You need a Car Audio Subwoofer. Your current system sounds great, but it's missing that bass kick. You want to relieve your current speakers from playing those sub-bass frequencies, cleaning up vocals and instruments every time the 808 kick drum comes in. You want to feel that drum in your chest!
Here we review the best car audio subwoofers for a variety of applications. We're going to look at specs, the engineer's goals and what kind of enclosures the woofers work in.
Table of Contents
- Best Car Audio Subwoofer: Rockford Fosgate T3 Series
- Best Budget Car Audio Subwoofer: Skar IX Series
- Best Runner Up: JL Audio W7 Series
- Best Car Audio Subwoofer By Price
- Best Car Audio Subwoofer for under $300 Skar VXF
- Best Car Audio Subwoofer for under $200: Skar Evl
- Best Car Audio Subwoofer for under $100 Kicker CompVr
- Best Car Audio Subwoofer By Size
- Best 6.5 Inch Car Audio Subwoofer: Skar Evl-6.5
- Best 8 Inch Car Audio Subwoofer: Rockford Fosgate P3S
- Best 10 Inch Car Audio Subwoofer Kicker CVR 10
- Best 12 Inch Car Audio Subwoofer Massive Audio HippoXL
- Best 15 Inch Car Audio Subwoofer Earthquake Sound Subzero 15
- Best Car Audio Subwoofer With Box
- Best Car Audio Subwoofer with Sealed Box: Kicker Comp 12 inch loaded subwoofer
- Best Car Audio Subwoofer with Ported Box: Kicker Q Class DL712
- FAQ
Best Car Audio Subwoofer
4Rockford Fosgate T3 Series
Rockford Fosgate practically invented the modern car stereo in the 1970s and has worked to drive the industry forward ever since. This push involves re-thinking accepted norms and what we should expect by continually raising the bar. They decided to go +1 on the industry by offering their new flagship T3 Car Audio Subwoofers in 19 inches instead of the "accepted" 18 inch "standard". On top of that, the T3 Subwoofers exhibit fantastic sound quality for the most critical listeners among us. They handle a mind-blowing 3000 watts RMS power. The T3 is available as a single 1 ohm driver.
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Best Budget Car Audio Subwoofer
9Skar Audio IX Series
My goodness, the Skar Audio IX series of car audio subwoofers reminds me of the subwoofers I grew up around during the early 1990s, but at a fraction of the cost. The parameters are similar to the "high end" car audio subwoofers from 1989-1990. The Skar Audio IX car audio subwoofers are an upgrade from those old woofers by employing a dual voice coil for wiring flexibility. These entry-level power houses can be had for under $50 each as of this writing.
Best Car Audio Subwoofer Runner Up
14JL Audio W7 Series
During the late 1990s, the trend was towards a "wide roll" surround, especially by new brands like Volfenhag or Audiobahn. These subwoofers may have looked tough but were lacking in a number of key areas. The newcomers were great subwoofers if you "listened with your eyes". JL Audio sensed the change in the wind and entered the market with their own wide roll surround offering, supplanting their venerable W6 series with the W7. But to preserve cone area (and spl) they moved the mounting lip underneath the surround! The Flagship 13W7 handled twice the power of anything the new comers could offer and sounded infinitely better, while appealing to the customer who would be attracted to a wide roll surround. The trademark "JL Audio Sound Quality" was preserved, but at a higher decibel level.
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