Best Car Subwoofers and Amp Packages

Everybody knows that the only way to experience genuine, chest-thumping bass is to put a dedicated subwoofer in your car. But it’s not just about the low-end speaker, it’s also about the power. Lower frequencies pull more relative energy out of your car stereo’s amplifier, and when your stock system diverts too much energy to bass response, it subsequently thins out your mids and highs, which may result in underperforming car audio, from top to bottom.

The best way to avoid this is to have a dedicated amplifier for your subwoofer. To that end, several of our favorite car audio brands offer subwoofer and amp packages, whether option for integrated power or finely matched components ensuring you get the most efficiency. Here are some of the best options, depending how much room your vehicle might provide for a dedicated subwoofer and amp.

Best under-seat subwoofer and amp package

Built into powered enclosures under 3-inches in height, under-seat subwoofers are designed to fit bass where the sun don’t shine. The tradeoff for sharing space with an internal amplifier yet still being small enough to tuck out of sight is that under-seat subs don’t shake the earth — the way other speakers on this list do. But the best under-seat subwoofer and amp packages can bring plug-and-play power to the low end of your playlist, even small cars and truck cabs where subwoofers wouldn’t seem to fit.

Take the Rockville RW8CA, an active powered 8-inch subwoofer, built into a stable enclosure able to slides into spaces under a square foot, yet still brings 600 Watts of peak power. Rockville’s design is compact enough that most cars should fit the 10-inch RW10CA upgrade. Its only slightly larger speaker and enclosure comes with a boost to 800 Watts. Both compact subwoofer deliver frequency response down to 20 Hz.

Best shallow enclosure subwoofer and amp package

To deliver bass response you can truly feel, a subwoofer wants to be in a rigid enclosure large enough to push some air. However, considering most passenger vehicles don’t have the ideal amount of space for such a subwoofer and amp package, powered systems designed within a shallow enclosure provide a valuable intermediate option. Having a larger overall footprint gives them more volume and power than under-seat models, while shallow depth still allow them to fit where more traditional enclosures won’t.

A fine example is a subwoofer and amp package offered by Kicker, pairing its 48TCWRT122 slim enclosure with a 2000 Watt Rockville amp. Its 10-inch sub driver will reproduce all bass in human audible range, and give some real oomph, while the enclosure easily fits behind truck seats, or within a trunk — without taking up all the storage space.

Best loaded enclosure subwoofer and amp package

If your passenger vehicle has room for it, the ideal subwoofer and amp package will feature a loaded enclosure, generally meaning a box big and deep enough to push a large volume of air, even at the lowest frequencies. By rule of thumb, the more space you can devote to your subwoofer and amp package, the bigger bass you get in return, and usually more bang for your buck. Eventually, enough to rattle the block.

Consider the MTX Terminator series subwoofer system, which packs dual, 12-inch drivers, paired with an amp capable of 1200 Watts peak power. A 32 x 16 x 16-inch box takes up a reasonable amount of room, just enough to turn your ride into a lean, mean bass machine.