I am thinking of buying 2 12" eclipse subwoofers for my car.
They're the bottom of the range eclipse subs I think. They retail for about $260 or so each and are the ones which directly compete against alpine type s subwoofers.

They're on special for 2 for $300 at a local car audio shop and was wondering how good they are in both spl and sq and how much more would I need to spend on 2 12s to get much better sound quality? ie if I need to spend about $600+ for 2 12s obviously it wont be that worth it.

I am planning on running these from a monoblock amp with about a minimum of 300wrms each

Speakers in the car are alpine type r splits front and rear, head deck is a (rather will be a) Pioneer DEH 9650, and a decent amp for the splits around about 50-75wrms per channel

You'd be better off getting one more expensive 12. It will likely play louder, deeper, and more accurately, especially with 600wrms being fed too it.

You really dont need 2 sub's except for show factor.

It's just that there are some songs I like which are real bass heavy and I would want to turn them up really loud so I want the sub to play loud but still be well defined.

No matter what people say, I have personally from listenning always found 2 subs sound better than 1

PS I was thinking of using something like a ALPINE MRD-M1005 Monoblock amp which is rated to 1000wrms at 2 ohm

go and listen to a well setup, expensive single sub then

Liquidity is right.

all you are REALLY hearing is VOLUME... the second sub makes the music louder.. which you like (subconciously or not).. make sure you are THINKING when you listen.. dont just go..."ohh this sounds so much better (LOUDER)".

1 higher quality sub will be better than 2 mediocre - no argument. but it depends what you define as high quality/mediocre.

Make sure you are listening for 'quality' not 'volume'. If you want volume and are happy with the lower quality sound.. then get 2 cheaper subs!

I myself just purchased a SW7324DVP for $399 and i couldn't be happier. I'm feeding it roughly 600rms and my god! Goes louded than i was ever looking for! Hits with precision no matter what the volume.

Being for an SQ setup i don't care for it being excessively loud. But i'm pleased to say if i need that extra kick i've got it

Go for the one higher quality 12 You won't be dissappointed. It's more than just bass

edit: sorry for double post

ur going to feed the sub 500wrms each with mrd-1001? i don't think the sub can handle it

I am sure the sub wont handle that but I thought it was a good idea to overpower speakers/subs? I just have to be carefull not to crank it way too loud. ie it's better to pump 200wrms into from a amp that can pump 500 rather than an amp that can only pump 200???

As far as quality goes, I understand a good single 12 will sound better than 2 normal 12's, but what I am saying is 2 normal 12s would sound better at a higher volume than a really good 12, isn't that right?

NO

Yes, all other things being equal, 2 subs will be louder than 1. A few of my mates have 2 subs and yes its louder than my sub setup - and yes I paided more. I think mine sounds better, they like the volume factor and think theirs sounds better.




You say no arguement then give us the arguement in the next sentance. But I agree 'what is better?'


The moral of the story is yes come to this forum to get opinions and ideas so that when you go out shopping you have an idea of what you think you might want. But dont convince yourself as to what you might like. Just because everyone on here says oh my gosh brand x is crap in SQ compared to brand y - listen to them for yourself and make a decision. Having two subs just for show? No. Listen to a few cars if you can. People can try and describe the difference in sound but it is very hard (impossible to do) you either walk away thinking gosh theres a HUGE difference (when in real life you will be hard pressed to notice a difference) or you will walk away thinking theres not much difference (when in fact their is).

Well listenning to friends stereo's...
The bass isn't too bad (nothing great either) but it only sounds ok at a bit higher than listenning volume. After that, even though there still isn't any distortion, the sound just isn't as good.
So, 2 subs working at a less extent should sound better at a higher volume, and what I am trying to achieve is both sound quality and spl.

I will be honest though and say even though I love good quality sound, I would say a normal sub would sound good enough to me.

At the same time there are a lot of high end subs which I think don't sound that great

For example the alpine type r's I thought didn't sound that great

Installation is a big factor. What sort of car, how its installed and things like box design make huge differences to the sound.

if that is your buget
and you like the sound of it
get it

Hmmm this is an interesting one. All I can offer is my opinion on this and here it is.

I was always a firm believer that spending a little more on a good speaker is better than buying multiple cheap speakers - although what I considered expensive in those early days turns out to be quite cheap to me now.

In one case (early on) I built a massive sealed enclosure of about 50 Litres to suit the Alpine 12" VR, taking it from IB to sealed. And while that made it sound a lot better.... when I bolted in a 12" Sony Mobile ES as a bit of a gag it played quite deep, and quite good. I mean.... its still sounded garbage, but awesome considering what sub it was.

In this case it was experimentation, a large custom enclosure and a good helping of amp power that made the difference. If done right, yes, a couple of reasonable subs can sound pretty good, but it all depends on the listeners preference and how much effort went into the install and amplifier matching.

I also had a few friends trying different things ie: running 6x 10 Clarion Pro Audio subs in a massive enclosure that filled the back of his hatchback - while loud enough to make a single tree look like 8 trees, the sound quality was awful. Single cheap sub, single expensive sub with cheap amplifier, single good sub and amplifier, dual expesive sub with good amps etc etc.... In the end, I found it impossible to make an opinion on whether two subs were better than one, or whether more money spent on 1 or two of the main three components means better quality. Each had its positives and negatives, but to the individuals that owned the system, it was what they wanted.

Moral of this long-winded post. Its not the size of your driver, or how much you paid to get it... its what you do with it. A good install, the right amount of power and settings matched to your car can result in quite a nice sound... but the more you spend on your equipment and setup - the better the sound resproduction will likely be. A BOSS sub in a fibreboard enclosure running off a cheap amp is not going to sound as good as 1000 watts pumping into a JLw7... but there is a large price gap there.

My suggestion. If what you have found sounds good.... then get it, you can always upgrade later if your priorities and finances change. Just make sure you use a similar amplifier to your own during testing... take along a CD and a track familiar with you... make sure you listen to ONE sub at a time (as not to be fooled by the louder sound)... audition, audition, audition.

buy my RE SX 15" basket n motor for $200.. get it reconed, and have a really really loud, really nice sounding sub.. problem solved!

That statement assumes that all $250 subs sound the same and that all $500 subs sound the same.

There are $250 subs that sound better than $500 subs............

Don't get sucked in by chrome cones and alien-pod looking plastic magnet covers. These add nothing to performance.

Phil

Taking that one step further, you might even be better off avoiding subs with these gimmicks completely. The vast majority of top-of-the-line subs have plain black cones without anything fancy at all.

Leigh

Like this??
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Bingo - put that in a box and compare it to the red sony subs and there's no comparison as to which looks better. But I know which I'd prefer in my car. Its just about getting over the initial, "WOW, its shiny!", factor and actually listening that matters.

Leigh

i have mixed opinions about the 2 VS 1 thing...

ive heard a "professional installer/owner of a car install shop" his car, with his best gear, and honestly i would say i was not impressed, he was trying to show me that his 1 sub was so much better then my 2 cheap ported pioneers...yet i prefered my pioneers to listen to, being totaly unbiast and honest, yes his tweeters had alot more quality, but his sub, i was thinking "is that all"...

Then perhaps you should come sit in my car. I have had a few people complaining that their eyes go blurry after a bit of a crank from a single 12 .

i have no doubt it would sound good, just saying that sometimes it isnt neccercary the case, although it could have been the way it was installed the guy was a dickhead!

What I was saying is not that all $250 subs sound as good as $500 subs, but rather at higher volumes 2 $250 subs would sound better than a single $500 sub


As far as looks go.. I actually prefer the simple look... something smooth

You are confusing SOUNDING BETTER and SOUNDING LOUDER.

There is more cone area there but a subwoofer double the price generally has a higher power handling than two lesser subs. So with the same given power the two subs might go louder while also sounding mediocre. But with the single sub if you give it the right amount of power it will go louder and a lot cleaner than the two lesser.

Anyway thats just a little bit of a throw in the dark statement have to take a lot of variables into account.

Adding numbers of cheap subs in a system DOESNT make it sound better.

it also matters how cheap you go...for example you can buy some nice cheap subs that would fair well doubled compared to 1 that is twice the price, or you can buy some boss subs, and have them go no where

i think what he wants to know is if these two eclipse subs will outperform any single 12" that costs $300. maybe if he was paying retail as in $510 for the two he could get a single 12" that could drill the two eclipses in volume and quality but for $300 as far as i can see that is a good deal right?

Yeah rhysy_boi you are quite spot on.
I am all for more quality and at the same time it being louder, but how much more do I need to spend to get better sound but at the same time not less sound. ie, fair enough a $300 sub may sound better, but I want loud + quality and obviously I am not prepared to spend 3 times the money for a bit better quality

3 times the money in most subwoofers is actualy a mile difference not just a little bit if you ask me.