Someone doesn't realize that this is the CAR audio forum. Anyway, it depends on how much space you hae and how much power you have to work with before true recommendations can be made.
My trunk space is about 60 in. wide and the box I have now is about 26.5 in. wide. I have a 2 channel 980 watt amp and like I said I two 10 in. Rockford 300 watts. If you need more info then I can provide it.
I just want to get subs that are an upgrade from what I have now. Something with a little bit more power and kick. I want to try to do this without getting a bigger box where I can take the subs out that I have and put the new subs in.
Well, I'm new here, but I have set up a few car audio systems in the past. My favorite thus far has been the kicker solobaric L7. I had one 12", and it had a clean punch in a sealed 12" box, provided that I gave it enough power. I used an MTX 81000D and it was almost overkill. It depends what style of music you are looking to play mostly. Mine was a mix of rock and country, so I wanted punch instead of rumble. The L7's seemed very stiff to me, and thats what I liked the best. I had some cheaper MTX speakers and I had some Alpine R's and I thought the kicker blew them away. 2 10"'s in a sealed box should give you some serious punch.
The only downside is that the L7's are square, you'd need a new box. Kicker used to make a round series that was good too, it might be worth a check.
Like Brandy said, it really depends on what you are after. Sound quality (SQ), LOUD (SPL) or a combination (SQL). That being said, I'm partial to subs built by TC Sounds. Besides selling direct, they supply Soundsplinter with their drivers. From either of these companies, you can get a driver(s) that fit your needs.
Based on your 980w amp, a pair of 10" TC-1000's or RL-i's would be a great fit assuming your box was large enough. Can you please provide the internal dimensions? That way we can better determine what will work. And if the suggestions above don't fit with what you are after, there are other manufacturers.
You didn't state your goals so all of my suggestions are bases on sound quality. They will get loud for 10's but you can't really get that loud with a pair of 10" speakers. All of the suggestions below will work with your box based on .65cf per driver.
These are smaller companies that will give you the best bang for your buck. TC Sounds builds for Eclipse, used to build for SVS (still supplies their Ultra driver) and provides drivers for many high end companies like Aerial Acoustics. Elemental Designs provides great subs as well. They are hand built at the ED shops in Iowa. I included both their reqular prices and special discounted prices that you can get if you are a member of their forum. Fi Car Audio is a start-up by Scott Atwell. Who is he you ask? He started Destijl Engineering that supplied speakers to SVS (PCi series) and Adire Audio (Brahma series) as well as selling their own models under the name Resonant Engineering. He recently sold his company but wanted to stay in the business on a smaller scale.
Well you didn't really ask for goals but I have stated them before. I want something that has more kick, power, bass quality than the Rockford's. Do any of the sub's you mentioned provide that?
All should provide better quality bass than RF. The "kick" and "power" (I'm guessing that's more low end authority) is more a function of the box the sub is installed in. The "punch you in the chest" feeling of a sub is not actually that low. That frequency is around 50 to 60 hz. A lot of car subs are put into boxes that are too small and there is a hump in the frequency response that exaggerates the 50 to 60 hz range. It's just a matter of how you like your bass to sound.
All of the subs above should provide more low end than the RF. The "kick" may not be there though. These subs are designed for a small enclosure and will give you a flat frequency response. An EQ can easily shape the response curve to what you want without a noticable loss in quality.
Thanks I appreciate your help and everyone else's input on this. I also wanted to know if it is as simple as taking out the RF's and placing the new subs in it's place. If so, that sounds like something I could do myself.
It depends. What is the current voice coil configuration of your RF subs? How are they wired to your amp? You will have to order something that will give you the same load on your amp and it may require rewiring your new subs.
sorry not to hi jack the trread bot do you think 1 or 2 of any of the quality subs you listed will add the low end to a lexus is 250 awd looking for a sealed as small as i can get sq setup with some kick
As a new owner of a Lexus ES-350, I can understand your need for more bass. The other night my wife asked how difficult it would be to upgrade the sub. I showed her my selection of 10's and she picked the "pretty" one with the chrome magnet. It was a Blueprint 1001 with XBL^2 technolgy. It will be a nice little project.
Now to your question - I'm not familiar with the 250. Does it have a sub mounted in the rear deck? Do you just want to replace it? Do you want to add a box with one or two 10's? Any of those options will work. What's your total budget for subs and amp?
Also, things have changed since I posted that information: TC 1000 10" - $159 each shipped for both VC configurations TC 7 10" - $179 each shipped - perfect for replacing a rear deck mounted sub TC 10 10" - $175 each shipped - one of the best small subs I have ever seen. Limited time offer. Once they are gone, they are gone. I picked up the 12" version. TC Sounds dot com Fi Car Audio dropped their X line of subs. I think the prices for the others have stayed the same. Fi Car Audio dot com Soundsplinter is still an option with their RL-i series. Soundsplinter dot com I would skip the ED stuff. It's good but not in the same league as the the options I listed.