Ive always used kicker.. because i like the sound, I've never had any of them fail, even the cheep kickers are still pretty good quality for everyday sound. The amps are tested for over there wattage and have the proof of it in the box when you buy them. I've tried MTX and couple other brand MTX last awhile a couple years. but nothing I've had has out preformed the kickers IMO.. if you want a sharp punch try 10s, 12 will give you that bass tone, but start to get more deeper anything more than that and your getting into super bass and without the mid and lows to back it up its just basically going to drowned out the rest, unless you get it tuned just right. all the kicker amps come with a bass knob to adjust the bass but all songs are different believe it or not country will a lot of times out bass a hip hop song.. at the same settings.. so it helps to have a knob to quick adult incase you change genres but thats just my opinion on all of them.. i just wouldn't go with a cheep set up.. name brand will almost always perform better and have better resell..