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Car audio parts, like many electronic components, have a high failure rate. Picking the wrong company to install in your vehicle can increase the odds of having to trade in your system. To help you find the best car audio equipment, we’ve reviewed popular brands Rockville and Rockford Fosgate to see which is better.
Rockville vs Rockford Fosgate Highlights
The primary difference between the two companies comes down to warranty protection and price compared to power output. Rockville offers better terms for its warranty protection plan along with a 90-day money-back guarantee. When it comes to pricing, Rockville also comes in with slightly better costs for their amps and sub lines compared with Fosgate.
Rockville Highlights:
- 90-day money-back guarantee
- Easy installation
- High caliber design and build quality
- Good price point to power output
- Best competition technology
Rockford Fosgate Highlights:
- Well established brand
- Authorized dealers throughout the world
- Great customer service
- Good design and features
- Large product variety
Rockville vs Rockford Specification Comparison
Quality of Sound
Both companies are known for their quality sound from speakers and subwoofers for car audio. Numerous factors go into the quality of sound, including the power handling of your speakers, the number of watts RMS power and peak power of amplifiers, and more (1). These factors all work together to dictate how your sound system performs and, ultimately, how it sounds. During our testing, we found Rockville audios to be the most consistent when it came to the quality of sound. We tested with a variety of music and tested performance, loudness, and overall quality.
Best for Sound Quality: Rockville
Performance Comparison
Continuing off of the above topic of sound, performance is incredibly important when it comes to car stereos. Whether picking subwoofers cars or a new amp, if it doesn’t perform, it doesn’t have a place in your vehicle. We judged performance by testing multiple speakers, amplifier types, and subwoofers and pushing them to their limits with different kinds of music. Both brands held firm, but in the end, Rockville ended up being the most consistent. Even when too much power was thrown at the setups, each product held steady.
Best for Performance: Rockville
“The evaluation of car sound systems is usually done both by means of objective measurements (frequency response, distortion, etc.) and by listening tests.”
Angelo Farina, Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Parma (2)
Materials Quality Compared
Both brands use top quality materials when constructing their products. As a bonus, both manufacture each product in the United States with US-based research and engineering teams. The companies use high-grade aluminum voice coil types and construct each enclosure to allow for optimal cooling. The technology in their amplifiers and remote control units are reliable. Both Rockville and Rockford have top of the line products constructed to get the most power from each model for as long as possible.
Best for Materials: Tie
Ease of Installation Comparison
How easy each product is to put in will depend on multiple factors from your car type to the amount of space you have and the RCA cables or speaker wire you’re using.. But, both companies do a great job of designing each product to be compact in size and shape to fit in tight spaces without too much difficulty. Another thing that we appreciated when testing their amplifiers and other products was how easy each one was to wire. With some companies, the inputs may be located in inconvenient locations. Both brands do a solid job of making sure everything is situated intuitively.
Best for Installation: Tie
Warranty Protection Plan
While the warranty period differs for each audio company’s different products, Rockville generally provides a better warranty plan. To start with, they offer a 90-day return guarantee, which Rockford Fosgate does not have. The actual warranty length is one year on all products, such as for a pair of 2000 watts subwoofers. Rockford Fosgate has longer warranties on some of their products, but without the 90-day return window, we feel it isn’t as good.
Best for Warranty: Rockville
Pricing Compared
Both audio brands have some advantages when it comes to price. With Rockford, there is the advantage of having many model types for each product type at different prices. But, pound for pound, Rockville offers a better price for each amplifier class line and their other products. Each class amplifier and speaker line comes in at a reasonable price compared to the features you get, such as bass boost and low pass audio filters, and the power you get.
Best for Pricing: Rockville
FAQs
Rockville subwoofers in cars are good if you are looking for a solid price to performance ratio. The company offers a variety of subwoofer cars types, including shallow mounts, under-seat, and competition subs. Each of their subwoofer for car types also comes with a reliable warranty protection plan for added confidence.
Rockville is a good speaker brand for both new car audio shoppers and enthusiasts. The company uses quality car stereo parts in all of their audio systems and runs everything through rigorous testing. They provide the best value for people who want high caliber systems that don’t break the bank.
Which Company Get’s Our Vote?
Both companies offer great options for car stereo enthusiasts. But, after numerous tests and extensive research, Rockville Audio gets our vote for providing the best value. Their products are feature-rich and come with a solid 90-day guarantee. We liked the consistency of their customer service and how responsive they were to inquiries. Everything we order was delivered on time and arrived in perfect condition. Overall, they are a reliable option for car stereo products.
Key Features:
- 90-day return guarantee
- Simple product setup
- Consistent customer service
- Great sound quality
Our Favorite Products From Each:
Subs
Rockville
Rockford Fosgate
Amplifiers:
Rockville
Rockford Fosgate
Speakers:
Rockville
Rockford Fosgate
Sidney U. Harman has over 10 years of experience working in the AVL industry. He originally cut his teeth as a stagehand in the OKC area before moving to Denton for university. After learning to run the boards, he developed a solid passion for sound. His obsession with car audio developed 5 years ago as a natural progression from commercial AVL.
