The Best Car Subwoofers for Bass Lovers 2024

The SUB 25 KXE from Focal’s vaunted K2 Power line is absolutely the best-sounding 10” car subwoofer we have had the privilege to listen to. It doesn’t matter your preferred genre of music: this Focal subwoofer has got you covered in the bass department. This subwoofer was a shoo-in for our “Best 10” Car Subwoofer for Sound Quality” title. 

Let’s talk a bit about why this subwoofer sounds so darned good. It comes down to the materials used in the construction of the SUB 25 KXE. For example, Focal decided to use their “sandwich” style aramid fiber material for the cone of the speaker for unmatched rigidity and minimal distortion potential. The cone is mated to the basket of the speaker by a durable rubber surround. 

The basket of the speaker holds not only the woofer cone in-place, it also houses a large magnet (it’s actually a two-segment magnet) for maximum control. The basket is made of aluminum for strength and great heat dissipation.

A dual 4-ohm voice coil design allows the end user to decide the wiring configuration based upon how many subwoofers they are using and/or which amplifier they’ve chosen to power the SUB 25 KXE subwoofer. This Focal can handle up to 600 watts of continuous power.

If you’re on the hunt for a hard-hitting, musically-accurate subwoofer, we are hard-pressed to suggest anything other than the Focal SUB 25 KXE. We believe it’s one of the best-sounding car subwoofers on the market, and we think that you’ll agree.

Pros:

• Superb output and quality
• Premium materials used
• Dual voice coil design allows multiple wiring configurations

Cons:

• No option form Focal for an enclosure
• Seems to want a bit more power than Focal’s recommendation

Kicker’s square subwoofers have been out for decades and for a very good reason: pound-for-pound, they are very difficult to beat in their price brackets. The 44L7S124 car subwoofer took the title of “Best 12” Car Subwoofer Under $500” because not only of its quality, but also because of its heritage.

No corners were cut (and, yes, we are sticking with that pun) with the L7-series subwoofers. Traditional subwoofers feature a circular woofer cone, but the L7 subwoofers sport a square one. Kicker’s engineers figured out that keeping the “corners” in place allows the subwoofer to have fuller, louder output that didn’t impede performance.

The 44L7S124 is built like a Mack truck. The square SoloKon™ woofer cone has the rubber surround stitched to it for maximum durability, and the forged aluminum basket is designed to take the punishment of high-volume. The subwoofer handles up to 750 watts of continuous power but will handle as low as 350 watts. The more you feed it, the better it will perform, of course. Speaking of power, that power creates heat, but the UniPlate™ back plate and pole piece ensure that the heat is removed from the innards of the subwoofer to prevent failure.

The subwoofer features a dual 4-ohm voice coil design, so you will have some versatility in how you’re going to wire one of these (or more than one) up for maximum performance from the connected amplifier.

All in all, the Kicker 44L7S124 is built to perform and built to last. We are thrilled with this Kicker subwoofer and cannot recommend it enough to the folks that love bass. We promise that you don’t be disappointed!

Pros:

• Superb output
• Deep bass response
• Build quality

Cons:

• Requires a fair amount of power for maximum performance
• Deep basket eliminates shallow box designs

“Shallow” doesn’t mean “weak.”

We find that Kicker’s 48CWRT104 10” car subwoofer exemplifies this statement perfectly. While this subwoofer is designed to minimize the impact on your vehicle’s available space (it has a mounting depth of less than 4”!), that doesn’t mean that it’s not going to rock your world. This is why it took our “Best Value 10” Shallow Car Subwoofer” title.

You’ll find a lot of technologies in this CompRT subwoofer that trickled down from Kicker’s higher-performance lines: the rubber surround being stitched to the woofer cone for superb control, an effective heat management system to prevent thermal failure, and dual voice coils to permit unique wiring configurations. These are a few of the reasons why there is just so much value attached to this subwoofer.

The 48CWRT104 will handle up to 400 watts of continuous power without breaking a sweat. It’s also happy to be placed in a sealed or ported enclosure so as your requirements change, you can continue to rely upon this Kicker to that fun “thump.”

If you find that you need a different size or voice coil setup, you should know that this subwoofer lineup offers as small as a 6.75” subwoofer all the way up to a 12” subwoofer. There are also dual 4-ohm voice coil and dual 2-ohm voice coil options. If you need some help choosing, we are here to help!

An added bonus to this Kicker subwoofer is that it’s weather-resistant. That’s right: it can be mounted in your vehicle’s trunk or hatch, or it can be mounted into a location behind the seats of your UTV/ATV. The woofer’s cone and rubber surround are UV-resistant to prevent deterioration in that harsh condition.

Let’s get the party started!

Pros:

• Shallow profile for small footprint applications
• Uses technologies from higher-performance lines
• Great sound quality

Cons:

• Not quite the output of traditional subwoofer

There is no better-sounding shallow-mount car subwoofer than the Focal 8” SUB P 20 FSE. Why? There are a bunch of reasons that we feel this way, but we will temper our enthusiasm and share just the ones that are super-important to consider! First (and arguably most importantly), the subwoofer’s cone is made of a “sandwich” design which sees two ultra-thin layers of glass fiber acting as the “bread” while the flax material acts as the “meat.” Coupling these two materials gives the subwoofer superb rigidity, allowing the subwoofer to produce incredibly clean, musically accurate sound.

Second, the surround that connects the aforementioned woofer cone to the basket of the driver is made of rubber, not foam like cheaper subwoofers. Why does this matter? Because rubber lasts longer than foam, so you’ll have a subwoofer that keeps chugging along for years to come!

Lastly, the subwoofer only requires a sealed enclosure with an internal volume between 0.20 and 0.38 cubic feet to get excellent performance. Since the subwoofer only needs 3” of mounting depth available, you can get creative in designing the enclosure for the SUB P 20 FSE and potentially hide it away somewhere under the rear floor of your car or SUV! Marry Focal’s 4-ohm subwoofer to the proper enclosure and have it fed by a 200-watt amplifier, and you will be thrilled with the results!

Pros:

• Shallow depth for better fitment into tight spots
• Great sound quality
• Rubber surround for better durability

Cons:

• Output is not quite as robust as a traditional 8" subwoofer
• Needs a bit more power than Focal's recommendations for optimal output

A lot of premier car audio manufacturers have taken on the task of designing speaker and subwoofer upgrades for BMW vehicles. Due to the tight constraints of speaker locations, this task can be quite cumbersome, but BAVSOUND has got it all figured out.

BAVSOUND’s Ghost GUSW2KIT 2-ohm underseat subwoofer upgrade kit is light years better than what BMW uses for their bass response, which is why this kit took our “Best BMW Subwoofer Upgrade” award for 2024.

This pair of subwoofers is designed to replace the underseat subwoofers in most BMW HiFi sound systems*. The 2-ohm impedances will extract maximum power from the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) amplifier. The oversized neodymium magnets and poly woofers cones both play a part in maximizing fitment and performance.

While the subwoofers hide away from view (hence the “Ghost” moniker), the bass response is very much apparent. You will notice tighter and more robust output when compared to the factory-installed subwoofers.

These subwoofers are designed to be easy to install (it should take most people about an hour to complete the installation) and are truly a “plug-and-play” option. No amplifier upgrade is required.

An 8-ohm kit is available for folks with the Harman/Kardon audio system in their BMW.

If you’re in the market for a big bass boost but are loath to give you space in your trunk for a traditional subwoofer enclosure, you have to check this BAVSOUND subwoofer upgrade kit!

*If you’re unsure of the fitment, please reach out to us!

Pros:

• Superb output and quality
• Easy to install
• Runs off OEM amplifier
• 4-year warranty

Cons:

• Can be a little lacking with bass-heavy music