Subwoofer for in the car, budget 200-300

snowdog

snowdog

snowdog

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As per title, I want some extra bass for in my car, I'm used to bassyness of my Z5500's and regular 4 channel sound doesn't cut it imo. My headunit has a subwoofer exit so getting an active sub should do the trick.


I thought of ordering a Fusion EN-AB2120 for 205€ delivered:


550W RMS Active sub, 2x 12'' drivers and an enclosure. Is there something better for the budget ? The thing looks quite massive in reality but having a station I have no doubts it'll fit easily with a lot of space to spare...
It'll be coupled with 4x5'' speakers, 2x some cheap pioneer ones I picked up as my 1 of my originals was rotten, and 2 standard volvo speakers...
So what are you guys thinking ?
 
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What I'm thinking is that I'd rather spend EUR300 on a second hand monoblock amp and a single 12", as you will get much more for your money compared to an active setup, in my opinion. It all depends whether you want your bass to be musical or just to fart like a whale.
 
Well, I can say I want more bass, far more probably, than I currently have at home from my Z5500's at full volume...
 
I'm not sure, how much more work is it compared to using an active sub ?
The problem with an Amp I guess is I wouldn't know where to put it, I'd like to ''hide'' it, I don't want my boot looking like a cluttered cable mess...
 
Not a lot at all, just a few more wires need putting it and you will need to secure the amp to the box, or somewhere in the boot
 
snowdog said:
I'm not sure, how much more work is it compared to using an active sub ?
The problem with an Amp I guess is I wouldn't know where to put it, I'd like to ''hide'' it, I don't want my boot looking like a cluttered cable mess...
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why bother hiding the amp when youve got BRIGHT GREEN CONES OF POWER in the boot ? :p

honestly, i dont think you realise what a single subwoofer is capable of in a car - far in excess of refernce volume given enough power (something your logi's would never ever approach let alone reach)
 
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It all depends whether you want your bass to be musical or just to fart like a whale.
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The problem is mainly, I don't think I'd mind farting like a whale bass :p.

For example many people say on headphones, the Sennheiser HD555's sound good, good bass etc... But in my opinion, the bass is way too silent on em, and I prefer my Z5500's in stereox2 mode over the headphones...

james.miller said:
why bother hiding the amp when youve got BRIGHT GREEN CONES OF POWER in the boot ? :p

honestly, i dont think you realise what a single subwoofer is capable of in a car.
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Because a box of bright green cones can be pushed easily to a corner & attached to it and all the cables worked away somewhere...

Perhaps I'm not, but I have been disappointed once already with a lack of bass when buying the Z5500's, I know that's not a car and that my room is a lot larger, but I prefer to buy excessively loud bass ( which I can silence later, the sub has a button to lower bass...) than buying something that doesn't cut it...



BUT, I realize I should give the things a try first, ask for a demo. What kind of amp + sub combo would you guys recommend, preferably not more than 250 euros, but up to 300 € max if it's really required... So I can make up my mind if I want ''loud farting sounds'' or ''good musical bass'' :p.
 
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deep tight musical bass can be loud too.

my 12 ported was enough to move my glasses off my nose and head whilst driving. yet sounded good on electronica too. tuned to 33hz.
 
I mainly listen to Classic Rock, Prog Rock, and generally anything pop from the 70's-90's.

But also, when I'm in the mood, house, dance, electronic, raggaeton, hip hop and R&B...
For when I'm ''in the mood'' I want as much bass as possible, the only reason I listen to those songs is for the beats&basses...

But you guys are basically saying, most music will sound **** on that fusion kit ? I mostly listen to the likes of Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Yes, ELO, Genesis, Eagles, Toto, etc most of the time, I do not want them to sound bad...
 
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twoblacklines said:
Think you would be better off with a single sub in a sealed box tbh
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Yep

Decent second hand sub with a decent powerful amp will satisfy your needs. I've got a JBL 12" sub being powered off a JBL amp that when bridged provides a 'modest' 200watts and it's enough for you to feel the bass inside your gut, something with a good clean 400-500 watts or so ought to satisfy :p
 
snowdog said:
But you guys are basically saying, most music will sound **** on that fusion kit ? I mostly listen to the likes of Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Yes, ELO, Genesis, Eagles, Toto, etc most of the time, I do not want them to sound bad...
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No, it will be fine if you're not at all fussy.

It's also a very easy option. Going down the individual route means that you'll have to either build your own enclosure, which can take a while to do properly if you've never done it before / got minimal woodworking skills, or buy one new, which is expensive, or find one second hand, which may be a pain as they're hard to ship.

So maybe it's an option for you if you're

a) too lazy to build and fit an enclosure (don't mean that in a bad way)
b) don't care that much about the quality of the bass
c) just want a quick easy solution
 
Oh and another worry of me is theft, one of my mates has had his subwoofer nicked out of his boot only 2 streets away from mine...

How hard is it to fit an alarm to a car that already has remote central locking & an immobilizer ?

I'm probably going to ask for a demo of some subs later today or on monday to make up my mind if I'm fussy about the bass quality...
As for enclosures, I'm probably far too lazy to build one myself, but I saw some 12'' ones on the bay for 30 euros...
 
Personally if I got a sub in a car again, I would just get a medium quality 10" sealed. You don't really need a 12 for it to "drop". 10" sealed is a good all rounder and very musical with tight base whilst being practical aka small to fit in the boot.
 
snowdog said:
Oh and another worry of me is theft, one of my mates has had his subwoofer nicked out of his boot only 2 streets away from mine...
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Just don't use it near where you park it (house, car park, etc), so people don't know you have one.
 
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