Subwoofer help

I want to add some bass to my 2015 double cab. Im not looking for maximum bass but I want to really hear and feel it. Low lows and clean highs. It will be mostly turned up for rap/hip hop and reggae but also want it to sound good with my country and rock.

I started looking at 300W-400W powered 10” subs, primarily JL, kicker and Rockford Fosgate. I haven’t been able to hear one but I’m worried it’s going to leave me wanting more.

I called crutchfield and they recommended a JL power wedge 12” TW3 400W ($829) with a JL amp. At that price point I continued looking and came across the Alpine RS-SB12 600W ($999). I’ve also been interested in the kicker 48TRTP122 500W $349.

Does anybody have experience with any similar powered subs and are they worth it?

Does anybody have experience with any of the loaded sub options mentioned?

Are the JL and Alpine going to be that much better to justify the price difference over the kicker?

Or do you recommend a custom enclosure and broaden my search for subs?

What have you all done for good deep, crisp, clean bass in your tundras?

The fitment and ease of installation are the reason for the listed subs. Those are simply loaded subs that I have found that will fit under the rear bench seat.

 

I have this JL setup.
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1857461/pn/010-03653-00/

 

I wish my box was downward facing - one of the subs touches the bottom of the seat and some wear is happening at the contact point. There's zero room for a grill.

 

Yes it's definitely tight on room. I fell asleep last night looking at different install pics of the Alpine lol. When does yours arrive?

 

I’m running a pair of JL Audio TW 3 subs behind the rear seat in a custom box I built. I wanted the grills on subs, so I designed the box to fit accordingly. You can’t see the box at all, but it’s big. It’s almost as tall as the rear seats and just as wide. I sound shielded the entire truck including inside and outside of all four doors, firewall and rear wall. My subs are super punchy. When you listen to them, feels like someone is swatting the seat backs with a baseball bat if you turn it up.

 

DC?

 

Man, you ponder too much lol. If I put half that much thought into gettin something, I just pull the trigger.

They mentioned a 3-4 day lead time to assemble & ship.

 

Lol.....sometimes. Just deciding on which size lol. That isn't bad at all. My ZombieBox was like 7 weeks.

 

Many of us DC owners have something similar to this box. Slides under the driver side rear seat and is notched for the seat belt anchor.

 

My bad. I have a crewmax. Missed the DC part in your post.

 

I have looked at that one and it’s more than I’d like to pay but is one of the best looking that I’ve seen. And I’ve heard they pound. How is the sound out of it? Does it have a good range of bass especially lows? Does it hit clean/accurate? It’s JL so I imagine it does.

 

did you build that box or buy it? If so where? I’ve been seeing a lot of those on forums and that would probably be the route I go if I end up doing a custom enclosure. Really I was hoping to get away with one of the simple plug and play subs and not get too carried away into customization but I’m finding us DC guys are very limited on options without getting crafty. Or spending more money. Haha.

 

I was going to say this must be a crew max. Haha. I’m envious of your behind-the-seat space!! That was my original plan before I looked and found about an inch of usable space with seat up in mine. How do you like the TW3’s? 10”s or 12”s? How does it sound with the pair of subs? I’m hoping one 12” will scratch my bass itch but I’m seeing a lot of dual sub setups and it’s making me wonder.

 

I love the subs. They are shallow mount subs, but didn’t really have a choice as there is so little room back there. That’s why the enclosure is full height and width. I needed every available cubic inch of space for the enclosure. It’s a sealed box….not ported, so it’s punchy as fuck. Because they are shallow mount, I went with two 10’s. I even have the same length sub wire going to them so one doesn’t blow before the other. I’m hooked on DSP amps. The clarity is unmatched. It would be tough to go back to a regular setup. The Focal Kevlar separates sound just amazing. They were not cheap, but what the hell.

 

None of this is cheap! Haha. The more I look the more expensive it keeps getting. And I haven’t even started thinking about the rest of the speakers. Those will have to wait. How is the low frequency bass? Do those 10’s handle the deep notes well or more full punchy sound? I like a full range but really like those low lows that you get a little more of out of a 12”. Or so I think…

 

Being they are short throw subs, They are punchy. They can’t do ultra low frequency but I use a JL Audio DRC 205 remote and I adjust bass on the fly for every song. At half throttle, I can twirl cans around in the cup holders. My mirror shakes like crazy. I’m a metal guy and not into rap. I like listening to super fast double kick drums and thunderous bass.

 

That helps. And that’s one of my issues is my range of music. I like the low bass in hip hop and reggae but also listen to country, rock and metal and want to be able to hit those fast kick pedal drum beats while having a good mix of the lows. My old set up, 2 12” alpine type S subs 15 years ago hit the lows well but really struggled on the faster kick drum notes. Hoping to find a good balance maybe slightly more focused on the low range. I know I’m picky, I have the same problem with women. I’m not sure which one is cheaper. Ha.

 

From what you're describing, a sealed box with either a single or pair of subs depending on airspace is probably what you're after. Powered subs are great for adding a modest to moderate amount of bass, but for a lot of rap listening you might want more output.

There are a handful of pre-fab boxes, most for a pair of shallow 10's but I did see one for a pair of 12's as well. Things get expensive quick though when you're talking about a pair of subs + box + amp + wiring. For shallow subs I'd be looking at (semi in order) Wavtech thinPRO, Audiomobile Evo/Encore, Morel Powerslim, Stereo Integrity, BM-11, Hertz MPS, JL TW3. One of the most important things in selecting a sub is having a box that matches it well. For sealed boxes, that just means getting the net internal air space close to the recommended air space from the manufacturer, or by modeling it for frequency response. Example, pair of shallow 10's that each have a sealed recommended air space of .5 cf would play nicely in a 1cf common chamber sealed box. Shoot for a .707 Qtc to get a nice balance of punchiness and boominess.

Lots of options out there, and powered subs are definitely a very good one to "hear it" but might be lacking a little in the "feel it" department.