not that i have ever bothered buying a cheap sub or amp... but i am wondering what makes a cheap-o two 10" subs in a box for $30 bucks and maybe at the same store a 250watt amp for $50 bucks is any better than a couple of "kicker solo barics in a Q Logic box runned by Pheonix Gold Amp"
We are talking about maybe $1000 dollars differnce!!
i was wondering can the average person tell a difference in almost a $$ Grand in price?? is the quality or . . . . uhhh..... damn thats a thousand dollars i coulda put into a lift an tires!!! what was i thinking!!!???

 

sorry, yeah its a retarded question

 

but to not be an a**hole... there are WAY too many differences here to know where to even begin... if its an actual box and cheap (actual) subs powered by a cheap amp there will be no comparison to the other set-up you mention. I dont know how to really explain it, but the cheap-o set-up compared to the other described just won't 'hit'... I'm not sure about pheonix gold amps, but the rest or any decent setup for 900-1100 msrp will be a HUGE difference, you should try to research subs or speakers offered in "cheap-o" setups to the "better" ones and just compare reviews and how they are made, what they are made of, and how they are marketed. The same goes for amplifiers. I dont feel as i can really explain this very well, ask a more specific question and I will be glad to ramble something else out

 

also, i personally wouldn't even dish out the 50-100 on a cheap-o setup if you are going for a lift and/or tires, get those first before a cheap setup... $500 is about the minimum well-spent to get a very decent set-up and wiring, without major price-searching or waiting, or incredibly good deals.

And also, try to find friends or other people you may know to show you what they have, what it sounds like, and lastly, how much they spent

 

rob,

i went on a budget setup and im more than pleased. a member by the name of "nisaznmonk" is one of our stereo experts on the forum and he can definitely make sure you get a good "bang for the buck" system, if money is an issue. you can see my setup and writeup here: http://4runners.org/articles/stereo/

bob

 

true dat. when it comes to sounds, for the most part you get what you pay for. so if you're going to go dirt cheap you might as well save your money and spend it on a lift.

 

I buy cheap subs from time to time. My 2 main reasons are either to blow them up (I've got videos all over the "net" ), or to shock others and make them understand that the installation is also critical when building a system that satisfies your ear.

The cheap subs vs. brand name subs (solobaric, etc) varies quite a bit. Bumpin' Yota can elaborate on this subject, but for practical purposes it comes down to power handeling.

The same Kicker solobaric in an enclosure that is way off of the recommend specs will sound like crap vs. the cheap $30 subwoofer in the properly contructed enclosure. In this case the difference was the design of the enclosure.

Now if you put a true 900watt amp to the Kicker solobaric and the $30 speaker, then the $30 speaker will burn out at a MUCH faster rate. The reason? HEAT. The power output of the amp was too much for the $30 speaker to handle, so the coils burned/melted. The Kicker was built to handle that amount of power (heat) over a much longer amount of time.

Cheap amp vs. a "BRAND" name amp. Sometimes the BRAND name amp sucks just as bad as the "cheap" amp, but we'll ignore that for right now. The Phoenix Gold amp in this case was more than likely built with a much higher quality line of parts, and will put out a consistent amount of power with the least amount of "noise". The cheap amp is usually overrated with not nearly the amount of parts needed to create the advertised power.

Lastly if you are buying a hand-built amplifier then you will notice the HUGE difference in price vs. power. The hand-built amps (Tru Technology comes to mind) are generally 5 times more expensive than the average assembly line amplifier, but what you also get is quality of parts and construction that you won't see in other brands.

In the end its your wallet and your ears. Don't buy something because your boy was bumpin down the block and set off 20 car alarms. That guy probably set off those alarms because his license plate was loose.

 

Not always true. Bargain hunters generally do alot more research than most of us and can piece together a masterful system for only a few hundred dollars. There is a guy with a tacoma x-runner (cam2runner i think) that always finds amazing deals all over the net. I don't know how he/she does it but I'm sure his "budget" system sounds MUCH better than 90% of ours, and was probably cheaper as well.

Now if you are talking about "cheap" brands, I'm sure there are people that can make that cheap Jenson subwoofer sound better than the next person's top-of-the-line for 2006 subwoofer merely on meeting the enclosure requirements (sealed or ported). I know I can.