I was curious about something. I used to have a 750 watt sub in the trunk and a 200 watt max amp. Well, my sub got thrashed by objects sliding around, and I need another sub. I still have the amp though. I was recently told I should get a sub that has similar watt max as my amp. Is this true? And will it sound just like my old sub since it may have been pushing out only 200 watts out of 750 this entire time anyways due to my 200 watt amp? A sales guy at Best Buy told me to get a 300 watt sub since its closest to what they had for my amp. Will it sound pretty simillar to my old sub since my amp can only push out a certain amount of watts (200 max)?

 

you want to match RMS up to the subs RMS.... don't be fooled by cheap amps either, or the "Tricky" model numbers like sony and pioneer will give you... in example sony will do an amp called the 1200xt , you when you look at it think oh ok 1200 watts , and on the box it'll say 1200 watts, but when you look at it it's 200watts x 1 channel :-)
I recommend picking up either a JL 500/1 , JL 300/4 , alpine PDX 4.150 , or PDX 600.1

 

The watt rating on subs relates to power handling not output. A 1200 Watt Sub and a 150 watt sub could sound identical when driven with the same level of power.

I like to buy my equipment so that I have a clear build out path and has room to grow. Do you need a high power handling sub? No....should you buy something more than you need? maby.

Ask yourself if you might upgrade the amp in the future, or use this stuff in another car someday.....