Alpine
Traveling by car may be long and boring compared
with air travel, but if you've got one of Alpine's Type-S subwoofers onboard, your wheels will definitely rock. The SWS-1241 sub has a 12-inch Kevlar-reinforced paper-cone driver and a bandwidth of 26 Hz to 2 kHz, while the 10-inch SWS-1041 has a bandwidth of 30 Hz to 2 kHz. Both are rated to handle 200 watts continuous power and have a heat-transfer plate to keep things cool. Prices: SWS-1241, $150; SWS-1041, $135. www.alpine-usa.com, 800-257-4631
Bag End
The folks at Bag End like their subwoofers to go low, low, low. The InfraSub-12 is just such a bass monster, with a 12-inch driver and an amp rated to deliver 400 watts. The sub's ELF (for Extended Low Frequency) dual integrator is said to keep the frequency response flat (±3 dB) from 95 Hz down to an impressive - if inaudible - 8 Hz. Measuring 18 x 15 1/2 x 15 3/4 inches, the sub weighs 57 pounds and has line-level inputs and high-pass outputs for the left, center, and right front channels as well as left and right speaker-level inputs.
Price: $1,670. www.bagend.com, 847-382-4550
Fisher
The DCS-TS750 DVD Home Theater System from Fisher comprises a DVD player/amplifier, five minispeakers, and a subwoofer, plus an unusual feature called TVGuardian. Dubbed a "foul-language filter," TVGuardian monitors a DVD-Video's closed-captioned signal, checking each word against a built-in dictionary. When R-rated words are detected, the audio is muted. The amp is rated to deliver 200 watts of total power to the speakers, and there are two analog stereo inputs so you can hook up other audio sources. The DVD player can read CD-Rs and CD-RWs with MP3 files. Price: $300. www.fisherav.com, 818-998-7322
