Car Subwoofer Suggestions?

[picklemonkey]

Re: Car Subwoofer Suggestions?

i don't believe polls like the one above, because how many people that voted for that have even heard all of the subs in that list in order to make an accurate comparison? they haven't and that's why that means nothing... people become attached to certain brands and swear on them up and down, no matter what the end result maybe.

imo if people know who Elemental Designs are (who makes sales only over the Internet without any marketing), they're going to know who JL Audio is (who nearly everybody knows due to extensive marketing, and retailers scattered around the globe). agreed? just for that fact, I don't think the results of this poll are skewed at all

I agree most people on that poll haven't heard every brand... but I think it's safe to assume JL, kicker, and rockford are the "major" well-known players in the audio industry. if 1215 people voted for Elemental Designs, it's because they've done their research instead of just going to Best Buy and listening to the available subs and liked them better than the other 3 companies. that's not to say every person that knows Elemental liked their subs... but at least 50% of the votes between those 4 companies chose Elemental over the rest of the commercial shit.

we could do a Poll about the best mp3 player out there... iPod, Zen, iRiver, or Dell Jukebox, and we'd all know the iPod would win every time just because of its marketing. if Elemental can shine past the other companies' marketing and still win the hearts of the people, it's gotta be worth something imo

my advice to you... it's better to have some subs in your car than not at all. your decision to not buy any is foolish and the only person that it hurts is you, beacuse you're the one that wants them but just won't buy any. i would go out and buy some subs and PUT THEM IN YOUR CAR. that is the only way to tell. trying to judge what a speaker sounds like in a store is retarded. and oh yeah, you're definitely not too much of an audiophile for any car audio subwoofer, believe me.

agreed 100%

[CHiEF_N]

Re: Car Subwoofer Suggestions?

The store that sold the JLs and Focal subs had this small ass room with a door on it. The amount of air space in the room was equivalent to the approximate interior size of a Suburban. The JLs had a very boomy type of bass emitting from them. The Focal sounded as clean as could be, which imo was true audiophile quality. I'm with Picklemonkey on the results of the poll and here's why. The majority of the people that frequent the site that hosted the poll are avid car audio enthusiasts to some degree, meaning that most of them have listened to quite a few different brands of subs in the progression of their hobby. Elemental Designs stuck out above all the rest in their minds because the sound had to have been very distinct and the impression left was that ED produced a better overall sounding sub. Like Picklemonkey said as well, Edesigns isn't a very well marketed company. They rely on the quality of their products to build a reputation and basically market themselves, which in turn keeps the consumers' retail costs low. In the poll JL placed 4th out of 9 companies. So by the poll's rating system, Edesign is 176% better sounding than JL Audio. Interesting, if I were to do an in my head ballpark comparison between how much better that $950 Focal sub sounded over the two top of the line JLs I heard, I could honestly say that it sounded at least 50%-60% better. Maybe I will blindly try an Edesign sub if there's the possibility that it sounds close or even exceeds the quality of Focal's. However, unfortunately there is a 25% restocking fee if I don't like it and choose to return the product for a cash refund, which comes out to $31.25.

Influx,

Thanks for the condescending comments, especially calling me foolish and retarded, I just love that shit man! Although, you'll probably be sad to know that your derogatory comments weren't the catalyst that sparked the above listed thoughts of mine. I've been thinking this over since yesterday after I was talking with PickleMonkey. He convinced me with his "jovial constructive criticism", which I actually enjoyed. Especially the Tommy Boy reference! You on the other hand my friend, need to work on your tact.

[picklemonkey]

Re: Car Subwoofer Suggestions?

Especially the Tommy Boy reference!

You can take a good look at a T-bone by sticking your head up a bull's ass, but wouldn't you rather take the butcher's word for it?

[influx]

Re: Car Subwoofer Suggestions?

Influx,

Thanks for the condescending comments, especially calling me foolish and retarded, I just love that shit man! Although, you'll probably be sad to know that your derogatory comments weren't the catalyst that sparked the above listed thoughts of mine. I've been thinking this over since yesterday after I was talking with PickleMonkey. He convinced me with his "jovial constructive criticism", which I actually enjoyed. Especially the Tommy Boy reference! You on the other hand my friend, need to work on your tact.

actually i do not need to work on my tact.. if you actually read what i said, you'll find that i did not call you foolish. what i did say however, was that your DECISION to not buy a sub was foolish.. because you're the one in the end that loses out. also, i did not call you retarded. again, if you read what i wrote you'll find that i said that listening and gauging wether subwoofers sound good in a store is retarded... i DID NOT say that YOU were retarded. anyone that knows audio knows that environment is almost as critical as the speakers, amplifiers, etc. themselves. i shouldn't have to even point the fact that picklemonkey agreed with me on both those statements, but i guess i already did.

while my choice of langauage may not have been the best, i found it personally insulting that no speaker, many of which i have heard and owned in the past, is adequete enough for you. i pride myself in surrounding myself and others in but the utmost pristine sound quality.. and i'll be damned in some wannabe know-it-all, who has yet to show me any real knowledge in the field of audio engineering in order to qualify as an "audiophile", to denouce at whim what i hold so dearly. now don't mistake me, i am not defending jl audio, mtx, or whoever specifically. rather the whole lot of them... no subwoofer on this planet is good enough for "CHIEF_N"?! yeah f'n right.

so getting back to my original post, just buy some damned woofers from a reputable company such as elemental designs, jl audio or whoever, and be quiet. cuz imo, having some bass is better than none at all.

nice try though.

[picklemonkey]

Re: Car Subwoofer Suggestions?

:ROFLMAO:

[CHiEF_N]

Re: Car Subwoofer Suggestions?

:ROFLMAO:

Same here man...I think I've dropped a nut while doing so.

[CHiEF_N]

Re: Car Subwoofer Suggestions?

i said that listening and gauging wether subwoofers sound good in a store is retarded... i DID NOT say that YOU were retarded. anyone that knows audio knows that environment is almost as critical as the speakers, amplifiers, etc. themselves. i shouldn't have to even point the fact that picklemonkey agreed with me on both those statements, but i guess i already did.

Hmm...this may have been why I pointed out that the last shop I went to had a room built with a very small amount of air space which was the approximate size of a Chevy Suburban's interior.

while my choice of langauage may not have been the best, i found it personally insulting that no speaker, many of which i have heard and owned in the past, is adequete enough for you.

Sorry mate. I just didn't like what I heard. It's nothing personal. You sound almost as if my comments are resulting in a drop in some stock shares you own with each of these companies. Your choice of language was why I commented on your tactfullness or lack there of.

i pride myself in surrounding myself and others in but the utmost pristine sound quality.. and i'll be damned in some wannabe know-it-all, who has yet to show me any real knowledge in the field of audio engineering in order to qualify as an "audiophile", to denouce at whim what i hold so dearly. now don't mistake me, i am not defending jl audio, mtx, or whoever specifically. rather the whole lot of them... no subwoofer on this planet is good enough for "CHIEF_N"?! yeah f'n right.

Look Influx, all I'm saying man is that we were having a mutually respectful conversation before you decided to pop in and bless us with your expertise in the field of audio engineering. Yes, I'll admit I do have some damn picky ears and that's what I meant by "audiophile quality". And if you would've read into my previous posts you'll see that I stated that some of those subs' sound quality may have been held back by the crappy pre-fabricated boxes they were in. Like the Polk for instance. However, I did say that the Focal sounds good enough for me.

so getting back to my original post, just buy some damned woofers from a reputable company such as elemental designs, jl audio or whoever, and be quiet.

Why so aggressive in nature?

cuz imo, having some bass is better than none at all.

That's your opinion Influx. The rest of us are still allowed to have one right?

[3d_1200]

Re: Car Subwoofer Suggestions?

Infux is right. maybe a little blunt, but hes right.

listening to polls and website reviews and everybody else is a waste of your time chief_n and ours for telling us about them. you really are putting that much faith in internet polls? All of this well these guys finished 4th and these guys finished 3rd is garbage. sound has a lot to do with personal preference. a buddy of mine loves cerwin vegas because they just bassy as hell but no real sq. i on the otherhand prefer tigher bass and am willing to sacrafice some volume to do so. therefore in turn i like jls. to him cerwin vegas sound the best, i think hes an idiot, but its about what sounds right to him while hes driving in his car.

acting like nothing is worthy for your ears because you read it sucked from some 16 year old on some website is the coolest thing ever and definitly holds accuraccy. do you realize how difficult it is to get a proper listening platform in a car? Have you ever heard of a thing called road noise? I mean come on dude, act like you know something about something.

if you want audiophile, then drop some money and buy something serious such as Mcintosh and dynamat the shit out of your car. audiophile is on an entirely different level then JL, MTX, POLK, Elemental, etc etc etc. thats like buying a used broken cdj100, and expecting it to perform like a cdj1000. Seems like your way out of your league here.

earlier you said you wernt willing to drop the money for a W7 or something equivilant, well good sound costs good money. if your not expecting to spend 1.5-2 grand at least then it really doesnt matter what you buy, because they will all be pretty similar.

Sorry mate. I just didn't like what I heard. It's nothing personal. You sound almost as if my comments are resulting in a drop in some stock shares you own with each of these companies

ok "mate", in the business world we call that "pride of ownership". you've never owned anything worth being proud of before? say you bought a new plasma tv and dropped a nice chunk of change and fell in love with it, then i come on here and tell you that i saw it in a store and almost threw up everywhere because it was the most vile piece of electronic equiptment i had ever seen.

[3d_1200]

Re: Car Subwoofer Suggestions?

the dj mag top 100 dj poll says paul van dyk is the best, im going to buy all of his cds now.

if it wern't for polls, i'd have no idea what the fuck to do.

.

ok dude no offense here, seriously - but putting ANY CREDIT in a poll that rates ROCKFORD FOSGATE higher then ALPINE, or MBQUART is almost comical dont you think? i'm not saying elementals arnt any good or anything like that, i really know nothing about them. but i mean people actually voted for sony. i mean think about it, someone out there in the world (89), willingly decided to vote for sony because they think it really does sound the best. have you ever heard a Sony or a RF sub? it's painful. Audiophiliac or not.

[picklemonkey]

Re: Car Subwoofer Suggestions?

that's why it only got 2% of the votes

if your not expecting to spend 1.5-2 grand at least then it really doesnt matter what you buy

I really disagree there... more money does not always equal better quality.

Poll results do get skewed... and it's usually pretty obvious to see when the most well-known brands are ranked highest, regardless of actual quality. Wouldn't you agree, through, that this poll showing a company that markets itself only by word of mouth doesn't seem to be swayed due to the numbers of all the other well-known brands?

In the end, it all really does come down to personal preference... people will almost always buy based on a past experience or a friend's past experience, and that's cool because all products do work. Chief was just looking for an opinion, and that's what we all gave him... here's mine: Elemental is the only sub company that will ever get my business, and all friends' business if I have any stake in their decision.

[3d_1200]

Re: Car Subwoofer Suggestions?

then perhaps elemental doesnt belong on the same poll as lesser brands such as RF and Sony. It's not fair to compare a maybach to a kia. You can easily compare the likes of a stock 1979 Honda Civic system to RF or Sony car sound. Like i was saying to Chief, brands like jl, alpine, mb quart are usually quality, but are nowhere near the likes of Mcintosh and others which are just absolutely phenominal, but costly.

from my personal experiece with audio, you get what you pay for. audiophile is a strong word. theres a big difference between mid to high end audio. thats where i got my price figure from, if your going to be spending less then a grand, the products will be similar in many respects. its when you start reaching the upper echilons is where you find noticable differences (to even the most basic of ears) and only then can the word "audiophile" be thrown into play.

it sounds like as if you feel elemental is the best value out there, most sound for the best price, which is why i can understand you wanting to share the wealth in that respect. but its difficult being so closed off to one product inperticular and still provide objective opinions to all the rest.

[CHiEF_N]

Re: Car Subwoofer Suggestions?

acting like nothing is worthy for your ears because you read it sucked from some 16 year old on some website is the coolest thing ever and definitly holds accuraccy.

I simply haven't found a sub yet that I liked, other than the Focal. Please remember I'm not basing my opinion solely on a website's poll. In fact that's at the bottom of my list of supporting information. My ears were the judges of the subs that I tested out, first hand.

ok "mate", in the business world we call that "pride of ownership". you've never owned anything worth being proud of before? say you bought a new plasma tv and dropped a nice chunk of change and fell in love with it, then i come on here and tell you that i saw it in a store and almost threw up everywhere because it was the most vile piece of electronic equiptment i had ever seen.

Yes, I'm quite familiar with the business world and I understand the concept of being proud of what you own. Think about what you just said regarding your friend liking Cerwin Vegas and you liking JL. Now, you said that you think that your friend is an "idiot" because he prefers the sound of a Cerwin Vega. You said it yourself that you think they don't sound as good as JL. That's your opinions man. I'm not going to sit here and say that either one of you are foolish or retarded because of it. You have that right and I have enough tact to withhold any negative comments that I may have about your personal preferences. The reason I became defensive with Influx was because he stepped across the line.

I stated that the JL subs sounded boomy and I'm looking for SQ. You however, may have liked the sound of the W6 and W7. I know that there's a sub out there that's not $950 each that sound very good or even great to me. One of the less expensive and less power hungry models of JL may have that sound, or E designs or maybe even one of the Polk DBs in the right box. I will eventually find a fantastic sounding subwoofer for a reasonable price. When I said audiophile I meant that to be taken loosely and didn't realize that I would later be chastised when I made the comment, so I didn't specify. I just want high quality sound and yes I have dynamat ready to be installed to care of the road noise.

I haven't completely dismissed buying a sub. I've merely postponed it to continue my search. Why be hasty and get something that I'm unhappy with?

[Kobe]

Re: Car Subwoofer Suggestions?

My advice is don't overshop. I used to drive myself crazy looking for the best choice or the ultimate deal... it's not worth the stress. Just buy something and be happy with it. Life is short, you like the Focal, please go out and buy it. If there's something better, it doesn't matter-- you bought a quality item and it moves more air than what you got right now.

[3d_1200]

Re: Car Subwoofer Suggestions?

Think about what you just said regarding your friend liking Cerwin Vegas and you liking JL. Now, you said that you think that your friend is an "idiot" because he prefers the sound of a Cerwin Vega. You said it yourself that you think they don't sound as good as JL. That's your opinions man. I'm not going to sit here and say that either one of you are foolish or retarded because of it.

I'll completly disregard the sentance after the end of your quote and continue on.

He's my friend, and i can call him whatever i want. no, but seriously, i was just using that to prove a point. I call him much worse things on a regular basis. I was agreeing with you that my opinion of his gear, is worthless. i just took a couple minute break from work to type those responses as fast as i could and wasn't as wordy as i could of been.

IF you would have read on, you would have saw that i said it didn't matter, because it was HIS money and HIS car. That's what he likes so let him have it. Your opinion doesn't hold much value considering your the one who came to the board to ask for help. the rest of were able to do it on our own evidently.

.... i think hes an idiot, but its about what sounds right to him while hes driving in his car.

and this "tact" stuff. cut it out. i think everyone agrees this is just a spirited discussion. theres obviously a few people on here who really enjoy car sound and it holds value to them. so it's very easy to get spirited in posts. dont take it personally. influx was just proving an opinion and your women like back and forth descision making process just frustrated him.

Why be hasty and get something that I'm unhappy with?

i agree totally. i think it was just ripping on products that board members own is what got others on the defensive.

you can get good sound out of a bad sub with a good amp

the moral of the story?

buy a good amp and a 1 farad cap and you may not have to be as picky when choosing a woofer.

[CHiEF_N]

Re: Car Subwoofer Suggestions?

Your opinion doesn't hold much value considering your the one who came to the board to ask for help. the rest of were able to do it on our own evidently.

That was a pole smoker comment to make. What, it's a "spirited discussion" so it's cool to say that right? I'm joking, seriously.

and this "tact" stuff. cut it out. i think everyone agrees this is just a spirited discussion. theres obviously a few people on here who really enjoy car sound and it holds value to them. so it's very easy to get spirited in posts. dont take it personally. influx was just proving an opinion and your women like back and forth descision making process just frustrated him..

I'll hold any further comments and concede on this one.

you can get good sound out of a bad sub with a good amp

the moral of the story?

buy a good amp and a 1 farad cap and you may not have to be as picky when choosing a woofer.

Now there's some good advice. Thanks for the input.