I have (1) 12" shallow mount Pioneer. Personally I like the sound better than I did the (2) 8's I had. NOW, I know there are those of you out there that have made some really nice systems using the 8's, but I didn't feel like they produced low enough of a frequency for my liking. I like the deeper bass more than a punchy mid-bass sound. I'm sure some high end 8's could definitely keep up, but for the amount I have tied up in my system, the 12" worked nicely. Mine's under the 60% bench seat firing down. I'd take some pics, but all you see is the black box pushed up underneath....