I'm going through a stereo upgrade right now and I'm trying to avoid a sub as well. The way it's been explained to me is that aftermarket speakers are designed to work in conjunction with a sub, amp, and crossovers because small woofers are not designed to produce bass. One alternative is the JL Audio Stealth Box (Jason Teller is selling one in the classifieds right now), which is custom fit to the underside of your rear deck. It has 2 8" woofers and doesn't take up all that much trunk space (doesn't rest on the floor either). Aside from that, you'll never get the bass you're looking for replacing the components in the stock locations.

Sorry,
Shaun

A french company called FOCAL makes a 5" SUB that plays down to aout 40 hz, granted the small cone area will never generate the air movement of a 10" it is a smaller speaker. 5kx-sub is the name of speaker, see link for specs.
Drawbacks are it needs a good amount of power, ie a GOOD aftermarket amplifier, and the speakers themselves are 150ish each.
Sometimes sonic nirvana comes at quite a cost....
:o)

Darren

`00 A4 not here dammit
`91 Integra IASCA competitor<ul><li><a href="http://www.focal-america.com/focal/expert/xpertparam.jpg">http://www.focal-america.com/focal/expert/xpertparam.jpg</a</li></ul>

Do you have the FOCAL speakers installed in your car? If so, are you happy with them?

No i dont run FOCAL, i use image dynamics, i have heard them in a fellow competitors car, and they are better than a midbass driver, but still not a TRUE sub.... not bad though. need power to really make them go though.