A very tricky question as I don't know your tastes. I've got a customer in South Africa that hand builds Subs for SPL & SQ car audio competitions and, given his economy, he may be able to beat any price you could find. But could you trust him? I do, but how could you? Having never met him? Or perhaps a man named Tilo could help you out, but you'd have to consider that his hand made custom Subs are animals, animals capable of whatever you have them built for. And as you can imagine they are out of the South African "value range" of hand made Subs.
So if you are interested in the best performing Subs for under a thousand dollars and plan on making your own enclosures I would have to say this....... Take a good hard look at car audio Subs, you might be surprised at what you can get.
If you plan on buying an already built Sub setup from some manufacturer. Well you are kinda stuck listening to every setup you can find until you are finally satisfied with the price v.s. performance dilemma most of us face at one point or another. That, or trust someones tastes, views, and opinions, hoping that they align with yours. But hey at least you're at the right website for a variety of opinions that are at least based in practice and experience. I hope I helped and not confused your dilemma worse.
Andrew
Synesthesia Studios
