There are a lot of great subwoofers brands on the market right now. Most people are familiar with mainstream brands like Alpine, Sony, Polk, Kenwood, Klipsch, Yamaha, Kicker and JL Audio*. But there are a ton of others that you may not know about, but you SHOULD! Since this is a DIY page we are going to focus on raw drivers that will work well in both the home and the car. These are the subwoofers that the insiders and the experts know and love. So if you know these subs then you are either an insider or an expert.
#1 Dayton Audio
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Dayton Audio 10" Ultimax |
They offer the “classic” line of value priced entry-level subwoofers, these are great subwoofers for an entry level home theater build.
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Dayton Audio Classic 12" |
The Dayton Audio Reference Series are aluminum cone drivers available in both High Fidelity and High Output versions. The Ultimax is an awesome home theater or car audio subwoofer.
#2 NVX
Speaking of house brands our next subwoofer is NVX, this is the house brand for Sonic Electronix, an online car audio retailer. They offer a wide variety of subwoofers, and it is not uncommon to see these drivers at car audio competitions. The VCW line is an absolute beast. Check out this massive 1,000 watt 15” sub with a three-inch voice coil that you can pick up on Amazon:
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NVX VCW152 1000W 15" VC-Series Dual 2-ohm Car Subwoofer |
#3 Savard
Speaking of Amazon, Savard is another great brand that you can get on amazon. Back in the 1990's this small company out of Baton Rouge had a cult following, and made fantastic speaker system for the car and the home. Bill Savard's son, Will, as resurrected the brand. It is back and better than ever. The 6.5”HI-Q subwoofers is an absolute beast! This is a 300 watt 6.5 with a 2" inch voice coil.
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SAVARD Speakers HiQ Series 6.5" inch Dual 2 Ohm Subwoofer |
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Rap Series 12" D2v2 Subwoofer |
#4 GRS
Next up is GRS, the budget champion. GRS stands for great replacement speakers. If you want to breath some life into old speakers these are affordable drop-in replacements. The subwoofers work well in a wide variety of ported and sealed enclosures. When I say affordable, I am not kidding. The 12” model is less than $25. If you are looking for a budget subwoofer this is the hands down winner. You would pay twice that for a similar subwoofer from a mainstream car audio company. The DIY Audio guy used one of these in the budget bass box:
#5 Image Dynamics
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IDMAX12 V.4 D4 |
Not every subwoofer on this list is a budget subwoofer. Image Dynamics has a great reputation and they have been around for a
long time, so you have probably heard of them. The IDMAX line of subwoofers are handmade in the US! They are are known for their amazing sound quality, and look fantastic with an understated, elegant logo across the front!
It is common to find these in infinite baffle trunk builds. If you want something that can get nasty low, make some serious bass, and sound good doing it you can't go wrong with Image Dynamics. On top of all that Image Dynamics can be re-coned in a matter of minutes with their re-cone kits!
#6 Wavecor
Here is another amazing sound quality subwoofer, Wavecor. They have a wide variety of shapes and sizes, like this funky looking shallow mount. Check out this big 12 with the aluminum cone:
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Wavecor SW312WA03 12-1/4" Aluminum Cone Subwoofer |
You may look at this and think that the power handling just ain’t what it should be on a sub at this price point. But check out the sensitivity. This thing does not need a lot of power to get loud. You can pick these up at parts express.
#7 Rockville
Now it is time to stir up controversy with a sub from audiosavings.com, the Rockville K9!
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Rockville W12K9D2 12" 4000w Car Audio Subwoofer |
What do I mean by controversy? Rockville very famously LIES about their power ratings. This driver can only handle 500 watts RMS. There was even a class action lawsuit filed against audiosavings.com. So, why are we recommending this sub? Because it is a great subwoofer offered at a bargain price. We are not the only ones that think so. The YouTuber HiFi Vega thinks it is the best 12" for under $150. Here is his video:
#8 Tang Band
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Tang Band W8 |
Tang Band is very popular among the DIY audio crowd. "The Uglies" by Toid's DIY Audio makes use of a pair of the W8's in each tower.
The DIY Audio Guy used a 6.5" version the W6 in this compact subwoofer build:
If you want to make a compact subwoofer these drivers are hard to beat, but if they are to big for your needs Tang Band also offers a 5.25" version, the W5:
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Tang Band W5 |
#9 Eminence
How about another made in the USA brand? Eminence, made in the small town of Eminence, Kentucky. This brand is best known for making guitar amp
speakers. But, they produce drivers for
many different companies and applications. Just click on this pic and look at the stats on the 12C! This is a nice subwoofer:
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Eminence Lab 12C |
#10 SKAR
SKAR is known for making powerful subwoofers at bargin prices. They provide excellent bass for the buck and have gotten very popular over the last few years. As best we can tell SKAR is copying the look you would find on a Sundown and DC Audio, but doing it much, much cheaper. They also have a line of affordable amplifiers. Check out this 15" subwoofer it is an ABSOLUTE MONSTER!
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SKAR ZVX 15" |
Is this the end of the list?
Of course not! There are TONS of awesome subwoofer brands that most people have never heard of. Which ones did we miss? Leave a comment and tell us about them!
