Alpine PDX-1.1000 or JL Audio Slash v2 Series 1000/1v2 for a 13w7?

sundown 1200
audioque 1200d

would be better

its typically always dead unless the 3-4 guys that actually know car audio, me being one of them, are around. Anyway, i would do the to w6v2's. Either the 3 10's or 2 12's. Both should be equally loud. Personally though im not a big fan of JL because there is much better for the price. JL to me is just a big marketing company that does it well. Dont get me wrong here, the w6v2 is not joke when it comes to SQ, but for the price they cost you can get equal performance for half the price. Now for the amp suggestion i would choose the pdx1000.1, uses less draw, so less strain on your alternator, battery. I would advise you to do the "Big 3" though to help stabalize your voltage. Aloso caps are a joke...DO NOT USE THEM!

OK....I'll bite. Like what? I am looking for a single 12" and amp suggestion/

Not sure how I missed this...

Here is the issue I see. Most of the factory integration units require you to set the head unit to like 3/4 volume. Then you run the set up procedure. This procedure is what eq's out or in anything that the OEM has done. Keeping the volume controls on the steering wheel means you are changing the signal the clean sweep has "fixed". Possible issue there.

As far as how to hook it up, Odds are the rears have the most full range signal. I know on the Alpine H650, required me to find which set had the most signal. ie full range bandwidth.

The thing is, unless you are driving a SUV, or van where cabin gain is less than optimal, it really doesn't matter (within reason) what brand of woofer or amp.

Subs are the easiest thing to add and the thing that seems to cause the most frantic worrying for people. Its what? 2 octaves? If you have a car, cabin gain can allow 6" woofs to deliver satisfying bass.

Now, what are you looking to achieve with this 12" sub? and amp combo? Are you wanting to compete at SQ comps? At SPL comps? in a specific class? Or are you just looking to add some lowend to your system? What kind of budget are you looking to utilize? How much space are you willing to use?

As far as the JL statement from an earlier post, JL is a great brand. Is it overpriced? I can't say as I am unaware of their margin. Would I buy a W7? Not in this lifetime. At the current selling price. Why? Because I can achieve similar performance at a % of the cost. Look at the Dayton line from Parts express. Their HO, Titanic, HP even the DVC line are all incredible performers and at a much more reasonable cost. If on a given wattage, lets say for the sake of argument 500 watts

Sub A does 135 decibels
Sub B does 133 decibels

Which one do you buy?
Oh yeah, Sub A costs 700 bucks and sub B cost 125 bucks.

No difference in distortion same in car response.

Are you going to be able to tell which one is louder? Maybe.. But you can buy another sub B, and on the same power be as loud or louder, have less power compression and still have a ton of money left over. Those numbers are arbitrary but hopefully you get my point.

thanks for the response. I have been out of car audio for about 7 years. The last subs I bought were a couple 8"s from Adire. I LOVE them, but Adire is OOB now. I really do not want to spend weeks researching what is the latest and greatest in mobile audio.

As for what I am looking for; Mostly SQ. I listen to a very wide variety of music, but SQ is #1. No competitions at all. Just a great low end as I am in territory sales and it is not uncommon for me to spend 6+ hours day in my car.
I was looking at a 12 because, typically, they dig lower than a 10 or a couple 8s. Budget would be ~$500 ideally. It will go in a Ford Fusion if it matters.

So factory stereo and a sub? 500 for amp and sub?

Yep. It is a company car so I cannot hack and fit very much. Like I said, I have been out of the loop on car audio for years. Back when I was in it, MTX/RF were both making very solid gear. Now it looks like quality has slipped. Even Alpine seems to have dropped their standards to get into Worst Buy etc.

Some of the newer names in mobile audio I have heard of are Fi, Audioque, Elemental Designs (the HT stuff is pretty good) and RE. I am sort of leaning towards the brands that have been a round a while like RF, Alpine, JL, Memphis because of proven performance.

I too drive a company vehicle as well! So I know what you are talking about regarding the hacking and cutting.

Issue 1: If utilizing the factory system, be forewarned that there may be a factory applied EQ. I am referring to the louder you turn it up the more the bass is attenuated. This is very common now. Also why cleansweeps reeq's H650/H660, 360's and MS-8's are increasing. They allow factory head units to be kept but remove the factory eq'd signal and supply a flat signal to your amps. My experience is with Toyota and GM. Added a sub to factory Suburban (my wife's ride) and was completely underwhelmed. Bass was nice when volume was low. When turned up bass level was just almost non-existent. Just my heads up to you.

I saw that Amazon has the Alpine R series for about 130 bucks shipped. decent price for a 12. pretty efficient and when coupled to a ported enclosure, sounds pretty dang good. Tune~30 for effect. you could tune higher but it gives you a large bump that tends to overwhelm everything else.

If you want to throw people for a loop, get a single Sundown audio SA-8. 1 cubic foot box ported tuned to 35. It will absolutely blow you away.

Amplifiers... I have had such good results with Sundown Audio that I always recommend them. The saz1000D is about 300 bucks shipped. Is very efficient. great warranty, solid company, in fact often you can contact the owner (Jacob Fuller). it does rated+ power, is small and well just rocks! (I use the SAZ1500D, I installed the SAZ1000D in my brothers truck. My son HAD a SAE1000D in his car. I put the SAZ2000 in my Wife's Suburban before we sold it to get her Toyota.)

If that cost makes you flinch there are many other brands. Look up the ebay store Harman audio. It is their store that they sell the factory refurbed equipment. Full warranty all parts etc... JBL, Infinity and so on are sold there. I got my son 3k watts for like 350 bucks shipped. It should be fairly easy to get 300-600 watts for under a 100 bucks.

Knukonceptz.com has decent wiring kits. CCA is cheaper than OFC but has less current capacity, more resistance and tends to oxidize a lot faster. BUT Knu, sells oversized CCA to help maintain current capacity. They also sell OFC. Stay away from Capacitors. Pretty much a waste of money.


Anything else I can help with let me know.

The Alpine Type R is one my of my top 3 choices. I may go that route, but in a sealed box. I have never had a lot of luck with a ported box. I may look at sundown. Again, they seem to be a newer company, which worries me.

Do you have any experience with the Elemental Designs stuff. They have a 12" + amp combo right now for ~$500. They SEEM to have decent reviews online, but then again some people online think BOSS makes great gear.

Most peoples "bad" results from ported enclosures are just the enclosure. Get some free modeling software like WinISD or Unibox. I use Win ISD pro Alpha and really enjoy playing with it. Espeicially the ability to see what changes in box volume doess to port length and response.. I used to be a huge fan of sealed until I had a ported enclosure designed for me. Then I built it and fell in love. Have not gone back to sealed since.

As for Sundown, they have been around for 4-5 years at least. As for amps, he has the Zenon amp build house make them (SAZ line not sure about the SAE line), which is a top notch build house in South Korea.

ED I believe is hit or miss from the people I talk with. Some love them, some hate em. Stay away from their deadening products. As for subwoofers, well we all know my feelings. It's just a sub. Worse thing that will happen is it just gives you meh response. It will still vibrate the crap out of you. You could always go to credence speakers and in their clearance section get a couple of the old school New old stock Lanzars for 15 bucks. Very efficient, follow their box directions and enjow a low power high output very cheap setup. Did this route for wife's cousin. He loves it. As a reference, he is 45 and listens to rock and country.I believe he is running a 300 watt amp on the two of those and hits 135ish db in car (a sedan)

Godd info man. I appreciate it. I may have to look into a ported design.