sound system Options

[rubentx]

hey i wanna upgrade my sound system and i have some ideas but im not sure. If i can see some pics of yal set up that will be really cool.

[Sinyk]

What are these ideas you are having?

What is your budget?

What is your goal? Sound quality? Competition bass?

[rubentx]

What are these ideas you are having?

What is your budget?

What is your goal? Sound quality? Competition bass?

Well when i got the car there was only one speaker in the rear driver side. I been thinking of gettin all kickers and 2 12's kickers in the back. What you think?

[soulshadow]

I usually make my car look stock, not much of a fan on a loud system. Just makes it more attractive for thieves and vandals. Nothing tho beats the quality of a bose.

[CelicaST_CALI]

I usually make my car look stock, not much of a fan on a loud system. Just makes it more attractive for thieves and vandals. Nothing tho beats the quality of a bose.

nothing is ever over there price to

[rubentx]

thnx guys

[stephen_lee]

i'd upgrade to a 8 speaker system, use 8 inch subs in the doors w. amps, then use 4 inch in the doors w/ tweeters in the triangle., then 6.25(or 6.5) in the rear, all powered by your HU. i think that would provide the best sound for a stock looking install. oplus you have all your trunk space plus a pretty good amount of bass. two 8's sound pretty much like a 12? i dono someone correct me if im wrong here

[Jaws4God]

i went with Audiobahn.. I didn't want HUGE speakers cuz i still wanted trunk space.. plus I only wanted quality and not volume..

2- 8" (800 watt) and 1- Audiobahn Amp (1600 watt)

[Sinyk]

I wouldn't reverse mount subs if trunk space was your prerogative, but I guess they are only 8's.

What kind of car do you have rubentx? Hatchback? Coupe? Your profile is devoid of any details.

This post has been edited by Sinyk: Jan 27, 2009 - 1:03 PM

[Jaws4God]

I wouldn't reverse mount subs if trunk space was your prerogative, but I guess they are only 8's.

Yeah i only wanted to because the subs were flame series so I wanted to show them off... but I just didn't want the box itself to be so big that I couldn't put anything in the trunk..

[stephen_lee]

I wouldn't reverse mount subs if trunk space was your prerogative, but I guess they are only 8's.

Yeah i only wanted to because the subs were flame series so I wanted to show them off... but I just didn't want the box itself to be so big that I couldn't put anything in the trunk..

ya LOL you should see my trunk.

theater 15's require a lot of space but sound SO clean

[hockeyplyr24]

i will vouch for the kicker subs. i've had 2 12" kicker cvr's for quite a few years now and i love them. i have an audiobahn 800 watt amp powering them. sound quality is awesome

[rubentx]

I wouldn't reverse mount subs if trunk space was your prerogative, but I guess they are only 8's.

What kind of car do you have rubentx? Hatchback? Coupe? Your profile is devoid of any details.

Its a Hatchback, sorry i know my profile doesnt have much im trying to find a decent camera to take pics and update.

[Malek]

so simple...yet so clean

This post has been edited by Malek: Feb 10, 2009 - 6:13 PM

[chucho]

get one digital design 12" 2500 sub and a ported box and it will rock in the celica. Not well known in my area dont know about yours but it is a solid sub that will kill other subs including kicker (which I own haha but I got a crackhead deal on kicker sooo...)

[blu94gt]

I usually make my car look stock, not much of a fan on a loud system. Just makes it more attractive for thieves and vandals. Nothing tho beats the quality of a bose.

No hi's, no low's, must be BOSE.

I would NOT recommend anything BOSE makes for any application. My Maxima has a BOSE system and it is absolute garbage. It sounds decent but compared to a decent aftermarket setup that would cost the same amount it sounds like trash. Plus the CD player and such is dead, which sounds commonplace for BOSE hardware.

[rkelly_83543]

i'd upgrade to a 8 speaker system, use 8 inch subs in the doors w. amps, then use 4 inch in the doors w/ tweeters in the triangle., then 6.25(or 6.5) in the rear, all powered by your HU. i think that would provide the best sound for a stock looking install. oplus you have all your trunk space plus a pretty good amount of bass. two 8's sound pretty much like a 12? i dono someone correct me if im wrong here

I don't know man. The usual RMS output of a headunit is around 18-20 watts per channel. You are not going to find very many good sounding speakers out there that can really spread there wings with that little power.
There are a couple of other things to look at with the placement of the subs. Typically it is better to have the subs in the back to let the bass develop before it reaches your ears. Having your subs in the rear of the car gives the sound a chance to do that, instead of being hit directly by the subs in the legs! However, a good option, if you are interested in better range, is to put some 8" midbass speakers in the door to the similar specs you mentioned before.
The last thing, and forgive me if I come off like an ass, is the fact that 8" subs cannot be the same as 12" because a 12" sub has 4" more cone surface area to move more air, thus louder bass.
I really do like the suggestion you had about the three way setup, just with midbass instead of actual woofers.

[trdproven]

ONLY go with JL AUDIO Subs - low power consumption and quality performance bass. JL SUBS are the most efficient ones out there.

[chucho]

ONLY go with JL AUDIO Subs - low power consumption and quality performance bass. JL SUBS are the most efficient ones out there.

JL overpriced for what they are. How about Arc Audio? Digital Designs? And your amplifier and construction of the box really makes your sound range. I've heard two 8" DDs and it was crazy how much volume they put out.

[Legit94GT]

ONLY go with JL AUDIO Subs - low power consumption and quality performance bass. JL SUBS are the most efficient ones out there.

TRUE.

My two JL 12's in a closed boxed destroyed every Kicker set up at that comp. Ultimately EVERYTHING depends on what you want to do.

If you just want something to make your music bump then buying some lower priced(and lower quality) would be fine. If you want something to rattle your ear drums and possibly dabble in some sound comps then buying higher quality subs AND speakers is the way to go.

I'd say just start buy getting new speakers in your current set up. and seeing how that "hits" you

[chucho]

ONLY go with JL AUDIO Subs - low power consumption and quality performance bass. JL SUBS are the most efficient ones out there.

TRUE.

My two JL 12's in a closed boxed destroyed every Kicker set up at that comp. Ultimately EVERYTHING depends on what you want to do.

If you just want something to make your music bump then buying some lower priced(and lower quality) would be fine. If you want something to rattle your ear drums and possibly dabble in some sound comps then buying higher quality subs AND speakers is the way to go.

I'd say just start buy getting new speakers in your current set up. and seeing how that "hits" you

142.6 aint a shabby number by any means. but i've seen one 12" DD 2500 hit 145db in a CRX (yes they're SPL beast) w/ a 300 dollar amp. Buddy of mine spent two hours reading on construction of box for air space then spent 15 minutes building this eye sore of a box but it slammed haha. It hit 145 every time. I dont think he's trying to go SPL. But if he was i'd say digital designs is the way to go w a M3 amp. I need to ask him what the 8" 3500 version are hitting. & my setup isnt for spl by any means but i need to meter it just for the fun of it one day.

[Sinyk]

But that's in a crx. The car is tiny. A friend of mine used to have one with 2 12's in it and it made my 2 15's seem meager, and I was running 145db with those.

[rkelly_83543]

Okay so here it is,
I am a regular reader of car audio mags and I see this question all the time in the q & a sections.
Most of the time the writer is fairly cryptic in their answers due to a couple things. First of all he/she cannot endorse a particular brand because it would give the mag a bad rap with other advertisers. The second reason comes down to a lot of specifics that you could talk all day about. There are a lot of great sub woofer brands out there and it really is hard to find that perfect sub. The main reason for this is because a sub in the store is going to sound way different in your application due to variations in sound space, placement, ect. Another reason is that a lot of people are going to tell you this brand is way better than all others out there, not true! I will agree that certain sub woofers sound better when played with certain genres. For instance, I have two Kicker L7 12" subs in a ported box. They will kick the crap out of you with rock music, the kick drum is killer! One the other end of the spectrum when I play hip-hop the bass is still killer but there are dead spots in the frequencies the subs aren’t able to reproduce. I'm not gunna lie, I love my Kickers but I'm not gunna tell you to buy them because I don't wear your ears.
The one thing I would recommend is to do a lot of research, pair your woofers with the appropriate wiring package and box, and stay away from the no name brands, and get an amp that has an RMS power rating comparable to your subs.
Good luck! Let me know what you go with!

[Sinyk]

Well said.

or, you could be like some people, and through trial and error, and about 9 different sub brands, finally find one that suit your tastes. My brand is AVI, but in order to get the sub in my car, I need to make a new box.

AVI sub I have waiting to replace my Kicker:


AVI website

[chucho]

But that's in a crx. The car is tiny. A friend of mine used to have one with 2 12's in it and it made my 2 15's seem meager, and I was running 145db with those.

that's why i said that crx's are spl beast