My plan was to get a sony xplod box with 2 12" subs for my 94 civic. The box unfortunatly wont fit, so Ill have to buy a new sub and box. I want power, yet quality for a good price. I would like to say I want 12", but being new to this idk how much of a difference it makes to get the 10's. Ill most likely being going to a few car audio shops this weekend and just wanna know what you guys have that work, or any suggestions for a 17 year olds price range. Thanks

 

remove your subs and make a custom box, its not difficult at all. there are plenty of diy's too

 

You can make a custom box, you just have to adjust and make sure you folloow the cubic measurments and make sure the depth and what not is a good fit for the flow of the subs themselves.
My friend and I made a custom box with a port for his scion tc trunk. It basically took up the whole thing, but it sounded great and beat hard.
The book that came with the subs should spell out the measurement needed for a box.

 

Whence you find the Vas and Q and all the parameters listed by the sub there are several computer programs that will take those specifics and tell you the EXACT box that will work best for your subwoofer.
As for sub choice you say you want quality, and sorry to tell you but sound is 80% the box, NOT the woofer.
You also say you're not sure of the difference b/w 10s and 12s. Good thing you asked actually, because almost always there is not too much of a difference. It's fairly simple how sound pressure works to bring you volume. A cone goes inward and outward a certain amount of times that correlates to a number within a second, and this is your frequency. From here lets say your sub plays at hertz of 60. So as of now, your frequency is 60, a fairly good deep note right? Ok, now, how far in and out is the sub going at the same time it's going in and out 60 times a second? This is where excursion and shape of the cone can also play a part. A deep cone, will have slightly more surface area than a cone that is flat. So, as the cone moves in and out, more air gets sucked and pushed by the deep cone than the flatter cone. Now how about the depth...lets say sub 1 moves out and in by only 1 inch from the middle deviant, this is fairly good, but how about a sub that hits 2, 3 or even 4 inches outward (but basically what happens when you increase your volume). Now please, there are differences here, and other factors, sometimes not even the ones i listed may affect the sound because there may be something else to compensate for it, but this is the basic jist of how it works to reproduce sound. All a sub does is push air, same with normal speakers, and you get sound in the process from the vibrating air...kinda lol
Therefore think about 10s versus 12s, it will not depend just on size but the cone as well, excursion and many other things. What about the box? if the box is very large and ported, this means the sub has less pressure pulling it back to it's neutral point, so it will get louder since it has more room for excursion, but the lack of control is a trade-off for quality. A small, sealed box will have good quality, but due to the immense amount of air pressure inside the box pulling the woofer back etc, it may not be as loud.
This doesn't mean, though, that if you want quality you should get the smallest box around. Different subs have different designs that go with different box sizes and types, so make sure you go by what is recommended, if you deviate from the specs a little bit it's not too bad, too much deviation and you may or may not harm the sub, but at that point you're probably not getting the best out of the sub that you can if you are unaware of what you are doing.
A good example of all this is...I'm not sure if you are familiar with the company DD audio or not but I have seen several records broken, where two DD audio subs had hit 141 decibels. Oh, did I forget to mention these were 8s?
And if you're not sure how loud 141 decibels is, that's immediate permanent hearing loss, basically.
If you want a sub suggestion, look up DD, Fi, Pegasus
if you can't find those
I'll list more

 

I had a 95 civic before and i was able to get my 12s to fit in there. maybe buy a smaller box if your not up to building your own box.

 

well ya got a few choices.... one a dual 12inch box SHOULD FIT.....
but if it wont fit thru the trunk lid take out the back seat and see if you can fit it in that way thru the inside of the car going into the trunk.
and last either buy another box that should fit or posibly 2 seperate boxes. sometimes 2 boxes fits into the trunk easier than one large one.....
just check out a stereo shop and before buying ask if they can try to fit the empty box into your car first......

 

well i just wouldnt get sony xplods, i kno the price looks nice and the subs look cool, but u really shouldnt get them, my friend has two in his integra and they suck, my friend had one nice 10 and it slapped harder. So you might want to take a look at subs that put out more wats not just the size. Also get a good set of speakers because a sound system with out them just sounds TERRIBLE, again my friend with the integra made this mistake and his car sounds even worse, like i said dont cheap out on a sound system.

personally all i plan on getting is a good set of speakers, a little tiny civic slapping hella hard is kinda funny, iino just my personaly opinion, i light a clean sound over just plain loudness

 

The other thing you gotta look at is the frequency range of the sub. You can get an 8 or a 10 that hits, but you're not gonna find an 8 inch sub with a frequency range like that of a12 or a 15 (not that I am suggesting a 15!) in a reasonable price range.
Man, I say forget buying a box - build your own... heck build a few until you get one you like and that sounds killer and fits well. It is actually fun to do - mine changes at least once a year! Good luck buddy.
P.S. What amp are you using?

 

lol what exactly is a 17 year olds price range? You could be poor as dirt or as rich as anything.

 

LOL

ya mine changes just about every year.... but i always build my boxes when its somewhat warm out.