So i've got two basic choices for my subwoofers! Either i get ONE alpine type R 12 inch sub that goes for about $100 or i get 2 Kenwood 12" subs for $45 bucks each. What should i do??? Any other ideas? my budget is around $100 for the subs so try to keep it in that range... Thank you!

If you choose by quality, choose Alpine.
If you want louder bass (and that doesn't always mean better), then two subwoofers will always be louder than one.
You should also consider the subwoofer and subwoofer enclosure weight problem. If you care about 10-20 extra kiloos, then choose a 10" subwoofer and a sealed enclosure. If you don't mind extra weight, just get a 15" subwoofer with a vented enclosure and you will be satisfied.

I would go with the alpine. My cousin had type R's and they were well worth the money (good quality). Now im not sure of the kenwoods you are looking at, but I had some 12"s as my first setup and HATED them.
Alpine has good quality, and for your "budget" i'd say get them.
Also the enclosure, is what "makes" the sub! I wouldnt go through the trouble of making an enclosure to the spec of a $100 sub. But make sure the box you get, has relatively close Volume requirements. If the box is too big, the sub can "bottom out" too small and you gont get all the performance you can.

I will say that you get what you pay for and I will leave it at that.

If you like the big boom boom and listen to rap and hip hop, etc. Then definitely go with the Alpine Type R.
Just ensure you have an amp that puts out 500 watts rms and dont cheap out on wiring with 8 gauge, go 4 gauge.
Type R's are loud, not a huge fan of the sound they make but if its boom you like then absolutely its the go to subwoofer.

If you listen to a little more large variety of music such as rock and metal, try something more along the lines of the
Kicker CVR. Slightly less power handling (400 watts rms @ 2 ohm) but has a MUCH cleaner sound to it. Still has a lot
of umph to its sound but hits a lot cleaner than the Alpine. I like Alpines stuff don`t get me wrong but I think the CVR would suit
better for more of a round about subwoofer.

I have 1 Type R in a built multi ported bi chamber box with a 500watt RMS alpine amp. I paid retail and all together it was like 1200$. And my 1 12 sounds better, louder, and better quality than a few of my friends Kickers CVRs, MA Audio, and Kenwoods. Get the alpine and the amp to match you won't be disappointed. Mine sounds so clear and crisp bc
Of my custom box I had made. And for wiring I have rocksford fosgate 2 gauge, ground and power wire with a capacitor. I promise get the type r. You won't be disappointed. I can take a pic of mine if you want.

I would go with a kenwood KFC-W3012DVC or a Diamond Audio d3. Not much choice when you only wanna spend $100. BTW Alpine is garbage.

Here's what I'm about to do:

Alpine 500w Monoblock Amp
Alpine Type R 12" Ported Box

And enjoy the rattling. The amp can be found at best buy for like $200 now.

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Why?

Common misconception, waste of money. Unless your doing it for the looks.

two 12" subs will need a larger enclosure so think about how big of an enclosure you plan on fitting in and from that decide how many subs you require. vented or sealed enclosure to me really depends if you prefer subs for the sound, or the rumble. quality subs are of course better if you plan on blasting your music since cheap ones will pop early.

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I hope you arent being serious here. I do car audio for a living so please tell me WHY you shouldnt put 4 gauge wire in when
youre going to have an amp close to the same amperage as the inline fuse holder on your power wire, thus when your
power wire fuse blows its going to go straight through to your amp and have possible damage of damaging your amplifier.

Why not spend the extra $30 and get proper gauge wiring so that you don`t have to worry about that or if you ever
plan to upgrade your system you don`t have to rip everything out and do it all over again?

Yes the MRPM500 only NEEDS 8 gauge input, however you are much better off putting in 4 gauge wire, for example
if you ever plan on putting an amplifier to your speakers (which I highly recommend anyways) then you can just use the 4 gauge wire
to a disto block and split the power 4 in to 2 8 gauge out.

This is not a "common misconception" or a "waste of money" for "looks" my friend.

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I literally have this exact setup but my box is a bi chamber one that cost me 500$ for someone to build.

And for the guy who says alpine is garbage there's something seriously wrong with you. With my setup I have ( the box makes it sound this good ) it hits harder than anyone I know with diamonds or kenwoods. You get what you pay for why else would the Type R cost 250 new ? It's one of the most expensive you can buy at a audio store or best buy.


And for the mononlock amp grt the rms-500 alpine it's like 200$ at best buy. It was 350 when I bought it tho.

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Personal taste really. I don`t like the sounds of Alpine Type R's at all. Way too sloppy. Yes they have big boom, but that doesn`t mean it has clean sound.
Loud does not equal quality. $250 is not an expensive subwoofer by any means. I carry about 10 subwoofers in store that are at least double the $$ and double the quality. Never buy an audio system at Best Buy


In all truth, if you want something that has both REAL quality and big boom to it, look at the JLW6 subwoofer. Its going to blow your budget out of the water however. You guys need a real demo for music to hear what quality sound is. I don`t even think I should post up my system to show what real SQ is like.

Didn't buy mine at BB sir. It was bought at a audio store the box was made at the audio store, the amp was bought there, the wires, capacitor, eq stabilizer all of it.

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Power wire I agree on

I misunderstood it as you saying to use 4 guage for speaker wire...didn't make much sense to me.

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Oh ye haha I agree. I just use 12 gauge for amp to sub and amp to speakers 14 gauge.

And I do agree with you on brand and preference. I prefer JL and Alpine. The only 2 I will bet buy. My buddy has some JL's and they were 800 a pop.

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Alpine does a great job at marketing their products. Thats why people believe they are good. The company I work for in Chicago will not install Alpine any more. Their products failed on a $500,000 yacht and made us look bad when the customer wanted the garbage. Plus the components we installed didnt even sound near as good as the infinitys we normally install. I agree with you TeamFaint that alpine is sloppy. Almost as bad as rockford fosgate. JLs are nice, but are way too expensive. Diamond Audio d6 would blow a w6 out of the water for price and performance. A Diamond Audio Hex pro sub would dominate a JL w7 and its $300 cheaper. And yes I do agree that people need to see in person what a high quality system sounds like and dont buy your stuff from best buy. Their installers arent even qualified to work on alot of cars.

^ Makes my sound speaker choices sound great...I have four Type-S speakers and a 12" Rockford Fosgate PS1...oh well, my system was built on a budget.

Speaking from experience, go with the Alpine....im running a 10" type R w/ vented box with 1000 watt amp and that setup hits so hard, it might cost u a lil more but compared to the kenwood your better off with the type R

JL and Diamond are both out of most people's price ranges, not to mention brands like Rainbow which most people wont ever see or hear any type of system that will sound as clean. Alpine makes pretty decent stuff for the average consumer, as does Fosgate. Alpine is a lot cleaner than Fosgate is, especially if you get their PDX digital stuff, but overall you get what you pay for with electronics.
As for Best Buy install bays, just like any shop that works on cars, you have to take each shop individually. I managed a Best Buy bay for a while and we were all MECP silver or higher. We have only a couple of carfi shops in the whole state that i would say are even decent, but i wouldnt put the Best Buy bay i managed anywhere near the bottom of the list.

i'm still using 2 12"s that i got in my early 20's







More bass is great but then brings more rattles = not so great and they certainly add lots of weight