I just bought a 2013 GS, I love the car and the audio sys sounds okay but I miss the depth on the low freq side. I would love to add a sub to remedy that. can anyone give me some advice on how I can add one on a budget please?

Thanks!

 

JL is more first choice

 

What is JL? Also wanted to mention that I do not have ML

 

JL audio is what i run on my cars. kinda pricey but worth every penny. if you don't have a budget for pricey equipment you can always go with kicker or even Rockford fosgate. do a little research on any of those brands and you won't be upset with your decision

 

Kicker and Fosgate aren't pricey lol

It's usually best to start with a budget then work from there. There are $50 subs and $1000 subs to recommend, the same goes with amps to power them. What is the most you're willing to spend and what type of music do you listen to?

 

you can get a powered sub with box for around $3-400 from kicker

 

I am mostly into Pink Floyd type music. My question is do I have to add an amp and than a sub? And if I do will it increase my sound quality? My budget is around $400-$500

 

Yes, you do need an amp to go with the sub. Are you able to do any of the wood work or wiring yourself or are you going to be taking your car to a shop to do it?

Adding an amp and sub will just give you more low end... there are a lot of factors that influence sound quality, adding a sub is just one of them. If it isn't done correctly it'll make the system sound worse, but if it is done right it will add a whole new dimension to your music.

Sundown Audio is a good place to start for excellent quality products at great prices, but you'll go over $500. I'd recommend an SA-12 ($195) powered by an SAZ-1200D ($399), but that will be $600 for both of them and you'd still have to buy the wiring and a box for the sub (About $700 total if you do it yourself). Sundown will also be selling the SAE-1200D next month for $269 that will be a great little amp. The SAZ series is just built a little better than the SAE series, but both are still excellent amps. The SA-12 and SAE-1200D will bring you pretty close to your $500 budget.

I've owned A LOT of different equipment over the years and I've been very happy with Sundown. The owner also provides top quality customer service. In fact, I have two SA-12s sitting in the garage right now that I took out of my last car before I sold it Great subs...

Also, just as a reference to the price, JL audio mentioned above sell a $900 amp to power their $1,000 subwoofer... there are more brands out there priced like this too. $200 for a sub is a great price. Hell, the little door speakers in my previous car were 3 times that price!

 

imo you get what you pay for, you can buy a pyramid amp and speaker for hella cheap, it'll hit real hard for about a month. i've never had any problem with kicker or jl, they also have outstanding customer service if something were to happen to your subs or amps. but its all about what you want.

 

Alpine SWR-12D2 and Alpine MRX-M110.
Also the Alpine RUX-**** Remote Bass Level Control **** which lets me dial in just the kick I need depending on the tune...

 

What guage wires did you run from the battery? I don't we need huge power, what do you think?

 

Wire gauge depends on length and current requirements. You can also get away with a smaller wire if it's quality stuff. For a bass amp I'd not use anything less than 8 gauge from the battery, but 4 gauge would be better. Many high power systems use multiple runs of 1/0 gauge.

Zapco has a good guide on page 4 of this PDF
http://www.zapco.com/download/z/zzmanab_ver13.1.pdf

 

Thanks for the link. I should have Asked how much power is needed in order for an adequate around without worrying about dynamat and rattles.

 

I am getting my sub put in tomorrow I will let you know how it goes.

 

So what was the result? OP buy a sub or not?