2 questions of wonderings

Ok first question...

What is the best active pickup combo out there on the market?
EMG... Duncan? Not many to choose from but many styles. The question is over versatility and tone.

2nd question..

What is a good cheap acoustic guitar... preferably solid top.
I'm on the market for the 2nd, and sooner or later in the market for the above for my special 2

I played a nice Washburn the other day, it had a solid top and comes with a case for $300. What is your price range?

for acoustic around up to 300 actually. I know with cheap you sacrifice cosmetics and tone, but I mean come on... to me "an untrained ear" a $300 acoustics going to come close to the same tone as a $1200 acoustic. ^_^, I can just tell the difference between the tops.

I'm kinda looking for a mahogany backed acoustic... but honestly my tone preference is nice deep bass, but still a bright treb. So anything with that would be awsome.

The first question about active pickups you've gotta try them out, dont just go for what ppl say.

THe second aobut the guitar; I was almost about getting a Yamaha FGX720S for a while ago, never did though but we'll.. I might will.
Anyhow I love the guitar, it sounds alot more expensive than it is. Perhaps a little bit above your price range (I don't know exactly but perhaps ~400$) but still something worth checking out!

my washburn has an EMG 85 in the bridge and an EMG 80 in the neck. pretty sweet combo-definitely metal. the 85 is good for searing leads and fast rhythm parts while the 80 is great for beefing up your clean tone. my ESP has an EMG 85 in the bridge also, but an EMG 60 in the neck. the 60 is more of a crunchy blues pickup. sounds great with lots, a little or no distortion at all. im definitely sold on the EMG 85 but im not sure if i like the 80 or the 60 better...they are both awesome.

almost any 20+yr old yamaha FG series sounds sweet. my mother has had
an FG340-2 for about 25 years
she always gets well commented about how it sounds. they can be found anywhere
for $75-225 depending on condition & fret wear. my
mothers has very deep v grooves on the frets yet it doesn't buzz.
check out the harmony reviews on it. alot of folks say they keep right up
with $1,500 martins.

edit- very cheap new elect/acou $100 the takamine jasmine s35 ?
i think thats the one. decent reviews for an entry level.

the standard in active pickups has been EMG 81 and 85 combo for a long while now, but there's a new combo out, the 81tw and 89, i heard it's just a better version of the 81 and 85, the 81tw and 89 come standard in the new schecter hellraiser models

I've heard pretty good things about the Epiphone EJ-200. It goes for $350 at GC.

the 81 TW can do a split coil "single coil mode" I've done my research, only problem is I can't test these anywhere, same with blackouts, and guitarheads, and livewires.