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Need a Sub for my car... Opinions from people with souped-up cars?
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| LuNaSeA |
hey pplz! :toothless
well, i decided my car needs a subwoofer.. badly! and i need some advice from people who have em in their cars... i have an acura RSX so it's a fairly small 2 door/4 seater car but has a roomy hatch back trunk...
should i get two 10"s? i thought getting 12" might be too much.. i don't wanna blow out the windows of my car, ya know? just add UMPH to the system :toocool: also, any particular brands to stay away from? i already have an amp (tho i might get a new one cuz mine is a lil shot..)
tanx!
dani :tongue2 |
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| amdmaxx |
12 girl.. rule #1: U can NEVER get enough Bass..
And remmeber a clean powerful BASS is extremely different from the bass u hear in clubs or your home..
MY recommendations: Mobile innovations, Route 46 east in Lodi, my buddies, they do very high end mostly though...
GO for 12!!! U wont be disappointed.. |
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| amdmaxx |
Amplifiers
Power - We want 100 rms watts - 200 rms watts of clean output, into 4 Ohms. We want to be able to push them, because power leads to a tight sound and great dynamics. Note that car audio amplifiers are usually specified as power into 4 Ohms rather than 8 Ohms, because the speakers are usually 4 Ohms due to the relatively limited voltage (12 v - 14v) coming from the car battery. Often, there will even be 2 Ohm ratings, which are used with 4 Ohm drivers wired in parallel. The lower impedance results in more current, and thus more watts delivered with the 12v supplied from the car battery.
Power Generation - Since an SQ car (term used in car audio contests) is judged with the engine off, we need an amplifier that will make its rated power at 12v. Many amplifiers make 50% less power when the car isn't running, which results in a drastic change to how your music sounds. Having an amplifier that makes the same power at 12v (engine off) vs 14v (engine on) is a significant advantage.
Quality - We want an amp that's neutral, so the frequency response should be within ± 0.5 dB throughout the audible range. Signal to Noise should be equal to or better than the head unit (>105 dB). THD should also match or exceed the head unit, with a maximum of 0.01% at rated output. These numbers in a spec sheet mean nothing if the company has a shady history.
Sound - Listen in the store.
Crossovers and Inputs - Plan your installation, because you may find out you need an amp with speaker level inputs, or built-in crossovers. Our 5.1 processor will be doing all that for us, so it isn't a consideration for us.
Main Speakers
Listen at the store. Good speakers are an investment, because good speakers cost good money. Stay with established names and listen before you buy.
Size - I recommend that you fit the largest speaker you can in the front door. This brings the mid-bass closer, and gives better clarity.
Quantity - I highly recommend a 2-way (tweeter and mid-bass) or 3-way design (tweeter, mid, and bass). This allows the individual speaker driver to focus on what it can reproduce the best, rather then having to play all the frequencies.
Placement - If you do a 2-way or 3-way system, keeping all three of the speakers physically close to each other is key. The greater the distance, the greater the chance for noding (places in the car where the sound is canceling), and staging problems.
Rear-Fill - For two-channel reproduction, you really don't want to hear the back speakers. Spend all your money on a high quality front set, and disconnect the back, or leave them connected directly to the head unit. For surround sound, of course, this is a different issue.
Subwoofer
Size - A single 10" or 12" driver will be more than enough for 90% of us. 12" drivers are a great compromise of size and extension. Often the space you have to dedicate to a subwoofer is a very important factor in selecting the correct one. Talk to a local shop, tell them what music you listen to, and demo a few. Show them where you want it installed. They will tell you what will fit in that spot.
Power - While you demo the sub, make sure you are listening at a power level (wattage) that you will be using in your car. The more power, the higher the SPL, and tighter the sound.
Enclosure - With today's drivers, I always recommend a sealed enclosure rather than a ported one. A sealed enclosure allows for better cone control, and a more linear playback. The tradeoff is 3 dB - 6 dB less output for the sealed
enclosure. I recommend staying away from drivers that are geared at
producing extreme loudness, as they usually give up some quality (more
distortion).
Bass-reflex enclosures, also known as ported enclosures, are much more prone to output variations due to tolerance difference between drivers, which is
actually common. Every enclosure has a tuning frequency called F3 (F3 is the - 3 dB down point, and is one of the Thiel/Small parameters for characterizing speaker design). When a subwoofer plays below that tuning frequency, it's harder for the cone to maintain a linear motion. Due to the damped nature of a sealed enclosure, the sealed design lends itself to lower extension with more
cone control below that F3 point. Although the ported enclosure has a benefit of generally being 3 dB louder at that same tuning frequency, the design doesn't damp the cone very well bellow F3. This leads to leads to lower output and less extension when compared to a sealed enclosure.
For a given -3 dB point, a reflex system can be designed with roughly half
the box space. However, if you took a given driver in a sealed enclosure, you could not put it into an enclosure half the size by porting it. On the contrary, you'd need a larger box. However, you'd end up with a much lower F3 point. If the F3 point were fixed, you could also get more output (above the tuned frequency) out of the ported system with the same cabinet size, through not only the contribution of the reflex device, but greater efficiency. That's not to say that you can do any of this simply by changing one parameter. If you change the alignment, you must also change the enclosure and/or driver to get a good response.
In terms of drivers that play loud, from what I've seen of good drivers, the compromise tends to be more in terms of bandwidth. Playing very deep requires excursion. More excursion requirements mean less output capability. Generally speaking, for woofers, you want high thermal capacity, a linear motor, and a large X-max, particularly with sealed alignments. (X-max is the maximum length that a driver's voice coil can move back and forth inside the magnetic field of the driver.) |
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| Tranzlucent |
| I just went with a amplified sub, Inifinity Bass Link. It worked well in my VW, and sounds good in my Audi. It's simple, not alot of mess like a boomin system is, and sound is tight. Best thing about it is it takes up almost no space, can be mounted flat or on the side of a trunk. $400 from Crutchfield. Can't beat it... |
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| sot |
| daniela, advice: get 2 10 inch JL w0's and a alpine 350 watt amp..thats the system im bout to get and it kicks ass, it runs for about 800 bux installed so its nothing over the top but its just right. Any questions just hit me up via aim, i know this place in queens that does a real superb job. |
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| Zewad |
| all these guys seem like they really know their stuff, but ill give you a perspective from a person that knows ZERO about audio stuff and wanted more ummph for my system as well,... i have an Eclipse 12" sub in a fairly big box (jettas have enormous trunks though)(a keg can still fit in the trunk:D),.. it doesnt blow the roof off the car but gave it that needed umph it was lacking,... every blue moon ill throw in some rap and feel like a thug gansta,..:toocool: |
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| Boomer187 |
One acronym for ya, MTX.
Sounds like you don't want your ears bleeding so I would go with a simple MTX setup. Theyrate their amps and speakers interms of rms so when you hear 500 watts from them, there is a fuller sound than your average 500 watts max.
One 12" will do ya good especially with hatch, grabup a 400 or 500 and you should be happy. Oh and get a god sealed box with it. It helps a hell of a lot.
On the other hand if you like blood pouring outta your ears get two 12" solo barics anda 1200 watt amp. That is loud. |
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| pvd420 |
i went with rockford subs & rockford punch amps, mb quart (i cannot recomend these enough) component interrior speakers, and an alpine head unit in my 98 Altima and i absolutely love the sound i get. so loud and so clear (which was one of the most important points i was striving for). all i have to do is put in the crossover this weekend and everything will be finished.
bass is great and you should spend a lot of time thinking about the size enclosure and power you are going to put into your subs, but if you really enjoy your music, replace your interrior speakers (if you havent already). it makes all the difference in the world. |
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| xxryu139xx |
since u have an RSX and u have a teeny car, go with two 10 inch woofers set-up in a sealed box. although bandpass box will give u the best sound, it is just too big for ur trunk. besides u have a hatch and that will give u enough acoustics to make your set-up sound nice. the 10s will give u good sound definition but not the loudness.
go MTX if ur in a budget, they have decent sound and you also do not need much power to run them either. JLs are my favorite but can be hefty in price. Kicker Solos are nice too, but they are hella expensive and since they have paper surround they tend to rip which blows. |
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| kid nyce |
| quote: | Originally posted by xxryu139xx
JLs are my favorite but can be hefty in price. Kicker Solos are nice too, but they are hella expensive and since they have paper surround they tend to rip which blows. |
JL ALL THE WAY HOME AND AROUND THE BASES ONE MORE TIME...or she can port a 15" where her spare is lolz but then ur car wouldnt need to be started up u can just bump-a-long ur way BUMPITY BUMP BUMP |
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