15172

5)http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=14817

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=17035

6)http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=15651

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=16363

simply, the bigger the sub the deeper it will hit (12" will hit deeper than a 10" but may not necessarily be louder). no matter what sub you get, as long as you get an amp that gives it its rms power at the correct ohm load, and put it in a box close to the specs specific to the sub then it is going to sound good.....need any more help just let us know....all the subs and amps i mentioned above are brand new by the way......

 

How is everything so cheap and still new on the site? Something can't be right?

 

When it comes to the watts of a sub, what does this affect? Does more watts mean louder? Better quality sound? From what little knowledge I know of subs, more watts is better. I imagine this is true to some extent but also carries some falsity. Any thoughts?

 

The watts to look at are the RMS watts that a sound can take. This is how much power the sub can handle all the time basically.
The more it holds the more power you can push thus giving you louder bass.

 

More RMS rating does NOT equal louder - sometimes, but not always. The box is 90% of how your subwoofer will sound. Install also plays a big factor. Most decent subs these days will satisfy the average buyer, in the correct box.

To the OP - what are you looking for? Loud or sound quality or a mix?

 

Definitely sound quality over loudness. As a matter of fact, I hate bass that is too loud, but I do want to turn it up loud on occasion. It's just that the stereo sounds so bland without any bass, I want that extra vibration in your seat, but not roll down the windows blasting Ludacris in the city loud, if you know what I mean.

 

partsexpress.com has the dayton reference series, which are pretty decent SQ subs. Also, image dynamics IDQ are very good sq subs, but I've never heard then. Just put them in the appropriate sealed box and you'll get great results.

 

they just do. i have used them several times and nothing has ever taken more than 5 days to get in and everything has worked great....

on more watts = louder......take into account that you must get the correct amp to the correct sub (which i endevored to do with my suggestions). if you have a 1000w rms sub on a 500w amp it will not sound as good as a 500w rms sub on that same amp, you must mix and match the subs and amps and box as stated above to achieve the best sound possible from any setup....