Just wanted to get folks opinion on two subs I was looking into. One is the JBL P1220D II and the other is Audiobahn Alum12Q sub. I know the JBL has more wattage, but will the Audiobahn perform as well at high volumes. I will probably use a small sealed enclosure for them. Which one would be the better choice?
Oh it would be powered by a 600watt JBL mono amp. I'm thinking of upgrading to a 1000+ wattage amp for that setup.

I also had an idea of mabey building a box but putting ported holes that would come out of the existing holes in the rear deck. Good or Bad Idea?

 

whats your budget for subs alone?

 

Well I have a budget of 300 or less. But those are my two choices. Any other subs would just confuse me more. And working with ebay I can get two of them cheaper than going to stereo store.

 

well i highly recommend 2 adire audio shivas for that price range... i just got mine in a few weeks ago hooked up to a jbl600.1 in a sealed box and they are loud and have great sq. what exactly are you looking for in a system? being "loud" is relative to each person.

edit: the shivas are $250 shipped for 2 with a warranty from a great company.

 

I got two audiobahn 1200 Q. I haven't hooked them up yet but I will show you pics of my set up and box I built

 

for SPL, i'm a fan of Audiobahn subs, but for SQ, ehhh...i dunno..they might do ok...never heard anyone use audiobahn for SQ though..

 

Yeah let me see! What amp are you using?

I have an interesting idea of having one sub facing into the car and two facing into the trunk or vice versa for display purposes. And I like having that sound of the subs sound bouncing off of the trunk wall. But it's just an idea I don't I would keep my max long enough to really enjoy it. I'm looking into getting the anniversary edition next year. Cross my fingers!

 

To be honest, audiobahn. JBL's are good, and may be good. But look at history. Audiobahn has been creating excellent stuff almost from day one.

Here's what me and a friend came up with.

Lower lvl audio.
Generic junk like Chronic audio, rampage, and other cheapy brands (usually found in local walmart)

Mid lvl audio.
RF punch series, sony xplod, pioneer, jensen, clarion. I know.... 3 of which found in walmart, but a company has to stay a float.

High lvl audio
Polk, Memphis, JBL, JL, and boston. Your good all around subs, they can take a beating

Extreme lvl audio
Audiobahn, RF PW stage 2, kicker comps. your competition lvl subs.

I know I didn't name all, and this is a list done by me and my friends. But this is how we feel about companies and their products. And some companies have models that will go into a diff categories. Like RF for example. Their Punch Z's a cheap speakers, but they give base. But their PW stage 2 are expensive, and will really bring out your system.

Also, check the RMS rating for both subs. Make sure your 600 watt is enough to push it.

 

i tihnk list is cool but the thng is... if you are comparing brands out there just by subs you need to consider non-mainstream brands like SI, RE, ED, Adire, incriminator audio, etc. these brands all have subs that will equal or surpass a "w7" which seems to be the sub everyone gets judged by. for instance.. my adire audio shivas as compared to a jl w3v2 win hands down (according to me and my friend who has w3's) and they are half the price. non-mainstream brands are def. not something to not look at.

 

true, but you're getting into technical info there. We set up the list for a newb. Not for people who have been building, and competiting.

I tend not to try and get into that much detail. Everyone has a favorite brand that has never done them wrong, but it failed someone else and they hate it. And then a fight starts yada yada ya.

My personal love is the new memphis M-class. Hits freq's lower than W-7. And the black and white M, looks alot better then just JL. LOL...

I don't remember ever seeing a adire audio shiva though. You got a pic at all? I try to stay neutral across the brands. Which is easy considering it's a good sub if it can hit decent, and last awhile.

I currently have 2 RF punch z 12" that have lasted for 2 1/2 years. No tears, no distortion, and they still hit good. Of course I take care of them, only push them to the limit, never above (well maybe sometimes a little) I know people that have gone through 4 sets of Punch Z's to my one set.

 

gotcha. i was just trying to help out the newb its alot of fun showing people my subs then showing them in the trunk and they say "theres no way those ugly things can do that".
http://www.adireaudio.com/Files/cut%...20Brochure.pdf

thats kind of a brief summary of it. there are technical papers found at adireaudio.com

 

Nice, i know what you mean on people saying that. I love making people look twice at what's in my truck. They can't believe a Punch Z is hitting like it does in there. And then on top of that, they don't believe how old they are. I have to show the sales slip just to make them believe it. You get a chance, check out my cardomain site. http://members.cardomain.com/kcidmil

I'm working on upgrading everything in my truck to a Memphis setup. So far all I have left is the subs, and door speakers.

What's hurt non-mainstream brands though is companies like chronic audio, rampage, and lighting audio. People see a sub with a diff name, and they assume it's a cheap junky.

But I have noticed that lighting audio is working on their quality. So maybe the myth of the cheapy weird brand name speakers will fade.

 

I would say JBL. They have been known the world aroudn for quality loudspeakers. Audiobahn is known more for its looks than its performance. Ask around at just about any car audio forum and you will probably hear the same things. Audiobahn is know to overrate their amp and speakers and have higher failure rates.

 

a friend of mine has an audiobahn Flame Q 12 and it sounds amazing at all volumes

 

+1... they go for looks over quality.