best sub and amp?

I guess I got to go to a shop and do some testing then. Saturday will be it most probably. The only reason why I tried my best to keep the Alpines was that I heard many people say good things about it and was wondering if I was doing something wrong and could fix it.

If you want something that sounds really good in a small encolsure I had fairly good luck using the Focal Kevlar series subs.You could use your alpine amp and then just buy the sub. I would think you'ld be real happy with that set updouble-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer

Thanks. I will take a look/ask for a test for that one too.

Yesterday I went to this "Audo Sound Pro" shop in my neighbourhood and had the Pro do some testing. At first he asked me "How much are you willing to spend?" to which I said "I am willing to pay whatever you want provided you can make me hear real good pleasing bass and I am not at all interested in loudness/SPL, just sound quality". He then came to my car and played my sound system so loud that either he was deaf or was trying to make me deaf. After playing with the settings for a while, he then went to the shop, cut off a JL 12" sub that he had on his demo wall, asked his assistant to put it in a box and hooked it up to my MRD-M500. I told him that I think its my amp that needs a change. He said "You have one of the best amps I sell" and proceeded to connect the JL to my Alpine amp. Then he started pressing "Mode" on the amp, however did not change any setting but scrolled through all the settings about 3 times. Then he said now we're set, lets do some testing from the front seats.. Again he turned the sound up to almost unbearable volumes when I could not even talk and be heard.   Then he said how's the sound now? Is this not better? I really did not see any difference, and I am convinced about changing the Amp really. He still said he thinks it was better. I said how much do you want for this? He said $500. Since I did not feel a real difference in sound I told him exactly waht I felt: I want something real pleasing, but this did not show much difference at all. So then he said that real good sound can only come if I had 3 speakers in the doors, a Woofer, a midrange and a tweeter. No other way can nice sound be heard. The BMW's have it that way and Porsches have it that way too he said. Also he added that it is easy to put a good sound system in a Honda Civic for example, but in a SUV, its almost impossible to have a good sound system.   Well then I said let me think about what I want to do and left the shop.

umm... I would find a new shop. He should have let you run the show with the volume control (indeed it does sound like he's deaf). You might try to go back to the shop and try working with a different person. Did he even let you listen to your own music?  You might try listening to a Focal sub like raven suggested. The shop person was really wrong about the statement about being able to put a good sounding system in an suv. You could put 8" mid bass drivers in your door (you would have to break out the fiberglass) and then make kick-pods for a component set. You could then also add a 10" sub in the back. Really though, if you wanted pleasing sound you might try going to a respectable shop in your area and have them fiberglass some small enclosures into your doors for some mid bass drivers, then have them make kick-pods for your other speakers. This would really bring the music more up front (like the drums in a song). It would probobly come in around $1000 or so if you bought two decent 8" woofers (like focal's or even just inexpensive, yet good dayton 8" woofers), have a shop fiberglass enclosures in your doors, and then fiberglass kick-pods.

There is not a full equalizer, but different levels of equalization settings both on the HU and on the two amps I have where I can cut off the high frequencies and keep a "window" of frequencies that i would like to pass through to the output (Q factor). The amp for the 4 doors are terrific I should say,I am very pleased with them. It is only the amp for the sub that's causing me no happiniess(or maybe the sub itself or both). And I don't want to feel the ground shake, all I want is to feel like I am at a real concert, hearing the real instruments, as much as true to life as I can get. (Perhaps something as pleasing and true to life as my home sound systems). Still shopping around and researching.

I think he wants tight punchy bass. Dayton 10" sub and Peerless 10" sub I think the last the (the Peerless) is pretty good. I couldn't find much focal stuff on partsexpress.com though.

You're absolutely right. I want tight, punchy and clean bass with nothing more than what was on the original recording. Somewhat like the sound you hear at a movie theater maybe?

Do you use an equalizer at home, by any chance?Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.