best sub and amp?

Please don't take my opinion for any sort of gospel.  It is simply my opinion.  But you have hit on the REAL key: if at all possible listen before you buy.  My recomendations are only intended to get you out there auditioning systems and to give you a few hints on where to look.  If you find one you like - no matter the brand - then by all means go for it!!Support the12volt.com

One thing I am not sure about yet is whether I should change my sub or my amp. Sometimes I feel like its the MRD500 amp thats not outputting good SQ. I've tried different settings on the digital amp, even went with the values recommended by Apline's Tech Support. At times I think its the Sub that's not good enough to handle the output from the amp. I don't know of an easy way other than try a different sub or amp for testing. Maybe I could bring the sub to my home system and test it there, however its a 2ohm and my home system is an 8ohm setup. Are there any good outlets where I can hear high end speakers/sub/amps? Circuit city does not have much choice and Best Buy was not any better really.

With the enclosure you are using now with the type R:  what is the airspace in ft^3 and dimensions of the box?  A small change in either of those measurements might make a huge difference in the sound in your car.Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

It might be possible to try out your Type R sub in your home. If it is dual 4 ohm then you can wire it in series and get an 8 ohm load. I'm not sure what amp you would use though. Also you might try going to one of the better car audio shops in your area and they might let you try your sub with a different amp that they sell, or let you use a different amp they sell with your sub in your car.

Good idea customsuburb! I'll try that next. How did I not think of that. You're so right, I can wire the two 4ohm coils in series to get my 8 ohm! Ok, right now I brought my 12" type R and the MRD M500 amp to my apartment. I am just looking for the 12v power-supply which I cannot remember where I kept. As I find it, I am going to test the amp with my home sub which is an Infinity 1000 Watt sub. If that sounds good then the MRD 500 is ok. Then I plan to test the Type R sub with all three of my home systems, Harman kardon, JVC and Kenwood. I think by then I'll have tested it all and only thing left would be a shop. I'l post the results as soon as I find my powersupply. Might be too late for testing tonight unless I don't mind my neighbours calling the cops on me for causing noise pollution.

Does your home sub not have a built in amp then? What you could do, since you seem to have plenty of av gear to use, is to use maybe the Harmon Kardon amp in 2 channel stereo and run the sub bridged on those two channels (positive from sub going to left channel positive on amp and negative from sub going to the negative on the right channel). This should work (I have a sub bridged on a home onkyo amp and it works fine). Then to test your MRD-M500 I would just leave it in your highlander and bring one of your home subs out to it and connect it and listen to it inside the car.

Sorry my mistake. Yes my home infinity Sub does have a built in Amp. You're absolutely right. So I can test my sub at home.    Now I have only one sub at home (others have big 3 way- speakers), the Infinity one, which is huge and really heavy to even try it in my highlander. Also that would need 110v ac. Maybe I can try it with the power inverter, but don't know if it is worth the trouble, because the Infinty sub that I have sounds awesome at home and probably will sound as nice in the car too.

I just tested my sub with my home system. Sounds flat. Ahhh. This is so frustrating. Even my regular JVC floor standing 29" high speakers hit harder (with quality) and sound so much more pleasing than my Type R. I surely must be doing something very wrong. I now measured the dimentions of my box. It was originally having an Infinity 12" sub in it (At Circuit City) I asked them that I only wanted the box for my Alpine R. So the internal dimensions are : 14" wide, 13.5 inch high, 9" deep. I filled it with a low class (pillow fill) from a regular pillow from the closest store where I live. I 'll order polyfill from partsxpress but dont know if I need 1 lb, 2lb or 5 lb to fill. Do I have to fill it tight or loose? Also I dont know if the size of my box is wrong.